there is a tremendous difference between a stepdown dirthole and a dadgum crater hole set. my stepdowns are very subtle. but, if it has four feet and fur, I can catch it in my version of that set. thats more of a trench set to me. To each their own . i like the stepdown set as i typically ran 5 pounds of pan tension and didnt miss much when they committed to the set. coon, grey fox, cats and yotes with the occasional grinner. not to mention the skunks buried up to their neck in a trap.

Nothing like a possum floating on your drowner in a step down.

I'm a slow learner- I first saw the mound track and thought... he'll be back- he returned and stepped in the same spot, making a figure 8 track- put a trap on that spot and hooked up 2 days later.

Gentlemen, this is just for the sake of discussion, not meant to say anybody is doing this or that the wrong way

If it takes you three traps at one set to get him to step where he needs to, is that set really the set you should be making?

I only set one- left mound side

Then why make it a step down style trench in the first place? Is the digging of the trench/step down necessary just to not put a trap there?

The trench is nothing but a sight visual…with hopefully a smell they can’t resist coming from it. Great set when dry, but like the pic shows, it becomes a watering hole after a good rain. It seems the past several years I trap in wetter weather than more than I trap in dry conditions.

2-3 traps? Man I’m out to catch all I can and in a time frame on certain properties. The more I catch the more I make. Why have a possibility of a miss when a second trap would’ve caught him. I’ve seen many pics on here of the coyote stepped here or there and not on my pan. Now they have to wait another 3 days or week or two weeks before it comes back through. I just like to double my odds on those types of sets.

If there’s cat tracks or scat around I’ll put one on the backside of the hole. Every pic I have of cats getting caught they circle behind and come in from the back side.
I trap low density coyote areas so I want to catch one on the first pass, I’m not a great trapper so I have to do whatever I have to do.

I guess personal preference, when I set and area I usually make 2 sets sometimes 3- a traditional dirt hole with trench set or compass set, I also differ the bait or lure from set-to-set. Some people like muscle memory and make the same set and trap bed identical- canine's love fresh dirt and I think the trench set gives them a flashy reason to stop.

I make the same set almost all the time, and it's a stepdown... pro's outweigh the con's for me... peat moss helps. A big gully washer... they got me.

I usually set two at a step down set. Both on drags to preserve the set as much as possible. Big rains, and they happen here often in the winter are the devil on this set. But of the ones I use, I've caught more on this than a regular dirt hole. The key is to not make it too tight.

My 2 cents based of my situation.
Really the big advantage and only reason I use a step down (and to me there's a difference in a step down vs a trench set) is foot placement. For me if I have to set out of the step down or use multiple traps I just as well be using a flat set as it no longer has an advantage. I'm not big on using visual to help catch coyotes as it seems to discourage just as many as it attracts. I want to work their nose and trust in being on location. My step down is about 6 inches deep at the hole end with hole going back as horizontal as I can get it in a vertical face and back of step down just far enough back to be were the coyote will put his foot when he puts his nose up to hole. Trap about 3" deep when covered and just wide enough to bed trap. Vertical sides as I can get all around. No other guiding or backing other than the step down it's self. Set is probably 12 to 14 inches long 6 to 7 inches wide, 6 inches deep at hole end and 3 inches at trap. It's critical to use a bait and or lure the coyotes want to get to in this set.Some coyotes won't step in this and for them I'll use another set if I want or need to catch them. I like them to only have to make the last step into the step down. To me a trench set has a longer lead in and they have to take multiple steps into it to get to trap which seems to discourage more here than what my step down does. This is what seems to work best for me here. If I'm fighting precipitation there's other sets that work better for me.

Good post yes sir. I agree with you that I would rather use another set if the set requires multiple traps. I think my odds are greater with 3 singular sets than one set with 3 traps, but that is a whole different can of worms

I have the same feelings as you about the "visual" aspect. Digging the big heaping piles of fresh dirt is asking to catch every coon and possum around in my neck of the woods and send the coyotes packing. 90% of the places I trap are heavily called and night hunted. I do much better with more natural blended sets. The set in the picture ended up that way because we had rain come through and it was so muddy I dug it out when doing the remake

Your version sounds like something that would work much better for me here, the only reason I don't do it more often is soil conditions. Most of the time I could use a chisel to chip my trap beds out of the rock and be more effective. When trapping around tilled fields or softer ground I will definitely keep it in mind

I think that paired with a subtle flat set nearby will catch dang near anything passing by

Do you mound the excavated dirt at the opposing end of your step down from your dirt hole or do you toss it? Blend or no blend? For my coyotes I think I will do better tossing the dirt and lightly blending the set with nearby grass, soybean duff, etc

No blending on this set as this set represents some kind of digging and the coyote is expecting bare dirt and I usually make them on remakes so everything is disturbed around it anyway.
I'll generally leave a handful of dirt at opposite end from baited hole that looks like a little pile of dirt left from an animal digging. Trap is bedded level with a slope going down from trap bed to bait hole. Sometimes the set will end up being deeper than 3 and 6.
I've got a double dirt hole set that's a modification of a set I saw in one of Dobbins books that I like too. It's similar to some other people's double dirt holes but a little different. It's a little more weather resistant and really does a good job of controlling foot placement and taking advantage of a coyote working the hole from a 45 and approaching from either side. When I get to trapping I'll take to pics and try to explain the set and how/why it works. Maybe a video.

Good deal. Won't be a set I will make much but I can see where it has its place. Rain forecasted here in 5 out of the next 8 days. Better hold off for now

This is the standard dirthole I make most of the time. Caught two coyotes and a fox in this one