bait pile trapping

mark-edmonton · #1 01-22-2014, 11:13 AM

I have had a bait pile out for about a month now, adding to it whenever it is gone. Last trip out i finally noticed some trails in the bush line. I did not set any of these yet as I wanted to wait to see if more trails develop. I am planning on setting it next trip out. how far back on the trails should you set? also would you only put one trap on each trail or multiple sets spaced out? seems to be both fox and coyote so far so I would like to target both.

pointer · #2 01-22-2014, 11:51 AM

I would put a snare roughly every 20 feet going back I have done it a few times before to come back with coyotes in just about every snare

HunterDave · #3 01-22-2014, 01:12 PM

I'm really interested in this thread. I've had a bait pile for the past month that I haven't put any snares up yet so I'm wondering about the same things. I was out there a couple of days ago and I swapped the memory cards in a game cam that I set up. Yotes are coming in every night. There are several excellent trails that they are using but with the crust on the snow now, I noticed that they are starting to come from random directions. They are still using the trails though.

My area is a small patch of bush only about 6 acres large so I'm limited as to how far back that I can set my snares but I'm thinking on putting several on each trail starting from the farthest away from the bait where the trail enters the bush. From what I've read the yotes are more wary the closer that they get to the bait because there may be other predators there.

Hopefully I can gain some knowledge from this thread.

pointer · #4 01-22-2014, 01:34 PM

You don't want to put them to close to the bait or the birds will knock them down

nube · #5 01-22-2014, 01:39 PM

I never wait to set my snares. I dump the bait and go from about 10-60 yards out from the bait and hang a snare in every spot I think the animals will come through. I add snares as I see tracks coming and going from the bait in the spots I miss. I usually have about 15 snares at a bait at one time. I find the thick bush and that is the best spot to put snares as there are less spots to walk around to get to the bait. Best night I had was a pack came in and I had 5 yotes all within 10 yards or each other and one on a fence crossing 100 yards away. It seems once one is caught the others come in real well as the caught one acts as a decoy. Why wait to hang snares. Get them out and working and add where you need to

pointer · #6 01-22-2014, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nube

I never wait to set my snares. I dump the bait and go from about 10-60 yards out from the bait and hang a snare in every spot I think the animals will come through. I add snares as I see tracks coming and going from the bait in the spots I miss. I usually have about 15 snares at a bait at one time. I find the thick bush and that is the best spot to put snares as there are less spots to walk around to get to the bait. Best night I had was a pack came in and I had 5 yotes all within 10 yards or each other and one on a fence crossing 100 yards away. It seems once one is caught the others come in real well as the caught one acts as a decoy. Why wait to hang snares. Get them out and working and add where you need to

Another thing I like doing is drop a bait pile and hang the snares but leave them closed the yodies get used to walking pass them after 3-5 days open them all up and she's game on

nube · #7 01-22-2014, 03:06 PM

Why wait to open them up? I was nailing them every day at my 2 or 3 baits I ran this year and just kept new ones going in the spots I was missing them. I got close to 20 at each bait in a month. It is easy if you got the right bush to do it in I had some that would see the snares and back out but I am sure I got them within the week as they wouldn't leave a a bait alone once they found it.

HunterDave · #8 01-22-2014, 03:31 PM

I won`t be snaring very close to the bait pile because I put it in an open area in the bush. My closest snare will be about 15 - 20 yds away from it. Two questions:

With baiting close to the bait pile do the yotes start to associate going to it with danger?

If you catch one in a snare do you put a new one in the same spot?

pointer · #9 01-22-2014, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nube

Why wait to open them up? I was nailing them every day at my 2 or 3 baits I ran this year and just kept new ones going in the spots I was missing them. I got close to 20 at each bait in a month. It is easy if you got the right bush to do it in I had some that would see the snares and back out but I am sure I got them within the week as they wouldn't leave a a bait alone once they found it.

Later in the season after the pups are caught the older ones are wiser but if they get used to walking by that snare and nothing happening they don't think about it and they slip up when its open just thing my grandfather told me first when I started trapping

Bushmaster · #10 01-22-2014, 04:13 PM

I always set my bait piles in thicker bush, forcing the coyotes in. And I would hang snares as soon as I set the bait, using what looked like natural travel trails. Then, I just adjusted or added snares as they showed me the paths they wished to use.

