Trying to Trap Coyotes but need help!

Lucius

New member
I I set out 6 coyote traps on my property for the very first time. Today was day 3 of the traps being out. So far no Coyotes but yesterday, I came up on 1 of my traps that was sprung. It was caked with blood (The entire trap and chain were covered in frozen blood) and a small amount of hair. There was a small amount of blood splatter around the trap area as well. Whatever it was, probably a coyote, wasn't trapped for long though as there really wasn't sign of a struggle. I didn't find any body parts or other signs. Did I do something wrong? I check this trap every morning. My other traps do not show any sign of coyotes but I see fresh tracks within 15 yards of these traps almost every morning. I believe what I am doing is creating a dirt hole style trap with holes for the bait in front of the trap area. For some reason the coyotes don't seem interested other then the 1 trap with the blood.

1) What do you think happened in the bloody trap?

2) Why aren't the coyotes interested in my other traps after 3 days?
 
Seems a little odd, was it coyote hair in the trap? Could you have caught a feral cat or rabbit and was eaten by an owl or hawk. What size trap are you using? What type of sets do you have in? A dirt hole set has the hole behind the trap, the coyote needs to step in the trap to see/smell the hole. Traps are clean and aged, I'd hang my cleaned and waxed traps in a tree/under the eve of the trap shed for quite awhile before the season starts. Fresh bait in cold temps give off very little scent.

How much trapping experience do you have? Past success on coon and mink on dry land.

Three days is a short time.
 
Make sure the traps in the future are well bedded. If you push on any part of the trap except the pan and see or feel any movement of the trap, pack it in harder so it doesn't move when the animal steps on it.

In this cold weather try burying a skunk tail or part of one and leave just a little out to see.

Don't give up and keep reporting

All the best
 
Unfortunately, the best trapper in MN probably can’t answer your questions without much greater detail about your methods or being on site. Any trapper can surely catch a coyote but, they really are, besides a wolf?, the most difficult furbearer to become proficient at catching in our state. Snares have a faster learning curve and you may quickly start catching coyotes. Much less work, too, especially in winter. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the reply.

I have zero trapping experience! My sets are dirt hole sets. I do have the holes in front of the traps. I did clean and age my traps. I am using MB 550 traps.
 
My only other idea is that I wasn't as clean as I could be with doing my sets. I bet I could have gotten some of the bait scent in the dirt as I covered the traps. Maybe the coyote rolled in the trap????? Not sure how to post pictures but my MB550 was full of blood and grey hairs.
 
Is there any chance that someone shot your coyote and stole it? There should be very little blood at a set, no matter what. I coyote rolling in a trap will just set it off, it shouldn't rip a hole that will bleed. I've had a number of critters stolen over the years even on private property.

The Minn. Trappers Assc. has an education program with hands on training. I'm a long past district director and trappers ed. instructor. I left MN in the early 1980's.

https://mntrappers.org/

Good luck.

Welcome to PM

 
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Bedding the trap is very important and pan tension on my dirt hole sets I also put a backing behind the set, clump of grass, dirt clods, rocks, whatever, most of the time it is grass you want the animal to come to the front of the set to look in the hole which I dig at a 45 degree angle so he has to come to the front of the set to start digging... and keeping your scent down as much as possible I also spray the backing with red fox pee couple squirts...let us know how you do...Trapperdoc
 
Originally Posted By: Lucius My sets are dirt hole sets. I do have the holes in front of the traps.

that is wrong. the hole should be behind the trap so the coyote will hopefully step on the pan while investigating the hole.
 
Yea maybe I said it wrong... looking at the trap from the front you have trap then 45 degree hole and then the backing to force the animal to investigate the hole from the front....sometimes the way it is written is hard to understand...Trapperdoc
 
If your set was in the brush or along the edge of a field you probably had a rabbit in the trap. Proper pan tension is required to avoid non target catches. Mn winter predator trapping is a fight against weather conditions that can slow or keep a trap from firing. Trap preparation and coverings must used correctly or the set becomes useless. You will need waxed dirt or buckwheat hulls/dry dirt and a pan cover to keep a set working in freeze/thaw temps. I often pre bait dirt hole sets making sure that the dirt or snow in front of the bait hole will leave prints, then you know exactly where the pan needs to be.
 
There has to be some kind of a catch circle, even if it was just in there for a bit. It should have some kind of odor too. Sounds like a 0.22 between the ears and eyes. Probably someone who saw you or knows you. Your traps offset? You need an honest man to be your mentor and buy some books.
 
Generally when there is a lot of blood it is from me shooting the animal. Are you sure somebody didn't steal your catch?
just
 
I have had alot of coon pull out of my 550s. What bait and lure you using on the others sets? How much lure are you using?
 
Much good advice above here, especially: 1) setting pan tension to a) avoid non-target animals and b) to allow a coyote to fully commit to stepping on the pan before it falls,2) bedding the trap solidly, and placing it in proper relationship to the dirt hole.

I will say one thing further, if you are sure the hair you found was coyote hair, I agree it may have been that someone shot your trapped coyote and then stole it. Once, I had a guy "help" me by shooting a coyote I had trapped with a 270 deer riffle, at near point-blank range. There was a lot of blood!
 
Probably done tyrapping for this season now. But net time that happens -coyote sets off to side, make a flat set about 10-12' from the dirt hole and see what happens.

Watch for your state trapping assns summer meeting (rondevous?) and attend. They always have some demos on trap setting.
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