So,...I am seeing too much of this. In the pictures, the black arrows indicate trap locations (traps have been pulled but bait and lure still there). The red lines are fresh coyote tracks. I am losing confidence in my bait and lure. Although, this is the same combination that rewarded me with a double last year. The sets had been there for a couple months when I caught that double, without re-baiting. Here, they have been in place 2-3 weeks. I have been using some lures that I would consider pretty loud as this is wide open country. They GOTTA know they are there! Maybe too loud? I don't know. But as you can see from the pictures, it is not working, they are within a few feet of these sets and didn't even have a look. On to the pictures...…

Been the MO behavior here since November.

Old coyotes here, no pups, low pop, no natural competitiveness. Walk right by sets without even breaking stride.

Had to get creative this year as none seemed to come easy.

You know it is breeding season right?Why do you think they would be interested in a bait and lure that worked 2 months ago.Adapt.

Wind direction

Perhaps all of the above !

They still gotta eat.

Especially at -30!

Wind direction, breeding season, smart to those scents...


Put sets in their path. Not several feet from them. Also maybe a little eye appeal. Without your arrows, nothing really drew my eye to those sets.

Down here i have better success rotating baits/lures every season.

Are you trapping cold turkey or have you read books watched dvds?

Sometimes a situation like this could be just bad luck. Maybe the wind wasn't favorable at the time the animals passed through. The sets may not had much visual after the snow blew in and blanketed the landscape.

Many variables can be at play or just one primary factor at the moment of visitation. Snow blankets can hold back and disturb some odor release from a dirt hole or flat set to a degree etc. Or they just weren't interested and seen it all before attitude.

Animal behavior and acceptance of some trap set presentations and odors that are used can change with the progression of the season. I see this every year East and West to some degree. Populations are diminished over the months plus adding that some got an education along the way.

Animals learn, particularly those that have made it through this far. Just makes sense. Some that have made it to the later part of trapping season surely may have learned some degree of association. Some odd unfamiliar odors combined with some similar set constructions along the way could be contributing to some of their loss of interest to where they are just plain wary now.

Always has been my theory in some cases where nothing else can logically explain it.

I think many trappers get caught up in not changing a few things when this begins to happen. Heavy spikes of skunk essence isn't the answer for trapper success. Subtle odors and the curiosity of good visual appeal on good locations will get you more attention and results then the big stink coming from a small hole.

Becoming familiar with the predominate wind and ground thermals on average will get them to find your sets. The rest is up to your set location and construction/presentation. You may just need to make some subtle changes to eye appeal for those that avoid some basic sets and odors later in the season.

Nothing wrong with a touch of skunk in a lure or bait. But it doesn't need to be a dominant odor or even present in all of them to make it a good product. Skunk vapor is a good carrier of other lure and bait odor representations as well as a curiosity agent. It is an element that provides odor lift/bleed and improved calling potential to a product.

Predators don't need to get a strong fart in their nose to find a lure and bait. I would change out the strong skunky odors with more appealing food and curiosity odors. Always put in some marking scent post areas particularly beginning mid to late Dec. thru Jan..

Just use very small amounts of a matrix scent, touch of gland or just a dribble of good urine on an selected object or tuft of grass or weed located in an easy access spot along a known travel way. You slide one or two of these sets among others that are not producing and see where the tracks go in the snow.?:)

Many that aren't paired up yet are still looking for love. You can be their Huckleberry if you give them something of interest to smell or mark. They will check it out on their next pass through that area if they survive.

It isn't all about food this time of year. They don't miss too many meals. Ever see a coyote that you skin this time of year with no fat on them? Probably not. If you have, it is an exception to the average ones that I skin at this time of year.

To me It seems your just a tad off location. And like others said wind will play a huge factor In scent displacement. Set both sides of that line of travel paly the wind changes.
At that rock pile I would have been setting at least 3 sets right up against It. Gang set gang set One set at those locations Isn't going to cut It. The other thing Is those sets aren't very visible, eye appeal Is very important especially In the winter. A burnt chunk of wood close to that line of travel will get their attention.
I can see some great snare locations when looking at that one picture.
And then coyotes can just be not interested.

^^^this. Where I live that rock pile is golden. Probably get a skunk or 3, but great spot.

I wish I had some rock piles like that!

Even a surveyors flag can and will add eye appeal but I believe curiosity is the biggest draw

I use those small colored "locate flags" that the locators leave behind after they've marked underground water, electric, gas etc. to mark my sets in open pastures.
Stick them in the ground about 10 to 15' from the trap.
Pretty easy to find and check traps from a distance and they add some eye appeal.

To the OP...
Had two sets earlier this year that coyotes walked all around but never did get within 10' of the dirt hole or bait pipe.
A couple of weeks later I caught a coyote in both sets... Go easy on the lure / bait... they live by their nose.

SHAWNEE I agree I believe they walk by sets on purpose! They are scoping out a plan of attack for later.Or it could of been a timid yote to begin with, they got personalitys that dictate how they work sets. On loud baits a scent post will catch a lot of the overly excited ones!Or it might have just gorged on a road kil. They learn fast, so im patient with them so as not to educate them quicker than need bel

Agree - coyotes take a LOT of patience. I had one spot that had a trap there for 2 months. Was gonna pull it because I only caught 2 possums in it. Decided to leave it alone and caught a nice big coyote in it last week. When we had some snow, I saw tracks and they went within 10 feet of the spot but never did bite! Go figure...

snow can really humble a guy! You can think a sets dead as a doornail then a skiff of snow will prove otherwise. Snow proves to me every year how much I still need to learn! I love cutting a fresh set of tracks and follow them to a set and see that's were they end! Snow is the ultimate teacher it coves all guiding and eye appeal!

If those sets been there 3 weeks my money says those coyotes know exactly where those sets are... so if they know they are there eye appeal, closer location, or wind direction isn't the problem.

Are these tracks a one time happening?

This is one of the truest statements in coyote trapping.