I don't mean in thick bush, just not in clearings, which I think allows them to choose their path.

nube · #11 01-22-2014, 04:18 PM

Maybe your right but I didn't think I was missing much but I would love to know.

Dave, I have found that the best place to bait is in thick blocks of bush that are near slough bottoms or on the edges of a lake. Coyotes love to hang out along lakes and slough bottoms have a lot of willows and thick bush. One spot that I have the bush is 200 yards by 120 yards. I baited just inside the bush 15 yards and walked around and set about 18 snares on the trails and openings the yotes most likely would have been using. I caught one every time I checked it except once in 2.5 weeks and caught just over 20 of them in that bush. I would add snares are I saw fit on the new tracks in the snow. I would also reset the same spots but fairly caught one unless a new snow fall came in to cover all the mess left from the previous one. I sued the heavy bush also because they would tangle and die fairly quick but sometimes they would chew things up real well and I would need a new spot to hang a snare

Bushmaster · #12 01-22-2014, 05:32 PM

I'm sure one of the reasons I found it to be successful was that I was baiting at the same sites year after year, and believe me,...... they remember.

Its also very important to keep track of how many snares you have at each site, to be sure you get them all once you're done. One way is to set exactly the same number of snares at each site. I always had 8 snares at each site.

Thunder Elk Hunter · #13 01-22-2014, 08:20 PM

Started one bait station in November and left it for 5 days and then set every coyote track.
Took 5 coyotes the first trip in two days later. Have pulled the snares there now, but took 16 dogs in total. Could have taken more but with the deep snow we ran out of dogs coming into the bait.

HunterDave · #14 01-22-2014, 10:54 PM

I have no experience but here's what I'm going to try with my meatcicle in the small open area in the bush. It's been a month and there are three main trails coming into it now. The coyote in the picture is facing towards one and if you look on the left side of the picture you might be able to make out a trail coming into the picture. That trail goes right by the bait pile and out by the fallen tree above the yotes ears (the way she came in). I don't have much of a choice but to put my snares about 15 yds farther away from the bait pile where the bush gets thicker.

Snares farther away from bait pile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXNAL2oUCtA

Snares close to bait pile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmUqN0oEWNE

After seeing all of the magpies and crows on my trail cam I'm thinking that the birds would be messing pretty bad with your snares if you set up like in the second video. I don't know what would work best but I hope that this gives you some ideas and maybe someone with experience can chime in.

nube · #15 01-22-2014, 11:39 PM

If you see in the first video dave that he follows a main trail and he sets it before the trail splits off. I don't do that. Why limit yourself. If it branches off 3 ways I set all three branches of the trail. More snares and more chance to catch more yotes. That is how I do things. Set every trail I can.

HunterDave · #16 01-23-2014, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nube

If you see in the first video dave that he follows a main trail and he sets it before the trail splits off. I don't do that. Why limit yourself. If it branches off 3 ways I set all three branches of the trail. More snares and more chance to catch more yotes. That is how I do things. Set every trail I can.

I've only got 3 main trails coming into my bait pile so I'm going to set a couple on two of the trails. The trail that the yote is facing is close to the edge of the bush where I walk in and there's only one spot that I can put one there. I haven't been anywhere except into the bait pile and out again so with luck there are several trails funneling to the bait pile. I'll certainly put snares on them if it's like that. I also noticed that now that there's a crust on the snow they are starting to come in from different directions so that gives me more options as well.

I have one picture of two yotes at the bait pile and two more sets of eyes glowing in the bush.

honda450 · #17 01-23-2014, 06:58 AM

This was a great bait pile. Not mine, just found it while working a few years back. Keep them yotes occupied for a while. hehe

Brian Bildson · #18 01-23-2014, 10:04 AM

i don't do the major bait piles much any more, lots of work. I prefer hanging a single beaver up, just high enough that they can work it. I try to snag my wolves the first time they visit, not counting on repeat visits. I use a minimum 20 snares at each site.