Giving Coyote Trapping a Try

[Cabin Fever]

I bitch and gripe about coyotes wiping out fawns around here every year, resulting in a low deer population. Seems like every year, I get pics of coyotes carrying fawns away. I seldom get trail cam pics of fawns in the summer or see any in the fall. I felt like I was part of the problem by not doing anything about the rising coyote population. Wanting to do something about it, I've tried my hand at calling the past few years, with no success. But, I would only go out 3-4 times a season, so kind of a half-assed effort. I guess if I had some success, it would have kept me motivated to go more often.

For the past several years, I've thought about trying to trap them, but I kind of hated to, fearing it will interfere with bow hunting. Plus, coyotes mainly seem to be in this area in the spring and summer and it's hit or miss in the fall and winter. I recently started watching coyote trapping videos on YouTube and I decided this was going to be the year I give it a try. I plan to have everything ready, so if they're around here this season, I'll be prepared to put traps in the ground. I just bought 6 Duke 550 Pro's. Need to get them boiled, dyed and waxed, but I'll wait until I get my chains and earth anchors, so I can do them all together. I'll be placing an order later today for more supplies. Getting ready anyways! 

Edited June 18, 2023 by Cabin Fever

[Robhuntandfish]

Awesome.  Keep us all updated on it.  I've tried calling a few times with zero success too.  Well except during turkey season I've called them in inadvertently.  And hunting them after deer season in the cold after a long deer season has little appeal to me.  

Our neighbors trapped a couple a years ago and we seem to have less yotes now, whether it was from them or not dunno. 

My former FIL tried to trap them years ago by deer leftover piles and never got one. 

Good luck!  Hope it works 

[Cabin Fever]

There's very few to no turkeys around here either. Some years I have 5-6 hens visiting my yard, but I've yet to see any poults in 3 years now. A couple years ago, I bought a few Duke DP traps, in addition to several live traps I had, and have put a serious spankin' on nest raiders around here, hoping that would help. I mainly set them around my yard, as to not disturb the woods during deer season. This year, I have a lone hen that hangs around, but so far I haven't seen any poults with her, either on cam or in my yard.

[Mattypotpie8s]

Make sure to sift/dry some dirt this summer to be waxed whenever.

[Cabin Fever]

23 minutes ago, Mattypotpie8s said:

Make sure to sift/dry some dirt this summer to be waxed whenever.

I just watched some videos on making waxed dirt this morning!  That flaked wax is pretty expensive.? 10lbs for $40!? Sheesh!

[Wolc123]

My neighbor is pretty good at trapping them.  Some years he gets a dozen or more.  I think he got 5 or 6 last year.
 

 I took the lead dog, out of a pack of 7 or 8, with my crossbow last year.  That’s the only one that I have killed, in about 10 years.  
 

They certainly are challenging critters.  I shot one over bait, out of my bedroom window with my .22 one night long ago.  They sure don’t fall for that trick any more.  The last few that I tried that on bolted off, as soon as I tried sliding the window up.  
 

 

[Robhuntandfish]

3 hours ago, Cabin Fever said:

I just watched some videos on making waxed dirt this morning!  That flaked wax is pretty expensive.? 10lbs for $40!? Sheesh!

I always thought that the oil from a fish fry ought to draw them in. Plus it wouldn't freeze.  Maybe could use grass clippings or hay as cover?  

[GreeneHunter]

I've noticed on my Trail Cam's that the coyote's seem to sense the Trail Cam is there and are leary of it ? Does a Trail Cam make noise that I cannot hear ?

[Robhuntandfish]

1 hour ago, GreeneHunter said:

I've noticed on my Trail Cam's that the coyote's seem to sense the Trail Cam is there and are leary of it ? Does a Trail Cam make noise that I cannot hear ?

My dog knows when the camera is on for my phone.  There must be a pitch to that or the flash that they can hear. 

[2BuckBizCT]

On 6/18/2023 at 5:38 AM, GreeneHunter said:

I've noticed on my Trail Cam's that the coyote's seem to sense the Trail Cam is there and are leary of it ? Does a Trail Cam make noise that I cannot hear ?

If I walk by a trail camera I can hear the click of the picture being taken. 

[Belo]

I'm in the same boat. I got all the info to take my trappers course over the winter and just never got around to it. The barrier for me is 2 things. With travel and work, the legal trap checking requirements would be a challenge. I also don't like "killing" without using the animal. The effort to skin and flesh a yote hide is a little more than I'm prepared to take on too. Idk... maybe someday. 

Good luck man and interested in seeing how you do, keep us posted!

[Cabin Fever]

3 hours ago, Belo said:

I'm in the same boat. I got all the info to take my trappers course over the winter and just never got around to it. The barrier for me is 2 things. With travel and work, the legal trap checking requirements would be a challenge. I also don't like "killing" without using the animal. The effort to skin and flesh a yote hide is a little more than I'm prepared to take on too. Idk... maybe someday. 

Good luck man and interested in seeing how you do, keep us posted!

I completely agree! I'm doing it strictly for predator control. One of the dudes that I watch on trapping videos calls it, "Being a good steward of the land", by helping to control predators. Fawn survival is about non-existent around here every year. I get pics of coyotes carrying away fawns and my neighbors and I hear packs of coyotes yipping and howling right behind our houses, close enough that it would make my neighbors not feel safe and go inside. I get pics of coyotes in my yard too. I feel like a POS not doing my part to take out a few coyotes each year. No luck with calling, so I need to try something else. Thankfully, I'll be able to walk out my back door to go check traps, so it'll be convenient. If I had to travel to check traps, I'm not sure I'd be as motivated....  I'll have to be strategic with where I put the traps, so it doesn't impact my deer hunting. Weather permitting, maybe I'll just wait until after deer season to start trapping. We'll see... 

[G-man]

Its not just the coyote.. fox  coon and opossum.  And skunk..

Recent pic fox with egg..  have a fisher carrying an egg as well... smh

[Belo]

17 hours ago, Cabin Fever said:

I completely agree! I'm doing it strictly for predator control. One of the dudes that I watch on trapping videos calls it, "Being a good steward of the land", by helping to control predators. Fawn survival is about non-existent around here every year. I get pics of coyotes carrying away fawns and my neighbors and I hear packs of coyotes yipping and howling right behind our houses, close enough that it would make my neighbors not feel safe and go inside. I get pics of coyotes in my yard too. I feel like a POS not doing my part to take out a few coyotes each year. No luck with calling, so I need to try something else. Thankfully, I'll be able to walk out my back door to go check traps, so it'll be convenient. If I had to travel to check traps, I'm not sure I'd be as motivated....  I'll have to be strategic with where I put the traps, so it doesn't impact my deer hunting. Weather permitting, maybe I'll just wait until after deer season to start trapping. We'll see... 

My initial thought was to put a cell cam over a trap and just have it send pics a few times a day. Not sure if that's allowed or legal as I haven't take the course yet, but seemed like a good way to be efficient. idk... 

[Cabin Fever]

10 hours ago, G-man said:

Its not just the coyote.. fox  coon and opossum.  And skunk..

Recent pic fox with egg..  have a fisher carrying an egg as well... smh

Absolutely! I’ve put a pretty good spanking on fox, coon, possum, and skunks over the last 3 years. I keep a running total, that I don’t have in front of me at the moment, but I’m sure it’s around 50 in the past 3  years.