Thoughts

[sportsman94]

I would love to hear your thoughts on something that I’m trying to figure out. I’ve mentioned this before, but am trying to really get to the bottom of it. I’ve been trapping for 12 or so years. When I got over the initial learning curve of trapping I used to catch regularly the first, second, and especially the third night of having traps out. It seemed that my line would play out within a week or so, but I would catch a fair amount of game in that timeframe. I caught a lot more “bycatch” back then too of all the usual suspects. The last couple seasons something has changed. My catch has been almost 0% for the first week of having traps out. After that first week, it was like a switch flipped and the catches got going. I’m also catching far less “bycatch” the last couple years. Not many incidental coons, possums, or even grey fox. As I’ve mentioned in the past it seems to be pretty feast or famine. So the things I have identified as potential reasons are 1) some kind of contamination in the wax process that needs to air out for several days to a week 2) poor location choice. I make sure to almost always set on sign, but maybe I’m making the set in coyote locations that aren’t great for the others. I feel like it’s the same kind of locations I’ve set previously 3) my body odor has become stronger or different and it needs time to dissipate and now takes a week before that happens 4) something else

Any thoughts from anyone? I jokingly say it’s #3 all the time, but it sort of makes the most sense to me. It doesn’t seem to make any difference if I use tiny amounts of subtle lures, large amounts of Bait or louder lures, etc. so I don’t think that’s more of a factor now than it was in the past.

 

[trad bow]

Most likely human induced.

 

[buckpasser]

Are you trapping the same ground or new? If same, you’re working with less and smarter targets. Also, nontarget stuff may have been thinned by you as well.

I’m on the plantation every day. I can see a coyote track, set on it and the tracks disappear, sometimes for many weeks. They know me and have seen their family bounce around too many times to fool with me anymore.

 

[sportsman94]

Some of both. I’ve trapped one farm for the past 8 or 9 years. That’s where I noticed it first last year. The place I’m on now is new to me and same thing. One coyote in the first week, no bycatch. Yesterday was a week and had one yesterday and one today. Nothing proven by that, but it seems to fit the trend from last year.

 

[Doug B.]

I think if your wax is contaminated you would be having traps dug up. I also really don't put much thought into scent control. I do wear rubber boots but just cause it's usually muddy or I'm going to be stepping in water. I do wear gloves most of the time to make sets but not always and I usually end up handling every trap at some point barehanded.

I don't have a answer for your question, but, one thing to think about is that food is still easier to come by right now than it will be in a few weeks. By the new year deer season is pretty much done, young prey animals are somewhat wiser and less plentiful, and it takes more searching to find food. My point is it may be coincidence as much as anything.

 

[sportsman94]

I think if your wax is contaminated you would be having traps dug up. I also really don't put much thought into scent control. I do wear rubber boots but just cause it's usually muddy or I'm going to be stepping in water. I do wear gloves most of the time to make sets but not always and I usually end up handling every trap at some point barehanded.

I don't have a answer for your question, but, one thing to think about is that food is still easier to come by right now than it will be in a few weeks. By the new year deer season is pretty much done, young prey animals are somewhat wiser and less plentiful, and it takes more searching to find food. My point is it may be coincidence as much as anything.

I’m open to coincidence as well, because I know I generally overthink everything. Too much time on my hands. Last year it was the same thing although I didn’t start until after Christmas. I thought the same about the contamination. It’s generally that the sets are completely dead until that week time frame. I would also think contamination wouldn’t be tht big of a deal with the possums and coons. I’m considering starting new on the wax next year or trying a different method (zeps, fmj, formula 1). If nothing else, it will cross one concern off the list. It could be that the animals have bigger loops than they used to I suppose. I’m still pondering and will let y’all know if I see the same when I set my next line. It sure gets aggravating checking empty traps for a week straight before anything happens

 

[Railroader]

This being my third season, I'm not sure I'm qualified to weigh in, but here goes anyway...

My "main trappin' area" is a total of 21 acres in two pieces. I've got nine, and my Goat Pen Bro has 12.

We are semi-rural, meaning that there are lots of houses and folks in the area. Ain't a critter around here that doesn't see or smell people regularly.

I use flat sets with urine and maybe a little lure, almost exclusively. 99% of dirt holes I've made resulted in a possum or a coon which I would rather not mess with. I am after cats, yotes, and foxes, so I figure I cut my by-catch by not making food sets.

Well, in a week I've caught three possums and a fox. No yotes, or that bobcat we've been seeing on camera.

So much for my figurin'...

I've had first night catches, and I have also had traps go a month with nothing.

I've had sets I was very proud of get ignored or dug up, and I've had sets that I remade by covering it back up with my railroad boots catch something that night.

The more I make sets, the more I learn, and at the same time the more convinced I become that you just never know...

I am happy with the success I've had on such a small area, running a dozen or so traps at the time.

I am kinda planning on "gettin' serious" about trapping if I make it to retirement in about seven years and I'm still able.

It's the unknown, and "little adventure" every morning before work that I enjoy so much. I'm glad to be in the trappin' game.

