# Favorite coyote traps, sets, bait/lure?



## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Wondered if any trappers wanted to share their knowledge with any newcomers/beginners/youngsters that might be on here looking? I like the 1.5's, 1.65's and 1.75 coilspring footholds and a few no.2 double longspring. I dont care for any one brand over another as I modify mine alot from the factory trap. Factory length chain or shorter with the Jhook swivel and one on the chain end for traps Im staking solid. Some we center swivel and some we dont. I prefer 6' of chain and at least 3 swivels and usually have 4 on traps Im setting with drags. Im really starting to like offset jaws and each year I use more and more of them on dryland sets. On new/newly acquired used traps I always file any burrs or sharp edges off to keep me from getting cut and for the comfort of the trapped critter. Standard dirthole and a few cache sets catch the majority of our yotes. Summer ADC sets we'll use urine post sets with yote urine as the attractor to minimize catching closed season critters. We like ground meat baits ie:muskrat or beaver mainly some fresh/frozen and some with a light taint. Russ Carman yote/canine lures and a few home made lures/baits we make and friends make seem to be our best producers. We always use lure except with one bait we make if we have a cautious yote or canine we'll use it only and skip any lure or other bait/urine. Would this be a thread to keep going every few weeks or so with new/different critters or is there even any interest in it?


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

Leave 'er up awhile and see what happens.


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## coup (Feb 28, 2007)

i am some interested but here if you trap,,people can here if you catch a dog and then someone is mad.......

xsil potlicker said he couldn't hold coyote with less than no 2 coil and prefered biggest trap he could get for yotes. he set double and crossed rebars that you had to pry up when done....still saw yote sthat pulled stakes.
he told me where one had pulled stake and left with trap.....when i gort off work i went looking and found it 200 yards away,the stake would catch on small trees,like a drag......i prefer to hunt stuff but have had no luck calling then in.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I used #3 double longsprings when I trapped coyotes in NM and CO. They had short chains with a split ring to drive the stake or X-stakes through. 

I would think some sort of spring (like a heavy screen door spring) in the chain would absorb a lot of the shock and hold more animals.

If you get one that won't come to any lure or bait just use overturned sod. All animals come to fresh dirt. I once caught a coyote that had broken the wooden stake and ran off with a trap 2 weeks earlier using a sod set. I was shocked when I saw it had traps on 2 feet. I set 4 traps and had 3 coyotes the next morning but 2 split the stake and escaped with the trap. I never used wooden stakes after that.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Coyotes come in different sizes depending on where your at. I know some of the western states have huge yotes and no.3's are commonly used. I think our yotes run a little small as thay average around 30lbs. I prefer drags most of the time as yotes are hard on stakes plus with heavy/bulky drags I can set traps alot quicker then driving one or two stakes per trap/set. Same here Fish, Ive just about quit using wood stakes for yote/canine sets that I do stake solid, found they were harder to drive in and didnt hold any better then rerod. Glad to see theres at least some interest in this topic.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Here with rocky ground and lots of brush I use cleaning from Furrowing Houses.Set #3 Longsprings with Drags,put little Coyote Urine on it.Catch mostly Coyotes but catch some Fox,Bobcats and *****.I guess just being curious.

big rockpile


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

When I was trapping in northern CO I used rebar stakes as short as 8" in the clay they had. I had to twist them out of the ground with vise grips while I beat on the top. In the sandhills I used two 24" rebar stakes in an upside down V pattern. I could pull those out one at time by hand.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

i don't trap want to get into it , in january we had a local trapper come to a cub scout meeting and give a presentation to the boys , they liked it he said he has one farm he traps catches the farmers dog eveyr night every morning he goes checks his traps lets the dog out and it follows him around the rest of the day then he releases it again the next morning same thing, the farmer swears that dog never leaves the yard just lays there sleeping , he siad sure cause he runs all night. ub it the dog gets caught every night and never gets hurt , speaks rather highly of the safty of foot holds on domestic animals.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Wait til that dog freezes it's foot one night, that will slow it down. I had a beagle when I was a kid and it could not stay out of my fox traps. I would hear that howl and know what happened. 

