First Time Coyote Trapping-Any Advice is Welcome

[Dobeman887]

I am in North Central IL and the coyotes are horribly thick around me. I have hunted them in the past, but I'm too tired at night now to getting out my night vision and coming in past midnight and waking up for work. Each year I say I am going to start trapping and I never do. This year I am doing it. I have watched plenty of videos, so I think I have the general idea. What I am most interested in getting your opinions on is what scent/bait works best, and where to get it. I see plenty of places offer a beginner's trapping bundles, but I think I would prefer to purchase exactly what I need. And then any advice in general would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[WCB]

If you can snare do that.

 

[go_deep]

There's so many different directions your can go with this. I'd start with beaver, and mice based meat baits, try a few different lures, red fox gland lure will really get the attention of a coyote, skunky based lure like hellfire. Another thing that's widely over looked is making kind of a blind set with coyote poop from a different area. Carry a few sandwich bags with you and if you find coyote poop, bag it up and use it around a trap site a few miles away with urine. Coyotes will mess around smelling it and trying to figure out who's in the area, the stepping around will give you more chances on a catch. Domestic dog and cat poop also can work for this.

Good luck and hope your traps are full of fur!

 

[MTlan66]

If you can snare do that.

I agree! Snaring is much easier and faster than foot traps, as long as you understand and are ok with the risk to domestic animals etc.
That being said, I prefer using foot traps. My go to bait that I have had excellent success with is Minnesota Brand’s Hiawatha Valley.
My favorite lures that have yielded very consistent results are Minnesota Brand Violator 7, and Milligan Brand Steppenwolfe 1 and Cat-Man-Do. I have generally ordered all of the above direct from Minnesota Brand.

A lot of great stuff out there, but these have worked well in my limited experience.