 

[antharper]

I caught 2 coyotes first night last year . But before that it always took me about a week before I’d catch one . But coons and opossum galore , every night . But I started on 700 acres that I know hasn’t been trapped in at least 25 years

 

[canine933]

@sportsman94, You said it in your first sentence post #6. You are overthinking things. When you do that trapping begins to be a chore and not very fun.
I agree with Doug if your wax was contaminated you would have dug up traps. If you are trapping on land that you trap back to back years you will have less game to catch and smarter animals to catch. I have landowners that pay me every year to trap. Sometimes I go two weeks and nothing then I may catch multiple nights in a row then back to nothing. The first year or two I trapped those properties I caught very consistently then it started to get less and less.
I use two sets of gloves sometimes, then sometimes no gloves at all and honestly can not tell a difference in my catches. I have seen 4 different guys that catch very high numbers of coyotes in the mid-west and all four never use gloves. Maybe it’s just a target rich environment, but they have all stated that gloves never made a difference. They said what most of us here know, they smell you around the set anyway.
When I’m at a place setting traps I set in what I figure is the best locations most of the time two sets to cover the wind. I try to always set on sign if possible. I then just start checking and like you, start wondering why I’m not catching or what did I do wrong. Countless times I’ve had animals walk all over my traps and not step on the pan or dig from the back or the sides. Keep doing what your doing sounds like you are doing things right just the animals are not cooperating. I bet if you found more land that you haven’t trapped back to back years you would see a difference in your catches.

 

[sleepr71]

Are you seeing a lot of sign,but not catching much? If they aren’t digging up traps..it probably isn’t trap related. Maybe it’s your lures(?) I’ve often wondered how Coyotes reacted to a new/foreign scent‍..I figured they avoided it for a while

 

[Doug B.]

Are you seeing a lot of sign,but not catching much? If they aren’t digging up traps..it probably isn’t trap related. Maybe it’s your lures(?) I’ve often wondered how Coyotes reacted to a new/foreign scent‍..I figured they avoided it for a while

We all wonder sometimes why coyotes didn't work our sets when we can plainly see that they walked right by them. Or even worse, a trail camera shows they walked by and didn't even stop. I don't think they do that cause it's a new/foreign smell, although it might happen some.

I think it is kinda like us when we want something to eat but we don't want to slow down for long. So we look at our choices. We can stop at McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, Zaxby's, Arby's, etc. And so we end up stopping at the one that appeals the most to us at the time.

I think that our lures or baits, or the combinations of them, sometimes don't appeal to coyotes. They may smell it but don't slow down cause it don't pick their interest at the time. The next coyote to come along may really go for it. Or the first coyote may come through a couple of nights later and decide it's interested.

Now, I don't have any scientific evidence that this is what's happening but that is my thought. I think any coyote would be all over a dead deer or deer carcass cause that's what they are used to eating. But the concoctions we stuff down a dirt hole ain't what they live on every day.

Just my thoughts.

 

[sprewett]

This being my third season, I'm not sure I'm qualified to weigh in, but here goes anyway...

My "main trappin' area" is a total of 21 acres in two pieces. I've got nine, and my Goat Pen Bro has 12.

We are semi-rural, meaning that there are lots of houses and folks in the area. Ain't a critter around here that doesn't see or smell people regularly.

I use flat sets with urine and maybe a little lure, almost exclusively. 99% of dirt holes I've made resulted in a possum or a coon which I would rather not mess with. I am after cats, yotes, and foxes, so I figure I cut my by-catch by not making food sets.

Well, in a week I've caught three possums and a fox. No yotes, or that bobcat we've been seeing on camera.

So much for my figurin'...

I've had first night catches, and I have also had traps go a month with nothing.

I've had sets I was very proud of get ignored or dug up, and I've had sets that I remade by covering it back up with my railroad boots catch something that night.

The more I make sets, the more I learn, and at the same time the more convinced I become that you just never know...

I am happy with the success I've had on such a small area, running a dozen or so traps at the time.

I am kinda planning on "gettin' serious" about trapping if I make it to retirement in about seven years and I'm still able.

It's the unknown, and "little adventure" every morning before work that I enjoy so much. I'm glad to be in the trappin' game

We all wonder sometimes why coyotes didn't work our sets when we can plainly see that they walked right by them. Or even worse, a trail camera shows they walked by and didn't even stop. I don't think they do that cause it's a new/foreign smell, although it might happen some.

I think it is kinda like us when we want something to eat but we don't want to slow down for long. So we look at our choices. We can stop at McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, Zaxby's, Arby's, etc. And so we end up stopping at the one that appeals the most to us at the time.

I think that our lures or baits, or the combinations of them, sometimes don't appeal to coyotes. They may smell it but don't slow down cause it don't pick their interest at the time. The next coyote to come along may really go for it. Or the first coyote may come through a couple of nights later and decide it's interested.

Now, I don't have any scientific evidence that this is what's happening but that is my thought. I think any coyote would be all over a dead deer or deer carcass cause that's what they are used to eating. But the concoctions we stuff down a dirt hole ain't what they live on every day.

Just my thoughts.

