Snaring questions

[skhoser]

I'm looking for some feedback. this is my first year snaring over bait with power rams. I have logged hours watching videos and reading everything I could get my hands on.
Althouth knowledge is important, experience is better so I'm looking some feedback from the more experienced guys out there.
Any feedback positive or negative would be appreciated. I just want to be better and really have nobody in the area that I can talk discuss these questions with.

Do you walk trails or randomly trek thru the bush to check and set your sets?

I degreased by rams with dishsoap and power washed before using. Was this a mistake?

I have never handled snares or restraining cables with anything but gloves. Snares were washed and never handled with bare hands although the majority dont worry about scent.

I've noticed multiple sets where coyotes have approached and then backed off usually a foot or 2 out. Is this normal or casn I do something about this?

I've had 2 catches around the snoot rather than the neck which has required the animal to be dispatched in 1 catch. Is this normal? I run my snare 10-12" up with a 10-12" loop.

I have 4 baits going and bait every 3 days with a barrel of butcher scraps. So far I've got 14 coyotes in the last month. I feel like there are lots more dogs out there than what I'm catching as the sign is at the baits and surrounding trails.

[Tfng]

How many snares at each bait?

[rcmc]

My preference is 12 inches high and 12-14 inch loop size on level ground. I don't like to set my snares to close to the bait either.

[skhoser]

Originally Posted by Tfng

How many snares at each bait?

6-12 per bait depending on the amount of well used trails.

[204ruger]

Walking on their trails is better than just random footprints all over. But use the same way in and out every time.
When u say you washed the snares, what did you wash them in?
Anything smelly on rams and snares is a no no! Just boil snares in baking soda to take the shine off and support wire. As well as new rams to get the oily finish off and to take shine off of lap link, then leave them outside in dirt for a couple weeks before u start. Maybe they are seeing the shiny lap link and backing out especially if you’ve got coyotes coming in during the day. Then you could try figure what time of day they are and set on the side of bushes where the sun won’t be shiny on the snare.
A back out or refusal is because of something, how big is your loop and how high is it for how close you are to the bait? Did the coyote feel it touch his ears? Are your snares still shiny? Is your set somewhat brushed in with other branches but not too many.
If you have a set where a coyote has backed away from a foot or two then move that snare somewhere else as they will remember and avoid it.
Do you move your snares to a new spot after a catch? lots of times this is necessary.

[Ssteward]

It’s my first year snaring coyotes with power rams as well skhoser. I find I have better luck on my snares that are deeper in the bush back away from the bait. Maybe there cautious when they get close to the bait is what I’m thinking, plus I just had a pack of wolves come thru. If a trail dries up that I’ve got a snare on I pull it and find a new used trail and usually on the next check I’ve got one in it. I have a bait on a cut line and I have had really good luck by putting my snares on side hills about 50 yards from the bait. I’ve also walked along coyote trails and try to find where they merge with another trail or 2, I’ve had really good luck that way. I also set snares along a fence line about 100 yards from bait along a creek, they travel the creek cross under the fence to get to the cut line which leads to my bait. I have found out the closer the snares to the bait the more trouble I have with birds. I don’t worry about scent control, I use bare hands and I don’t boil my snares and I still seem to catch coyotes, but I do use the same path walking in and I don’t walk on any coyote trails. Just some of the things I do, seems like I’m learning something new everyday I’m in the bush.

[skhoser]

Originally Posted by 204ruger

Walking on their trails is better than just random footprints all over. But use the same way in and out every time.
When u say you washed the snares, what did you wash them in?
Anything smelly on rams and snares is a no no! Just boil snares in baking soda to take the shine off and support wire. As well as new rams to get the oily finish off and to take shine off of lap link, then leave them outside in dirt for a couple weeks before u start. Maybe they are seeing the shiny lap link and backing out especially if you’ve got coyotes coming in during the day. Then you could try figure what time of day they are and set on the side of bushes where the sun won’t be shiny on the snare.
A back out or refusal is because of something, how big is your loop and how high is it for how close you are to the bait? Did the coyote feel it touch his ears? Are your snares still shiny? Is your set somewhat brushed in with other branches but not too many.
If you have a set where a coyote has backed away from a foot or two then move that snare somewhere else as they will remember and avoid it.
Do you move your snares to a new spot after a catch? lots of times this is necessary.

