Things I have learned about snaring coyotes
 

use a lot of bait. I try and get a truckload at a time in one bait staion. It's the birds that attract more coyotes than smell.

They don't like a lot of foot prints around.

Last year I caught 78 coyotes and most of them were off 3 baits.
This year I am running 4 baits and 3 of them the same spots as last year. I am already at 40+ coyotes after about 6-7 checks but..... 85% of them are all young pups. I am catching more in these spots than last year which surprises me but they must have had huge litters and no adults around to kill the pups or something. Hopefully these small ones are worth a few $$ at least.

I used to use skunk essence for a lure to attract coyotes and this year I haven't but the other day I caught a skunk and I had 6 coyotes strung up when I got there if I remember right. That tells me that skunk smell is still the king for attractant. I think a few drops on the trees around a bait will help a guy out a lot especially in cold weather or when using bait that does not smell much or have much bird activity.

Anyone else have anything to add? It might help out a few of the new guys getting into coyote snaring

Good thread, Nube! This is my first year snaring coyotes so pretty much every day I learn something new.....lol.

I haven't used any lure at my bait sites but if I ever make it into the city I'll pick up some skunk essence and give it a burst.

Going into the season I had expected to pick up a lot of juvenile transient coyotes, just like catching a lot of small muskrats in the Fall. Strangely enough, out of the 17 coyotes that I've caught so far, only one was a pup and the rest were adults. Also, I'm catching 3 males to every female. I don't know if it means anything but I just find it interesting.

I'll give it some thought and hopefully I can contribute something worthwhile to this thread. Out to the shack I must go. :)

I put my bait in 45 gallon barrels and let it freeze. I have cut my barrels almost in half top to bottom leaving a 6 inch piece on the bottom of the barrel. Drill a couple holes to tie the barrel shut. This way I just cut the rope and I can remove the barrel leaving one large chunk of bait that they can't haul off easily. If I have carcasses I wire them to a tree.

I have not been using skunk essence this year. I did pick up a roadkill skunk last year because I wasn't getting much action on my baits. What I learned was that if you chop a skunk into pieces with an axe and hit the gland be prepared for a gut wrenching stink! I couldn't believe a coyote pulled that out of a pile of beef scraps and ate it!

Use only dead sticks for guiding and chin lifts or the rabbits will be messing with your sets! When I started I used whatever was handy and it turns out the rabbits can't resist fresh poplar tops.

Does the skunk scent work in areas where there are very few / almost no skunks ?

I don't consider skunks in my area to be plentiful. I think it helped.

Works for Marten and there are no skunks in most marten areas

IMO yes as it peaks their curiosity, if not overwhelmingly strong.

I have learned that yotes can be smart I have one that pulls my snare down with is teeth. I seen the tracks and the snare was pulled around the bush. He has done this twice this week.
Also they can climb Paige wire fence weird.

So what I have learned is to change tactics. Change snare locations along the trails. I also make pinch points with old dead branches by wireing it on a tree over a trail. And then setting the trail a week or 2 later.

Good thread Nube, I am just about to start putting out snares as soon as deer season is over. This will be my first go at it, and I am learning a lot from you guys. I have a dozen snares ready, been running one bait pile so far and can't wait to see what happens.

Thanks guys,:sHa_shakeshout:

I don't know if it's possible to show a lay out of a snare with all it's components and extension just to make sure we have everything correct?

MB1 . Good to hear your almost ready to go ! My first suggestion is to get more snares ! The first thing I learned setting last week was you need lots of snares !!!! Good thing I've decided to make my own ! The second was I don't have enough bait !!!!!

I thought I had thinned my area out good last year with getting 79 in a 4x6 mile area. This season I've got 19 so far with 2 being pups, the rest were all big mature dogs. So far only one mangy coyote this yr, last yr I got 13 mangy out of the 79. Two years ago over half had mange.

I have learned that yotes can be smart I have one that pulls my snare down with is teeth. I seen the tracks and the snare was pulled around the bush. He has done this twice this week.
Also they can climb Paige wire fence weird.

So what I have learned is to change tactics. Change snare locations along the trails. I also make pinch points with old dead branches by wireing it on a tree over a trail. And then setting the trail a week or 2 later.

I'm still at zero. pulled my snares today and moving to a new property.

Give it time, Andy, you've only had them out there for a bit.....you'll start catching them soon enough. Get some bait out there and give them a reason to come into the area and they will. Get the birds in there and that will attract them. Look for points in their trails that funnel into a narrow area and set your snare there. I haven't been using any lure but I'm going to pick up some skunk essence like Nube suggested and give it a shot at one bait site to start with. Once you catch your first it'll give you an idea of what type of location to look for in a trail. I put out about 10 snares at a bait site but I'll add to them if I see that they are avoiding the snares and using a different trail.

