I would call that a variation of a dirt hole.

Nearly forgot about the t- bone set ! Guess I catch more coyote on flat sets than I thought , but still catch more on dirt holes .

The T bone is the set I use almost all the time and bed tight works for me I've found if I do one thing over and over I don't screw it up as much and I don't get to may misses. By misses I mean fried traps and nothing in them if they miss the pan and nothing moves then it may come back.

My dad has a pile of rock little bigger than soft balls he use to put around his tress, I took a few one time and painted them black with spray paint, have not got to set them yet

If you hang out with two different good coyote trappers, one using flat sets and one dirtholes, you will quickly see they want to make sets in the same location as the other guy.

Coyotes are not smart enough to get nervous cause there is fresh dirt without a hole. Conversely when they see a hole, just like a human, they will often go have a closer look.

Danny I think that’s why I have more confidence in the dirt hole, if a coyote comes by after a wind switch he can see it. I feel like a flat set is completely dependent on the wind to carry sent, no eye appeal .

So I gather that a flat set is a set where lure if used is placed above ground on a holder of some sort. And if you poke a hole not matter the size it's a dirt hole or variation of a dirthole.. so with that I tend to catch more coyotes in a set without a dirt pattern. The set is blended in . I like the idea of the compass set where the nose of the critter has to do all the work.. Now I don't trap for numbers and I'm no where near an expert heck I can't bring myself to make a post set cause I am not familiar with it an have no confidence in myself to make it..Just my two (SCENTS) LOL.. and feel free to pm me info on post sets
DB

Isn't there always some object, a rock, a tuft of grass, a protruding stick, a skull, etc. at a flat set? Otherwise is would be a blind set right?

That object, whatever it is, creates some eye appeal.

I agree with you about the wind shifts, I think a dirt hole has more eye appeal than a flat set when scent is removed (by a wind shift).

I agree about the dirt smell but your coyotes must be more curious than mine. I have seen coyote tracks going right by my dirt holes with no break in their stride many times. Fox do it too occasionally but rarely, they almost always take the time to work a dirt hole.

Here is a good example: I have six dirt holes set on this farm along this tractor trail (three locations with two traps a few feet apart at each location).

The tree fell sometime during the fall and tracks in the snow showed that fox, coyote and deer were going around the end of it rather than sticking to the trail and going through it.

I thought it was a good place for a flat set so I took two pieces of wood about 3" in diameter and about two feet long and laid one perpendicular on top of the other so the end facing out was about 8" off the ground a protruding out a bit farther than the rest of the brush in the tree top. I pounded a bed into the sod and set a trap about 10" away on a 45 degree angle from the tip of the branch. I put a bit of gland lure and a shot of red fox urine on it.




The coyote below, a 32 lb. female, walked right past a dirt hole, within 16" of it, about 80 yards on the other side of the blow down but got caught here.

Someone said "no eye appeal at a flat set", got a dog? Put a large flat rock in your yard & tell me how long before your dog checks it out. If it has a hole it is a "dirt hole set". I make some flat sets by just putting bait under the rock. I make some dirt hole sets by putting bait in a hole under the rock. I trap on the roads and everyone that drives by can see a hole and stop to mess with it. Most drivers pay little attention to a rock at the road edge, not so for the "dogs".

Isn't there always some object, a rock, a tuft of grass, a protruding stick, a skull, etc. at a flat set? Otherwise is would be a blind set right?


So now if you spray urine on a flat or dirt hole set does it become a urine post set then? LMAO If you say tomato some one will say potato then.

The flat set I use most often is the compass set and it has very little eye appeal. When I use a urine post set I will almost always use a natural tuft of grass, short weeds or an actual fence post leaning away from the trap bed. These may have some eye appeal but they were already there, so if the wind switches I feel like these natural items will be ignored.
I do use a rock from time to time but usually put a hole or trench under it, lol so now is it a hole set ?

P.S. when using the rock I do not make a dirt pattern, just a hole or a trench that goes all the way out the other side.

Looks like this thread went right where you didn't want it to go Muddy Boots. LOL. I haven't seen any explanation why flat sets work or don't work.

It is to me Lugnut !

I sprinkle urine on all my flat sets and the backing of my dirt hole sets, now what? LOL

A urine post is a flat set isn't it?

Tuh-MAY-toh or tuh-MAH-toh?

What? You lost me. LOL

Sorry Lugnut, I thought you asked is a urine post a flat set .

I did. I guess we agree that it is.

When I trapped where 2" of rabbit fur wired to a bush was legal I considered it to be flat set and it was my most productive coyote set. Both the 'game animal' fur and visible animal parts are illegal elements for trapping in Idaho.

This season I bedded traps then stuck lured bait sticks in the ground behind traps to make flat sets. Those sets were quick to make and worked well for coyote and also took bobcats.

For info on bait/(grab and die) sticks see this thread:

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5996907/2