Coyote baits question?

[Predator]

For those running more than a bait or two, how do you manage your bait? Do you collect and freeze in the off season? Collect enough during the season and use it fresh? Count on collecting enough road kills during the season? Just wondering how everyone keeps up with the volume of bait required?

[KegRiver]

I never used big baits for Coyote.

Not sure why but bait piles never appealed to me. I gather that you are talking about bait for bait piles.

I did use baits for dirt hole sets. That's a whole different scenario where storage was not an issue.

The folks I know who do hunt or trap over bait piles don't start collecting until they have freezing through most of the day. Like in late October or even later.

That's when most road kill happens anyway. By then the whole outdoors is a deep freezer.

[Gboe8]

If your running more then one or two baits you couldn't collect and freeze enough bait. I was using about 300lbs of bait for each baitevery week last year. Re baiting twice a week at 150-200 lbs each time. Have to find some where with lots of scraps. Watch Ryan on YouTube. He has a dump trailer full of live stock scraps from a slaughter house or butcher shop. From my personal experience which isn't a lot more bait more birds more coyotes.

[HunterDave]

Fourth year trapper here. Last year when the economy was better I was busy right up until the end of the summer and I didn't get the chance to arrange for near enough bait as I needed and I only run 3 bait sites at a time. I had to scrounge for every little bit of bait that I could. It was warm and bait that wasn't frozen quickly disappeared. Hopefully, I'll be much better prepared this season and it'll be a lot colder.

How much bait that you'll need depends on how you trap. For example, if you pre-bait for a couple of weeks prior to hanging snares like I do you'll obviously need more bait than a guy that doesn't pre-bait. How many bait sites that you have and if the bait is frozen it lasts longer than thawed bait, etc......these type of things all come into play.

First, I trapped muskrats the month of October and bagged and froze the carcasses in shopping bags with about 10 per bag. Muskrats was all that I stockpiled because I sold my beaver. At the beginning of November I started pre-baiting with only one or two bags of frozen muskrats and I added one or two bags as required about every second day. The coyotes quickly discovered where they could get a free meal and trails through the bush became easy to identify. That was a bonus since there was no snow due to El Nino.

Next, I collected all of the trim/bones/hides/heads that I could during hunting season. I got it from local hunters and even where people had dumped it on the side of the road. If you can find a country butcher that processes wild game he can be a valuable find. For liability reasons big chain stories like Sobey's, etc have a policy to not give any of that away (the ones that I checked anyway).

After that, I collected all of the roadkill that I could. I even had people texting me when they saw it. This IMO is the absolutely best type of bait that you can get. Not only is it very attractive for coyotes, it's intact and you don't have to worry about bones getting spread around.

Finally, when I was really running low on bait, I cut up dead cattle from landowners dead pits with my chainsaw. I only used calves or cows that had broken a leg or whatnot for fear of spreading disease. I didn't have great success with using it as bait though and found that the coyotes didn't much care for it. Roadkill deer and other wild game is much, much better.

I do not dispose of my coyote carcasses into my bait sites as I found that the farmland coyotes around here have no interest in them. I dispose of them in a separate location altogether. Lots of birds, but no coyote tracks in the area whatsoever.

I realize that everyone has their own thoughts on pre-baiting, birds, etc but that is just the way that I do things.
I hope that you and others find this post helpful and good luck this season.

[TrapperMike]

Road kill works the best, but dead hogs work real good to. I tie carcasses to a tree with old snares so it can't be dragged away. I trap an area for about a week then move to next site, may return in a month or so if dogs are revisiting the site. While trapping one site I am always starting new sites. Remember when picking up road kill you need a permit or verbal permission from F&W.

[TroutCreekTrapper]

I have a couple local butcher shops that keep me supplied with plenty of fresh scraps for free. They are more than glad to give it away because it costs them mint to get rid of.