Check the weather forecast, we're supposed to get a dump of snow in the next day or two followed by colder temperatures. I'm going to put a bunch more snares out before the snow comes so it'll cover my boot tracks and any disturbance that I make. Unless I have to raise the snares due to the depth of the snow, I'm going to check them from a distance and see how that works out. From what I've been told they travel a lot more the colder the weather.

Keep going, I'd like to see a picture of your first catch. :)

Hey man don't get discouraged easily. Yotes are smart that's why it is fun to snare them. They keep you on your toes. I'm not sure if you hunt or not but a couple of deer hides or a moose hide work good for bait and are free. If they are always coming into a farmers yard set around those trails obvious common sense would dictate. Have fun.

Thanks guys. This new property should be good she has coyotes coming right up to her deck and stealing dog food. Bonus is I can hunt there to so I'm sure a nice gut pile will get me some.

dont check every day your scent is new too them will usualy takes three days for them too come back also every time you check take some fresh bait ring the dinner bell if you hunt save your deer guts wrap them in the hide tie it up freez the bundel tie the whole thing to a tree that will bring them in and the birds wont clean it up as fast. when i set for cyotes ill check every four days some people will disagree but each to there own i set low no more than four inches off ground and a six to eight inch loop also a hand full of grass across bottom of snare breaks the circle tie high every one agrees on that. Remembre these are ideas dont be scared to experiment find what works for you

also if you have throw a couple boxes out with one twenties like peters martin sets save liver an kidneys use them too bait traps good gut pile attracts everything will pick up weasels and martin if any are around.

We Resident Trappers have to check our traps daily. On a snaring workshop it was suggested that entering the bait site using the same path in and out is the best bet and check your snares looking out from the bait site. You may not be able to see all of your snares and you'll have to move around a bit, but I think that the point is to reduce the amount of disturbance and scent in the area.

Resident trappers only have to check leg holds daily. Snares are an 'open check' as they are a killing device. When cold twice a week is ample for snare checks. More frequent if it is warm.

I check every day or 2. I try and stay in the same footprints but usually I have 2-5 coyotes a day and hauling them out makes a bit of a mess in the snow. Key is to get them before they get to the bait and where the tracks are. If you have a good enough bait they will still be there it just might take a bit longer to catch them. Scent is not a big issue. I am sure they can smell you.

Thanks for the clarification. I check all of my traps/snares daily and it doesn't seem to deter the critters at all. I do have the luxury of having everything set very close to where I live though.

do you guys recycle your coyote carcasses back in to the bait pile? does that deter coyotes?

Last year I asked the same question and I added coyote carcasses to a bait pile that I had yotes visiting for a month. After adding them the yotes stopped coming. It could have had to do with something else that I did wrong though, but that's what happened.

This year I've been throwing them along a tree line of a patch of bush and the birds are having a hayday with them. I noticed numerous coyote tracks coming into the site from the bush so I put up a couple of snares and I managed to catch one coyote. He was not in good health though so that may have come into play. I haven't had any coyotes drag a carcass away or feed on the ones that are there.

I'm not sure one way or the other but for now I'm not adding them to my bait piles but I'm treating them as a separate bait pile by itself. I think that the birds are enough to draw them in to have a look.

I put them out in the open but 60 yards or so from my bait. The birds feed on them and attract the coyotes and will find my actual bait pile easier. I have had some come over and check them out but they do not eat them or spend much time around other coyote carcasses. I just use them for visual attractant mainly

This is awesome. Thanks everybody.

Where are you getting all this bait?

Do you guys only snare off baits?

I catch a few here and there at certain crossings where they travel as well. Creek bottoms are the best for that. I catch a lot just on beaver slides off the creeks or at certain crossings under fences is good.

a couple of things i've learned this season about baiting. is that when baiting, bigger the better. a few of the sites i have to carry the bait into. which is a big mistake.

it's best to be able to pull the truck right to it, and shovel the crap out.


second thing is that, the second question after asking if you can run a bait site on a land owners land. is ask them where THEY dump there stuff. they all have spots that they dump in. and its already an established bait site.

third, a coyote caught in a foot trap, is much more pleasurable to process than a snared coyote. in fact i would prefer to trap them, but bait pile snaring is effective.

Further to my initial reply.....today I caught a second coyote about 10 yards from where I'm dumping my skinned coyotes. They haven't been eating them but it definitely brings them in to investigate.