Baiting Coyotes.
Throughout last trapping season I had a couple of bushes where I wasn't catching alot of coyotes. I took 4 out, then there was no traffic for a couple weeks. Being a new trapper and just starting out in December I never had a bait site or baited prior to setting up. Even when I did, the bait froze or it got snowed in. Alot of by buddies told me that my problem was i never baited prior to setting up or I need to do it more. It didnt make sense because I added 50 pounds of bait weekly to some spots.. I'd like to open a conversation where people share their baiting stories and basically does and don'ts. How long before trapping season do u recommend going in and start baiting?
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I put bait out and set snares the same time ...you want to make sure you have bait there continuously to keep the birds working ..yotes will follow the birds and vise versa
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To run a good bait you nee lots of birds. Basically you feed birds not coyotes. This take a lot of bait and stuff the birds like. A truckload heaping per week or week and a half is my moto and you should be getting roughly 25-35 coyotes off a bait in a season. At least that is what I have found in my area.
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I hear the lots of birds stuff all the time and tho I have magpies in mine quite a bit I gotta say that they never clean up all the carcass( road kill deer ) ..had a bait last with 35 catches and bait lasted entire season, but then again we never had a coyote make it to the bait
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Ravens are key. Magpies are good but when you get a bunch of ravens making racket the yotes come running.
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I hate ravens. I wish they would all drop dead.
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You need ravens and crows more so than magpies. Magpies don't make as much of a ruckus
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Looks like I'll have to import some ravens ..magpies is what we have most of
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I will have as few as 20 ravens or crows on my bait when I drive up. Have you ever been in bush country and seen a flock of ravens jump up from a kill site? Most guys have and it always perks your interest in what is going on and you go investigate. Imagine what a coyote thinks when he can hear and see that party going on from a mile or 2 away! |
How far from yard sites do you guys set your baits?
I would love to do it but fear catching a dog. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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Where I trap I pre-bait and set on sign. After a week the coyote trails are visible even in grass and I know where to hang my snares. I don’t think that there’s much point in hanging 100 snares when a dozen will produce the same number of coyotes. I’ll add snares if new trails appear.
Birds are great when they can’t fly off with all your bait but I think that the scent of the bait seals the deal. I have tons of birds on my coyote carcasses but the farmland coyotes around here have no interest in eating them so they don’t bother coming in to them. Roadkill is great but the coyotes can eat a whole deer in one night if it’s not at least a little frozen. I’ll put fresh roadkill at bait sites that already have snares hanging but generally not for pre-baiting because of that. I skin the side and open the belly up especially if it’s starting to freeze. That gives them a start on it if it does happen to freeze solid. I like to let butcher scraps freeze into a big ball of meat and fat. Birds can’t fly away with it and the Yotes have to work a bit to get a meal. I try to avoid putting out bait that the coyotes can carry away to eat somewhere else. If you can get permission from a rancher, his dead pit can be a gold mine and you don’t even have to bait it. Blind sets on well used coyote trails without using bait can produce good results as well. Good luck. |
I noticed this year in sask player big learning curves on me all season with baiting didn’t have much luck this year on yotes seems like they would hit bait an then be gone again an not come back so would set on sign an still no luck but didn’t do much pre baiting last season so gonna do thst an see if it helps me out to produce more yotes
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I had great luck this year (my 2nd year) with bait, rather than just targeting travel corridors.
I was no where near as successful as many experienced trappers, but I'm happy with the catch. I took a few carcasses (deer from hunting) and suspended them from the trees, then set snares on all the "covered" approaches to the area I had the bait suspended in. The suspended bait kept the birds coming, and it made it difficult for the coyotes to get at. When they finally did get the bait down, I had already snared all the coyotes I was after (I think it took them a few months). |
Thought of the day...
I never needed ravens before, I sure don’t want them now that they are here. I don’t need magpies either. I rely on other things. Working towards 20,000 coyotes these days, might be relevant? North vs south... scent... negligible differences. What matters is the more severe winter conditions and cold, the better the coyotes respond to bait. |
Bang on, Martin.
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Ya whatever Marty. Talk to us when you hit 20 000 pfft.
I figure I'm working on about 2400. Lol. |
bait stations
Coyotes don't visit feed stations during daylight hours...actively.