[gunsight]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Fourth year trapper here. Last year when the economy was better I was busy right up until the end of the summer and I didn't get the chance to arrange for near enough bait as I needed and I only run 3 bait sites at a time. I had to scrounge for every little bit of bait that I could. It was warm and bait that wasn't frozen quickly disappeared. Hopefully, I'll be much better prepared this season and it'll be a lot colder.

How much bait that you'll need depends on how you trap. For example, if you pre-bait for a couple of weeks prior to hanging snares like I do you'll obviously need more bait than a guy that doesn't pre-bait. How many bait sites that you have and if the bait is frozen it lasts longer than thawed bait, etc......these type of things all come into play.

First, I trapped muskrats the month of October and bagged and froze the carcasses in shopping bags with about 10 per bag. Muskrats was all that I stockpiled because I sold my beaver. At the beginning of November I started pre-baiting with only one or two bags of frozen muskrats and I added one or two bags as required about every second day. The coyotes quickly discovered where they could get a free meal and trails through the bush became easy to identify. That was a bonus since there was no snow due to El Nino.

Next, I collected all of the trim/bones/hides/heads that I could during hunting season. I got it from local hunters and even where people had dumped it on the side of the road. If you can find a country butcher that processes wild game he can be a valuable find. For liability reasons big chain stories like Sobey's, etc have a policy to not give any of that away (the ones that I checked anyway).

After that, I collected all of the roadkill that I could. I even had people texting me when they saw it. This IMO is the absolutely best type of bait that you can get. Not only is it very attractive for coyotes, it's intact and you don't have to worry about bones getting spread around.

Finally, when I was really running low on bait, I cut up dead cattle from landowners dead pits with my chainsaw. I only used calves or cows that had broken a leg or whatnot for fear of spreading disease. I didn't have great success with using it as bait though and found that the coyotes didn't much care for it. Roadkill deer and other wild game is much, much better.

I do not dispose of my coyote carcasses into my bait sites as I found that the farmland coyotes around here have no interest in them. I dispose of them in a separate location altogether. Lots of birds, but no coyote tracks in the area whatsoever.

I realize that everyone has their own thoughts on pre-baiting, birds, etc but that is just the way that I do things.
I hope that you and others find this post helpful and good luck this season.

if the animal has been injected with antibiotics no sense in using it no animal or even raven will eat it.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by gunsight

if the animal has been injected with antibiotics no sense in using it no animal or even raven will eat it.

Good point. I found this to be true. Last year I started a bait site 20 yds away from someone's dead pit and had lots of coyotes coming into it while the cattle in the pile went untouched. The same thing with the chunks that I cut with a chainsaw that I started new bait sites with. No interest whatsoever by coyotes and birds. I won't waste my time doing that again.

[tikka250]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Good point. I found this to be true. Last year I started a bait site 20 yds away from someone's dead pit and had lots of coyotes coming into it while the cattle in the pile went untouched. The same thing with the chunks that I cut with a chainsaw that I started new bait sites with. No interest whatsoever by coyotes and birds. I won't waste my time doing that again.

Interesting. I shoot coyotes over a feedlot deadpit and so far have not noticed coyotes leaving a dead alone because of antibiotics or anything else. I have noticed that they wont go at it hard until it cools down a lot. Summer cows lasted 2 weeks or so and winter ones maybe 3 days.

[nube]

Sure seems to be a lot of misconceptions on baiting... If your not getting birds or coyotes you're doing something wrong. Pay attention to what is actually going on and the reasons behind it and you might do a little better with a few minor changes.
You need 3 things to kill wolves and coyotes
Stink
Birds and lots of them is best.
cover the holes with snares

Feed the birds not the coyotes...
If your feeding coyotes you got your snares in the wrong spot. They shouldn't reach your bait more than once or twice before getting caught
If the birds can't feed they won't stick around so if your bait is not something they can eat then it ain't going to keep them around.
My 2 cents for what its worth