I boiled the snares in baking soda and water to take the shine off them. The Rams I used a squirt of dishsoap in 5 gals of water. Rinsed then pressurewashed.

When setting the snares, I'm setting them usually 10" up with approx. 12" loop. When I can, I'll set by grass or a pinchdown to guide the coyote in with little detection of the snare.

My rams are all new this year so there are some lap links that are shiny.

If I see a refusal, I will move the snare further down his trail. I also try to keep my snares 40 yds or more from the bait when possible although in long narrow bushes, some end up closer but the majority are further away.

[Tfng]

I don’t think you have enough snares out in all honesty. For me 18 is the bare minimum. Lots of good advice already in this thread.

I was like you when I started snaring, obsessing over every little detail. I’m still no expert but I’ve got a few coyotes under my belt now. I worry a lot less now and just get in there and set snares. I set some snares this fall that have been sitting in my basement in an open box for two years. They had been previously boiled but I just grabbed them and set them. Caught coyotes in those snares the first night. I do not wear gloves. I do boil them to take the shine off. I give Trappermike credit for helping me relax a bit.

I dipped my Rams in paint and am happy with the results. Not entirely needed but worth it imo.

I found when I aggressively loaded snares and made my loops small trying for the perfect behind the ears catch I got the odd nose catch. Too fast maybe.

If your anchor cables are long enough it’ll get your catches off the trail making resets easier. If it’s tore up I’ll move it to the edge of the circle where they might skirt around it.

I will walk coyote trails only if I have to but I try to leave as little evidence around as I can and I always use the same path. Usually you have to walk them some. I will sometimes brush out a few footprints if I have to step out into the trail to get the snare set, I avoid stepping out where I can and just reach out from behind the snare.

Refusals happen, you’ll get him in the next one. Your blocking (if any) could be too obvious.

Good luck and keep at it! You’re doing just fine for your first year.

[204ruger]

You are hunting the hunter!! Just keep at it and try to outsmart him. Everyone has great advice even if you can pick something up from each person and take that to the field you’ll do great.
What works for one may not work for the next guy.
Weather can have a lot to do with it too if it ain’t freezing cold out they aren’t as desperate and will visit your bait then go on a 3-5 day tour, they’ll be back and you’ll be ready.
One thing that’s really helped my numbers is doing a bait for only 2-3 weeks then shutting it down and focus on other spots then go back after a week or two has passed and hit em hard again.

Good luck.

[HunterDave]

I meant to reply with my two cents but forgot.

I generally don’t walk the trails, I walk perpendicular to them and step over them. When checking, if I can’t do it from a distance, I do the same thing, always stepping in my own footprints. When I set a snare I stand to the side of the trail. Whenever possible I like to hang my snares just before it snows or while it’s snowing.

Probably a bad idea to wash your Rams with scented dish soap but it doesn’t sound like that’s what the issue is. If you are getting refusals it’s more likely that they saw your snare rather than smell anything. Try setting in bends in their trail if you can rather than setting on a straight stretch where the can see the snare from a distance and blend it in. Catching them by the muzzle is likely that they felt the snare, wouldn’t commit and started to back out when the ram went off. A couple of years ago (not using a ram) I had a snare pulled full length and the noose was the size of the yote’s muzzle. His track in fresh snow showed him backing out of the set. The 10”-12” x 10-12” shouldn’t be an issue.

Scent isn’t a big deal with my farmland coyotes but I do pay attention to it. I boil my snares with baking soda to dull them but I attach them to my extensions using clean, bare hands. Then they just get put in a Rubbermaid container in the cab of the truck. I have one pair of gloves for handling bait and snared coyotes and another clean pair for handling snares. A lot of hanging snares is done with bare hands. Clean gloves go on the dash and dirty gloves go on the floor.

Around here coyotes are territorial and will defend their territory from trespassing packs and transient coyotes. Once I trap the local pack catches get slow and I might catch the odd straggler. When that happens I start a new bait site in a new territory and when that one slows down I move again. Every once in awhile I find a honey hole that keeps on producing but that’s not usually the case. For me, 14 coyotes at one baitsite is a pretty good number before slowing down. You may have trapped all the locals and only catch transients now.

This is just my opinion based on the coyotes in my area and things may be different in yours. Good luck!