My favorite coyote trap is a neck snare. Second favorite is a 3N double longspring.


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## klickitat (Dec 26, 2008)

SNARES!!! Buy a book read it and build snares. You will catch more with snares than with traps. They are easier to use and you can set them so you do not catch other animals. For the same amount of money and time spent learning you will catch 10 times more coyotes.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Everything I hear about snares I'd love to try them but their illegal here. Half our snare loop has to be under water and heavy cable so essentialy its for beaver only. Theres quite a few states that wont/dont allow snares. Wonder how they set snares out west with the wide open pastures etc? Fencerows, thickets and hedgelines would make set locations easy to find here I imagine but we'll never know.


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Quit trapping here when they deemed it illegal, in 98. Still hangiing onto the traps? Maybe someday?

But took a few critters before that. Used a variety of traps, snares, among other methods.

Most of my traps were either #3 DLS, #2 northwoods coilspring, with a couple dozen #3 Montgomery dogless coilspring.

My favorites were the #2 Northwoods. I'd highly modified them with offset laminated jaws, four coils, centered the swivels as well as added more, added shock springs in the chain, and tuned the triggers. They had a heavy frame as well as a brass set screw for pan tension. I'd file a shallow notch on the pan dog, and set the pan tension to a comfortable level. Easy to conceal and bed.

Used mostly stakes, but depending on the location would add chain and use a light pronged drag.

Most of the canine sets were made with a dirthole or a modification of it, therefore were the biggest producer.

Baits were usually homemade, aged... then preserved, horsemeat being my favorite. Used a large variety of lures, purchased and homemade both. Maybe like you, I found Russ Carmans Canine call to be the largest canine/feline producer.

I'm really not familiar with the sizes you've spoken of? One thing to be aware of is open jaw spread. With smaller sizes of traps you need a frame and chain/swivels of suitable strength as well as spread enough to limit toe holds.



backwoodsman said:


> Wondered if any trappers wanted to share their knowledge with any newcomers/beginners/youngsters that might be on here looking? I like the 1.5's, 1.65's and 1.75 coilspring footholds and a few no.2 double longspring. I dont care for any one brand over another as I modify mine alot from the factory trap. Factory length chain or shorter with the Jhook swivel and one on the chain end for traps Im staking solid. Some we center swivel and some we dont. I prefer 6' of chain and at least 3 swivels and usually have 4 on traps Im setting with drags. Im really starting to like offset jaws and each year I use more and more of them on dryland sets. On new/newly acquired used traps I always file any burrs or sharp edges off to keep me from getting cut and for the comfort of the trapped critter. Standard dirthole and a few cache sets catch the majority of our yotes. Summer ADC sets we'll use urine post sets with yote urine as the attractor to minimize catching closed season critters. We like ground meat baits ie:muskrat or beaver mainly some fresh/frozen and some with a light taint. Russ Carman yote/canine lures and a few home made lures/baits we make and friends make seem to be our best producers. We always use lure except with one bait we make if we have a cautious yote or canine we'll use it only and skip any lure or other bait/urine. Would this be a thread to keep going every few weeks or so with new/different critters or is there even any interest in it?


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

I remember it being outlawed in Colorado. As I remember Denver was the deciding factor on the vote? That stinks, maybe someday you'll get the right/priveledge back. To be honest Im surprised it hasnt happened here. I'm afraid I would have to move eventualy. Our yotes run smaller then the western/mountain ones I think? I use smaller traps also because of ***** etc. Good luck, hopefully someday soon your DNR can get the regulations changed. We used no.2 coils and no.2 double longsprings for yotes for years and still use double longsprings when we have alot of ice and snow. The no.2coil's didnt seem to "lock up" good on our yotes. The lever's didnt ride up as high as the new ones so that may have been an issue too.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The coyotes I caught in NM and CO were smaller than the ones we have in MN. And a lot easier to trap.

