Coyote snow trapping
Wisconsin
I'm looking to do some predator control trapping the next few months. What do you guys that trap like to do on snow covered ground for trapping methods and techniques. I trapped as a younger man but I've been away from it for 30 years and I have a son who has some interest. So I thought we'd make some coyote sets to pass the winter. Thanks, Dave
I have never trapped but talked to this one trapper in Ohio uses the snare type trap, It goes around their head when they travel through a fence etc and puts them in a chokey..... Have no idea if it is legal in Wisconsin, All I can say is this dude had several Coyotes hanging in his shed, I would think it would NOT be legal here because of the Wolves possibly being snared. JMHO
ive got 9 yotes in last two weeks trapping but rite now theres not much frost so you can still make dirtholes. go to trapperman.com the forum there you will learn anything. i posted on here about coyote trapping last week and it got deleted just so you know. hay sets are good when we get snow my fav is the ash set in the winter. mix the dirt with salt or type of antifreeze to keep from freezing.
Snares are legal in WIS. Have to have a max and min. size hole though and length....etc.
Read up on it.
cable restraints are the way to go in the winter. http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/TRAP/cablerest.htm
Cable restraints.......tomato tomato.
cable restraints are legal just have guidelines i had a coyote today in one. they caint be within reach of any vegetaion over a 1/2 inch thick that would choke them out. best way to use snares is drive your truck into tall standing grass put out some carcasses then drive back out on the same tracts then set snares 25ft from bait pile on each tire track. i still have way better success with leg holds than snares in the winter.
In sets this time of year do you use lure, bait or urine? Where's a good mail order house for trapping supplies? Thanks, Dave
minn trap supllies or nwtrappers.com usually a meat bait down the hole like a hiawathvalley then a good lure for winter is a skunky like a gusto or canine force lure then us a gland lure on the backing or a urine.
Again snares are not legal for land trapping. Cable restraints are what you need to use. You can't set them anywhere there is a entanglement issue or near rooted woody vegetation a 1/2" or greater in size.
Foot hold traps will catch you more yotes but require a lot more maintenance to keep them operational in the winter. Cable restraints you can set them and not have to do a thing to them unless a deer or something knocks them down.
Also your son needs to complete a trappers education course before trapping. It wouldn't hurt for you also to take it as a lot has changed in 30 years.
Go to trapperman and look at the archives for the flat set, dirt hole set, hay set, and scent post sets along with trap preparations.
Couple of points to make here that are the way it is. Trust me, I stay at Holiday Inns all the time...lol
1. For land based trapping...learn the words...CABLE RESTRAINTS...NOT....Snares. Snares in WI are for wet work only, and I don't mean military WET WORK. LOL
2. Leg hold traps rock if you can keep them from freezing. Cable restraints are easier to manage and all you have to do is read up on which types and what stops and name tags have to be included. Little reading will go a long way at the WI DNR site.
3. You can trap all year all the time with no license or training ON YOUR OWN LAND. The traps have to be in your name, and be on your land if a warden finds them. No biggie there for most of us. When a buddy of mine traps his lands....all he does is take my traps and puts his name tags on them. I have 200 cable restraints, and 50 leg holds.
4. The rules on thicker vegetation is so when an animal gets cabled...he doesn't wrap it around a small tree (an example) and choke itself to death. You have to come supposedly and actually look to see what you caught before desiding what you want to do with it...like kill it with a .22 cal or something. Many people I knom don't follow this rule at all, they want the animal dead before they even get there. Some cats, dogs, or other small animals might die if you choose to ignor the vegetation thing.
5. The tire track thing works like a frickin charm. Bait it with what is legal....use traps all along the tire tracks leading to the bait.
6. Snow is your friend. It sucks for the leg holds, but clearly indicates the routes the yotes are using for you to know where to put the CR's.
7. Know how to build CR's and how to de-humanize them. Scent is a bad thing for animals that have a sense of smell way better then deer do. Predators make the brains of prey look like peanuts.
8. Get a good Fox-pro electronic caller. Some guys can call with mouth calls, some think they can call with mouth calls. The electronic ones make hunting for them easy and not a lesson in lung capasity and endurance. Good electronic callers from FOXPRO run 5-6 hundred. Start saving the nickles. Now with that said...get an AR15 from Rockriver Arms...223 caliber will do the trick and get a good low magnification red dot or trijcon site on that puppy. You'll love the rapid firing and the rapid results.
9. You can be like me...lol
If they are close enough to shoot with a Red Dot scope I'm using a shotgun. Also for night calling. Otherwise I'm using a bolt action 22-250 with a 4x12 scope. You can spend 30.00 on a howler and coaxer call and another 29.00 for an instructional DVD and learn to call with mouth calls. Way more fun and satisfaction. No need to take the easy rout and spend 400.00/600.00 on a E-Caller.
this is number 3 of 4 today number 21 for the past two weeks i might break even on gas this week. but to be fair i was a full time trapper a few years ago so its really not to easy. id take the time and swing the pick to set 5 legholds over setting 20 snares anyday whoops sorry calm down guys i meant CRs.
21 in the past two weeks? Wow and congrats from me and a whole lotta unborn deer fawns! Cool pic as well. Thumbs up!
Mating season is upon us.....they are moving good. It is only going to get better come February.
