When it comes to trapping a coyote, you have to outsmart the coyote. Coyotes are known to be clever animals and trapping them isn’t as easy as you think. There is an art to trapping coyotes and we have tips for you that will help you outwit the wittiest animal in the wild.
It all starts with you gear
Coyotes are clever and to outsmart them you want to to ensure you have your gear prepped. They have a strong sense of smell so the first thing you need to do is make sure your gear is as odorless as possible. You need to ensure it is completely oil-free and to get scent off of it, you need leave it in boiling water for awhile before use. There should be zero human scent on it, this drives them away. The gloves you use should be heavy duty cotton gloves which will keep your scent away.
The trap you get is also important. You want a trap that is flat and easy to hide. Something that will allow you to capture the coyote without hurting it. They need to be durable so that once it catches the coyote, they stay.
Know which area to target
You need to know how to spot coyotes track and target areas that are commonly places where coyotes can be found. Look for tracks with coyote paw prints, you can usually find them around strips of bushes that go along the side of lakes, fields, ponds, and streams. Agricultural areas are common grounds for a coyote to travel to so those are also great to target.
When targeting coyotes and setting traps, make sure you are careful. If there are a lot of dogs that you know of in the area, you need to be extra careful. Dogs can easily be trapped in the traps so you want to ensure that not many dogs are in the area that can easily get loose. Otherwise, you will have a lot of explaining to do to their owners.
Bait the coyotes
When it comes to baiting the coyotes, there are numerous different baits that can be used. If you were to ask professionals each would probably give you a different answer to which bait they feel is the best. You can catch coyotes using baits such as fat from meat trimmings, raccoon lure, duck carcasses, fermented herring, and animal bones. There are numerous other bait you can use but one that we feel works exceptionally well for us is dog food. Yes, we experimented and found that coyotes actually like dog food, quite a lot actually. So what you do is you bait the coyotes by leaving a handful of dog food in the hole you make for the coyote trap. Right before that you leave a small trail with the dog food so it leads the coyote to the hole.
When you use dog food, it will naturally attract dogs to the site also. We have found that using cheap dog food works well to keep dogs away. These have a stronger smell and dogs generally aren’t very attracted to them. Coyotes on the other hand do not mind. They have a keen sense of smell and they actually like the smell of cheap dog food.
The Sets
It is important you know the trail well, where you plan on trapping the coyote. Through experience we have found that the best set to use is a dirt hole to trap coyotes. Don’t set it on the trail but slightly to the edge. Coyotes typically do not go off the trail but do examine the edge so there is a good chance they will fall for it. If you do it on the trail there is a good chance you will catch something else. The reason why the dirt hole works well is that it looks like the work of a canine. Coyotes love to examine these because they assume that a dog has buried food or something the coyote can eat. So they are likely to check these out.
You want to anchor the trap about 8 inches back from the hole to the left or right of the center. This will increase your chances of catching one of its foot. You can conceal the trap with some dirt or anything that you feel will be good enough.
Catching a coyote can be quite a sport when hunting season is off. Definitely a pass time hunters enjoy. Use our tips to enhance your techniques to trapping a coyote.