I've heard that eastern coyotes are the biggest.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Ours average around 30lbs? We've caught some over 40lbs and approaching 50lbs but they are rare. Now coydogs run heavier here, probably a 40lb average? How big are everyone elses? Im in Illinois I guess I should mention. I cant find how to do that to the profile thingy?


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

backwoodsman.... not much differance in size between the natives here and yours. I'm in southeastern Colorado. I caught just a few big dogs that were in the 50# range


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

We get a big one on occasion but the young of the year etc are alot more common. I think ours ran bigger several decades ago due to having alot more wolf blood in their genes? We've had some good postings on yotes and alot of info and tips I think? Should we try another critter in a day or two or does anyone think there isnt an interest in it? If yes what critter should we do(not bigfoot or lake monsters) or is there any someone would like to comment on or a share tips, read about etc?


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## arcticow (Oct 8, 2006)

Give 'er a shot, I don't trap yet, bein' in between worlds... but a little learnin' don't hurt and I may need it soon.


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

This is a good skill to know. I could eat for a long time here trapping small animals and yotes if SHTF.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

NJ Rich trappng is a really good survival skill to know/acquire. Anyone following this thread want tosuggest a critter? Any ideas or suggestions from anyone?


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## gunseller (Feb 20, 2010)

1st time here so I will say Hi.
I love to trap yotes. My trap of choice is a modified 3 Montgomery step-in. Start with solid jaws, laminate the jaws, off-set the jaws, 4 coil the trap move the chain to the center of the frame and use 18 inches of chain. Sense Montgomery is out of business I would start with a heavy square jawed #2 coil spring trap and add the above improvements. I have trapped yotes in several states but most have come from SW Iowa. Snares work and I use and make many. Like all tools there is a time and a place for each. My best year I trapped over 300 yotes. My best day was 11 yotes. Dirt holes are the sets used most with chicken fat in the hole and 2 good lures on the top back edge of the dirt hole. A little fox or cat pee all over the set and I am on to the next.
Steve


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

First welcome to Homesteading Today and the outdoor forum. Montgomery made good coilsprings. Ive always been a fan of longsprings but Ive got a nice collection of Montgomery's and for the money they were the better coilspring of their time(first new coilsprings I bought were Montgomery's). Shame they went out of business but the fur bust of the late 80's took out alot of good companies. Im really starting to like offsets for my land traps and each year I convert more of them over. I believe in alot of swivels and I really dont think you can have too many on a chain. I'm hoping we can do a different critter every week or so and maybe keep it going after we've covered those critters with tips and updates etc. Maybe even legislative alerts concerning our 2nd amendment rights and hunting/trapping? We have a bill in Illinois right now to ban bodygripping traps and our already severly limited snare use. We've got a topic going on with skunks too if you've ever had to deal with them or have any advice or tips?


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## Bret4207 (May 31, 2008)

I bought a mess of MB 650's (IIRC) and use a post or dirt hole set with double crossed stakes.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Everyone I talk to that has used those MB's love'em. I'd like to get some sometime but the cost is prohibitive for me. You use'em as is out of the box?


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## IndianaWoodsman (Mar 17, 2009)

Where legal go with snares. I like em cause they are light-weight and pretty much species specific. I have gotten our big easterns in 220 set for ****.


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## backwoodsman (Jan 21, 2010)

Good for you guys Indiana. We're trying/fighting to keep our rights to use conibears period and snares under water for beaver. I'd love to use snares on land but I doubt it will ever happen here. Welcome to the site.


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## IndianaWoodsman (Mar 17, 2009)

Incidently, the best methods for holding/killing a yote with a snare are not legal. For best results in snaring I recommend the Camloc Snare Lock. But as it is a non-relaxing lock, here it is only legal when completely submerged or on a loop with a 15" _circumfrence_ or smaller. In other words you can use it on beaver and mink or small ****. 
The best beaver set with a snare is a 18 - 24" diameter loop set right on the ground on a slide. You have to get them behind at least one front leg and they are never dead but at least they are there and waiting for you. ALWAYS anchor a non-drowning snare to a tree, whether directly or with heavy wire or log chain (specifically for beaver).


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