 

[sprewett]

@Doug B., I am asking a question because I haven't even gotten out my first trap as of yet. In regards to catching coyotes. Could I put a small amount of deer hair on my trap to bring in coyotes since it is a familiar meal and smell. Not skin or flesh just about 8 to 10 hairs just subtly enough to send out an odor but not so much that it looks like I did it. Do you think that would work and is it legal?

 

[Doug B.]

@Doug B., I am asking a question because I haven't even gotten out my first trap as of yet. In regards to catching coyotes. Could I put a small amount of deer hair on my trap to bring in coyotes since it is a familiar meal and smell. Not skin or flesh just about 8 to 10 hairs just subtly enough to send out an odor but not so much that it looks like I did it. Do you think that would work and is it legal?

I don't know if you meant that the way you worded it or not. Never put anything with a smell "on" your trap itself. You will get traps dug up with no coyote in it.

You can use any part of the deer that you want to in or around a dirthole at a set. I use deer meat, squirrel parts that I have frozen after skinning squirrels, muskrat parts after skinning them, beaver parts, etc. I will even pick up a freshly run over rabbit and cut parts off of it. I also pull hair out of the rabbit to scatter around the dirthole for eye appeal as well as scent appeal.

 

[sportsman94]

Canine, overthinking definitely can/does take fun out of it for me. Happens every year where I’m aggravated with trapping about a week into my season. I’ve adjusted my attitude this year and so far it has been way more enjoyable. Luckily on this trip I’ve supplemented with water traps to have more days with catches than not. This is my first year on this farm and I guess I had higher hopes for that reason. I’ve felt handicapped due to fields waiting to be plowed and vehicle traffic as well as trying not to interfere with deer hunters out here. This farm needs another couple dozen traps in the ground and will have it next year when I can afford to wait until after deer season to set.

Doug, I have thought about the natural baits. I have about a gallon of deer meat scraps, some liver, stomach, etc all ground up and preserved. It smells gutty. I’m going to add that to my rotation of baits I’m using when I set the next property this next week. It’s more wooded so there’s a lot more edge habitat. I’m going to set as many traps as I can/have on this place and see what happens. I’ll try to use a lot of sets with just urine as fill ins just to not overwhelm with random scent. While I know I overthink things, I also don’t want to get stagnant and think I’m doing things the best way and can’t be improved. I’m always trying to improve. Maybe one day I will!

 

[sprewett]

I don't know if you meant that the way you worded it or not. Never put anything with a smell "on" your trap itself. You will get traps dug up with no coyote in it.

You can use any part of the deer that you want to in or around a dirthole at a set. I use deer meat, squirrel parts that I have frozen after skinning squirrels, muskrat parts after skinning them, beaver parts, etc. I will even pick up a freshly run over rabbit and cut parts off of it. I also pull hair out of the rabbit to scatter around the dirthole for eye appeal as well as scent appeal.

Thanks Doug. I would have had every trap I set dug up. Shows how much I have to learn.

 

[Doug B.]

Canine, overthinking definitely can/does take fun out of it for me. Happens every year where I’m aggravated with trapping about a week into my season. I’ve adjusted my attitude this year and so far it has been way more enjoyable. Luckily on this trip I’ve supplemented with water traps to have more days with catches than not. This is my first year on this farm and I guess I had higher hopes for that reason. I’ve felt handicapped due to fields waiting to be plowed and vehicle traffic as well as trying not to interfere with deer hunters out here. This farm needs another couple dozen traps in the ground and will have it next year when I can afford to wait until after deer season to set.

Doug, I have thought about the natural baits. I have about a gallon of deer meat scraps, some liver, stomach, etc all ground up and preserved. It smells gutty. I’m going to add that to my rotation of baits I’m using when I set the next property this next week. It’s more wooded so there’s a lot more edge habitat. I’m going to set as many traps as I can/have on this place and see what happens. I’ll try to use a lot of sets with just urine as fill ins just to not overwhelm with random scent. While I know I overthink things, I also don’t want to get stagnant and think I’m doing things the best way and can’t be improved. I’m always trying to improve. Maybe one day I will!

Every year will most likely be an improvement even if you don't catch as much. What you learn is more valuable than what you catch! If you do set more sets keep up with what you use and what you catch to see what works better for you.

I know you will keep us posted, and I'm anxious to see what the outcome is.

Your not given the numbers you catch before the season starts. Read that again. I hope this makes sense. You are going to catch what you catch. That don't mean you are not a good trapper. Like canine933 mentioned, your first year on a property is going to be your best if you trap it every year.

 

[Doug B.]

Thanks Doug. I would have had every trap I set dug up. Shows how much I have to learn.

You are asking great questions. There are some great trappers here to answer your questions. I just wish I knew half as much as they do!

 

[sprewett]

You are asking great questions. There are some great trappers here to answer your questions. I just wish I knew half as much as they do!

Truly I do not even know enough to ask alot of questions, but I am thankful to get to read old threads to learn.

 

[Doug B.]

Truly I do not even know enough to ask alot of questions, but I am thankful to get to read old threads to learn.

Hang in there! You will get it!