Therefore the Raven (not crows) activity plays a small percentage in attracting coyotes since the Ravens are perched and sleeping in dark hours. The Ravens attract people ...I hate that ! My locations are always on private land with limited access...far from main roads and include fences that keep out ATV's and snowmachines. I believe that the ODOUR of a bait pile helps to lure coyotes. That's why farm dogs will show up - travelling for 2 or 3 miles to get a bone. Early season baiting means longer warm fall weather which promotes a stronger odour and easier for coyotes to detect the bait station. I believe same applies to WOLVES who use their noses to find food. I've also believed that one coyote will bring his brothers and sisters if given a chance... that's why early baiting helps them to become acquanited to the food supply and lets others follow him to the food station. Thats why all Bait stations should be set-up and left idle for 2 -3 weeks before snaring. They are group animals and follow one another to food sources. Early season baiting is alot of work since the bait isn't frozen and easy to carry off and get eaten. If you use large animals such as cattle, moose, horses...they have to be chainsawed open otherwise there is no odour especially in cold temperatures. |
I don't buy that dawgs come 2-3 miles to bait piles, or we would have a horrendous amount of dawg by-catch. 778 coyotes last winter and zero dawgs, and I'm regularly closer to dawgs than 2-3 miles.
Undisciplined, unruly, stupid dawgs just run the 2-3 miles, actually some further. Good dogs are under control of their owners and don't run all over and get themselves in trouble. Meanwhile, once upon a time I set Magnum Alberta Powersnare in Calgary city limits within relatively short distance and had zero dawg encounters in light of there being 100's upon hundreds of dawgs in the area. Under authority of a damage licence of course. The difference... Order! Rule of law.... Very nice!:) Ravens do attract coyotes during daylight hours, is a fact, watch coyotes come to various call sounds, they also eat lots of bait. However, as coyotes are very active at night,the Ravens will have little attraction at night, aside from raven stench from raven poopies. I just wish we had a much smaller raven population. Be a lot better for many, many lesser species that they actively prey upon. Ravens do much killing. |
farm dogs
Marty,,, I have returned farm dogs to their owners on various occassions that were running loose in my trapping area. Most were within a mile of the bait station and the furthest was 1-1/2 miles.
Some farm dogs will not leave a farm yard or acreage but there's others that will travel. I dont think that the breed of farm dog matters ...it's more about the farm dogs level of upbringing. I'll see the occasional coyotes near a bait station during the day but 95% of the activity is in the dark. |
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Are you trapping coyotes on the bald prairie? Down south I know coyotes hide during the day but up north here they are on it all day long. You find a kill site and they scatter like flies. |
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I can have 20-50 ravens on a site and they won't tough a coyote till day 3. After that it seems they get on them. Not sure why it takes 3 days. Interesting how things vary so much from one area to another |
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Don’t agree with the statement that coyotes stay away from bait during daylight hours. Have a couple of sheep farm that I can’t snare because of dogs but can shoot coyotes off bait. Got 34 off one bait station.
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There’s no doubt in my mind that snaring up here and on the bald assed prairie is completely different. Anchor high, anchor low.......entanglement vs lack of.......so many differences. It sounds a lot more challenging catching coyotes on the prairie than up here. It’s very convenient having a tree to anchor to right beside a trail.
I’ve never had an issue with birds......even eagles. They leave my Yotes alone and would rather feed on my bait. The only exception is mange Yotes. Ravens get on them right away but it doesn’t matter anyway. I guess that they already smell dead. Coyotes around here can hit the bait at all hours of the day and will even bed down in the same small patch of bush. I’ve bumped quite a few doing my checks and even scared one into a snare last year. Just a point on using a chainsaw to cut up frozen carcasses......don’t do it. A couple of years ago I cut three frozen calves up in manageable pieces and even the birds wouldn’t touch it. In hindsight, those chunks must have stunk like oil exhaust and bar oil......not too smart. It was actually counterproductive and kept the Yotes away. Live and learn I guess. |
Axe to split open the guts and down the back if possible is a good start on frozen big bait. It won't be great but it is the only way to get some action off of it till the weather changes to be honest. I find a pile of roadkill deer frozen solid not the best bait to be honest. Birds don't hit it as hard and it doesn't catch me as much..
Dave, those southern AB yotes get chased hard. My buddy in Cardston is amazed at what goes on and how pressured they are in his area. He has noticed a huge difference the last 5 years in coyote numbers. |
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