Baiting

GG, nice going on the fox. I haven't been able so far to find a fox friendly round and I've shot them with a .243, 22-250, .223, .204, and .17 Rem. Even the 17 Rem. with 25 Hornady hp's blows them up pretty badly. Maybe a 20 gr. tipped bullet for the 17 Rem might work or even a downloaded 17 Rem or the new 17 Hornady Hornet. Right now I have a 17 HMR setup to use when a fox shows up, but haven't had a chance to try it yet.
 
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Well I finally got some pictures, wide variety actually. Like I said I placed 35-40 pounds of deer scraps out Friday afternoon, started getting pics that night. First up was some weasel creature, i think its a pine marten but I am not sure. I think he would run in grab a peice and run away only to return 5 minutes later.





next 50 or so pictures were crows, tons and tons of crows. Does anyone have any advice on how to prevent crows from getting at the bait? EL Nino is really screwing up this winter so I have not been able to make meatsicles. Had a couple of deer walked by and they did not care at all that several of their relative's remains were laying right next to them.

That last to come in were the coyotes, I have pics of 4 separate occasions but none of them directly eating the bait, so I'm wondering if my sensor was angled too high.





The picture below is taken a few hours after the initial coyote picture and it is the only pic I got at that time, pay attention to his tail. Also notice that there is a pile of bait between the word "Sunday" and the time print.



Boring picture I know but I felt like posting it, you can notice that the bait is gone plus you can see a tail on the right side of the picture. I believe it is the same coyote from a few hours earlier however I have no pics inbetween.



Ok last picture I had and the only daytime coyote picture. While I was sitting in my truck looking at the pics on my laptop a local with a camp down the road drive by and yelled at me "The deer aren't here mother [beeep]," I didn't feel like leaving my camera in the woods near a pissed off local so I pulled it and will put it back up some where else tomorrow, hopefully with more bait. Hope you guys don't mind the flood of pictures but this is the most variety I've ever had.

 
As of right now nothing. The camera is back out today with well over 40lbs of meat, in a spot in where hopefully no locals will mess with it. I only bait for a few more days then I'm off for a month. Once I started baiting again I'll see if they come in regularly and go from there.
 
UP, you're pretty far north and it is going to be mighty cold trying to stay out in the open to hunt. Also if hunting at night you're going to need some type of alert to let you know when one comes in. Daytime of course is totally different but still you can spend many hours waiting for a coyote to come in. I believe you'll have to figure out a way whether night or day hunting to stay warm in some type of enclosed shelter.
 
The main reason I started baiting is to keep the coyotes in the area. There are big tracts of woods up here and the coyotes move around a lot. So hopefully the bait keeps them in the area and it'll cut down on the number of blank stands. If I by chance have them coming in regularly then I'll hunt over the bait, but otherwise I don't necessarily plan on it. It's mostly a scouting tool and a way to keep them in the area.
 
Took this one tonight about 8:30. Pretty nice coyote shot with 204 and 32 zmax at 95 yds. using a Photon 4.6XT with doubler. He was a DRT. Unfortunately there was a problem with the video and didn't get the shot recorded from the rifle. May have it on the cameras at the bait site.



Also took this red right at daylight yesterday morning. Also shot at 95 yds. with the 204 and 32 zmax. I made a head shot on him. Hit him in the eye and exited out back of head about nickel size. No fur damage.

 
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Well pulled the camera today and it won't be back out for the next 4 weeks, the bait will stay out there until its gone but I did get two days worth of pictures. And man I got my coolest picture yet. No coyotes but I got 6 pictures of this guy.





Most of my pics were of crows, but I was surprised to get pictures of the eagle and had a picture with 4 deer in one pic, most deer I've had in a pic. Also I am currently reading through the pages of this thread and I am on page 36 rn, and no crows are not afraid of eagles lol.
 
We get eagles here occasionally on the bait as well. They are beautiful birds but not much more than a buzzard as far as a scavenger is concerned. I did see an immature bald eagle do something funny this past summer though. I had a decoy in my pond, and the eagle would fly out and grab the decoy trying to lift it off, but the weight was so deep in the bottom that he couldn't pull it loose. He must have attacked that plastic decoy a dozen times. Each time he would land on the bank of the pond and stare at that decoy like what is wrong with this scenario. My wife and I both got a good laugh watching him until he got tired and flew off.
 
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Called today a little bit, nothing came. Checked camera at buddies deer spot, 121 pictures over the last couple of weeks only one fox the rest does and fawns. All the bait at my coyote blind is gone, bones scattered all over the place and one large wolf track.
 
Been real slow here. What a difference a year makes. Even the large amount of crows I had when I first started putting out bait a few weeks a go has dropped off to just two or three. Had a couple of fox as well and nothing now. I think the warmer than normal weather for this time of year is having the biggest effect. Last year we had good amount of snow and cold temps at Thanksgiving and never looked back. I thought I was having trouble with my camera earlier and have now realized ...no coyotes period. 6mm-06 I am starting to think I maybe in a drought like you had a while back. It can only get better from here on out......I hope.
 
dd, I agree. This unusually warm weather IS having an impact on the frequency and regularity of the critters feeding on the 'ol bait piles. I have been hunting on both sides of the recent new moon and the only thing coming in was a possum. They just aren't being pushed by cold weather. Today was 71 degrees for Pete's sake! What the birds haven't picked off the bait pile has turned to a black, dried up, leathery mess with embedded maggots. Disgusting!

I've got a promising little bottomland site on the farm which I have never hunted. It should be loaded with coons. But first, I'm building a stand there. I can't wait!!!! It's better than
Christmas!!
DoubleUp - Nice take down. I especially like the Red.
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Up North - To save your bait, try brushing the pile. It helps somewhat.
gg
 
gg your description of bait sounds exactly like mine ....less the maggots. Also have a flock of 20 turkeys that are around here ...all hens. I also have a wet muddy roadway spot that critters come and go on. It has seen nothing but turkey tracks and an occasional deer track. Only good thing about this warm weather .......easy on the wood pile.
 
just started putting out bait a week or so ago on a piece of land i have. it had coyotes and deer out there all summer so i hope to take the coyotes out this winter. have a few cameras out on it and got some pics of them. the camera on the bait batteries died from all the videos of crows so no coyotes videos from that one.






 
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