Coyote trapping advice

I knew it was just a matter of time that we would have Coyote vs. pets problem. I have heard them down in the cut over behind my house for a couple of years but have until now had no problem. The other morning I let the little dog out as always. I heard a terrible ruckus outside and ran out to see a yote attacking our 10 year old Minnie snauzer. It ran off and Laci limped toward the house. I have never trapped but am a longtime outdoorsman, bowhunter, flyfisherman. I purchased 5 Minn. Trapline MB550 and look forward to terrible revenge on some local yotes Any advice is much appreciated. Controlling my scent while setting out the traps want be and issue and I plan to use cheap dogfood as bait unless someone advises me otherwise. One part isn't clear to me. With this trap I will take a long steel rod and drive the Chain all the way into the ground? Just driving the chain itself in the ground will hold the yote?

TheTroutWhisperer said:

I knew it was just a matter of time that we would have Coyote vs. pets problem. I have heard them down in the cut over behind my house for a couple of years but have until now had no problem. The other morning I let the little dog out as always. I heard a terrible ruckus outside and ran out to see a yote attacking our 10 year old Minnie snauzer. It ran off and Laci limped toward the house. I have never trapped but am a longtime outdoorsman, bowhunter, flyfisherman. I purchased 5 Minn. Trapline MB550 and look forward to terrible revenge on some local yotes Any advice is much appreciated. Controlling my scent while setting out the traps want be and issue and I plan to use cheap dogfood as bait unless someone advises me otherwise. One part isn't clear to me. With this trap I will take a long steel rod and drive the Chain all the way into the ground? Just driving the chain itself in the ground will hold the yote?

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You will need to secure the trap with a rod on the end of the chain.I use 2 in opposite directions to make sure.
You tube has a lot of useful information on setting traps.

My first piece of advice is make sure you are familiar with the laws and follow them. The first step after that would be to purchase some trap tags with the required info printed on them.

Trap prep is the next key step before putting them out. The first step is to degrease the new traps and attach the tags. The next step is to adjust them for the target species. I like a pan tension of about 3-5 lbs. foy coyotes, especially if there are pets around. Once the adjustments are made, you should protect your trap. Some options are dips, dye and/or wax, or paint. Painting might be the simplest approach.

Once this is all done, you will need a staking system. There are several options of earth anchors or you can double stake. In either case, you will need to purchase some supplies in either earth anchors and j-hooks or double stake swivels and rebar stakes. A good 3lb hammer will be needed too.

After these steps are completed, you will be ready to set. Knowing the animal and picking locations to set are 90% of the battle. After you figure where and why you want to set, you can make the set using any number of sets you can find on YouTube or a professional video. Make sure you bed the trap solid so there is not the slightest wiggle.

I recommend giving the dog food to your dog. Buy some good non-tainted predator bait. Also, buy some lures including a good gland lure. Some bobcat or red fox urine would help too.

If you haven't trapped before, trapping coyotes will be about as similar as a little League baseball player going to the major leagues. Its not that complicated to catch them for me but I've been doing it for about 20 years. I highly recommend buying some videos from reputable trappers and if you can, have a local trapper show you how. Videos will actually make more sense once you have made a few sets.

Another thing to remember is if you want the coyotes gone and are not succesful in doing it youself, you could wind up educating them which will make it that much harder for any others to catch if you have to go the route.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions for which I can help.

what wiz said, plus find a trapping partner if you expand your area. and keep an eye on your pets.

The advice is much appreciated and I will use as much of it as I can. I think I will only have time to set out 2 traps on Friday and hopefully 2 more on Saturday. I will pick up the stakes today. I hope to give a report and post some pics in the next week or so.

basic equipment and prepping traps

The MB 550 is a great trap, it's what I use, and the pan tension is factory pre-set for coyotes. But you will need some other basic equipment. I recommend you visit Minnesota Trapline Products (MTP) online, it is run by trappers for trappers. Great customer service. The owner, Tim Caven, is the inventor and maker of your MB 550 traps. You can use Windex to degrease them and then rinse with water or just use hot soapy water then rinse with water to degrease your new traps. Usually new traps are prepped before setting- either dyed and waxed or speed dipped (I use Formula One speed dip)but they need a light coat of rust (this takes a little time) for the dye/wax or dip to stick well to the trap. Some folks let the traps lay out in the yard 2 weeks, others speed the rusting process with a 24 hour soak in diluted vinegar or a salt brine. To get started quickly, you CAN set the traps the first time without doing anything other than degreasing. They will acquire their light coat of rust while they are in the ground catching coyotes, then you can dye/wax or dip them later to prevent further rusting. The goal is a light coat of rust then "prep" them to prevent further rusting. Later you will not be able to tell the difference between traps that were first set out naked and traps that were prepped first, I have personal experience with this. A shiny unprepped trap is covered by dirt, coyotes can't see it until they are already trapped in it. Some people use two crossed steel rebar stakes to stake down the trap, others use cable stakes attached to the trap chain by a 3/16" quick link. Cable stakes will require a special driver (steel rod) with a tip that is designed for that brand of cable stake. I use Wolf Fang, they hold amazingly well. You need a sifter to sift dirt over your bedded trap and while you can use some tools you may already have, spend $20 and get a "Sod Buster" hammer. You will use the hammer head o drive your stakes and the digging side of the head to dig your trap bed. Traps, stakes, hammer/digging tool, and dirt sifter are mandatory equipment, you can catch coyotes with those and some other items you already have laying around (like wax paper for pan covers, an old paint brush to brush dirt away that gets under the pan when bedding, etc.). But it is nice to have some other tools too... browse the MTP website and you will see what others use to round out their equipment. Good luck.

I would think dogs in the area are going to get caught but what do I know never set a trap. I just shoot them