Baiting


Nice going Scalloper. That is indeed a reminder, as DoubleUp mentioned, of how brutal nature is sometimes.

Cozwurth, it has been slow here all fall and winter. Like you, possums and to a lesser degree, buzzards, have robbed my bait. Currently I'm having a fit with crows and hawks. I do get an occasional red fox and a gray fox coming, though they don't visit every night. Coyotes here seem to be scarce at the moment, though I did find fresh tracks on the farm yesterday. They were around the bait site too, but neither camera got videos for some reason. A skunk has also appeared a couple of times, as well as a bobcat. I have had dogs show up too on a couple of occasions, something I don't like. Seems once they get started coming, they keep on coming.

As DoubleUp mentioned, it seems this season is par for the course. Generally every winter is slow for me, but begins to pick up in February and March. Hopefully I will begin to score some soon. It's been a very long winter of wait, bait and rebait, and hope.

 
scott l nice pics I have some bait ready to be hung tomorrow.
nice going lefty congrats
family guy that shooting hut is really nice it gave me an idea that I might try that I had not considered thanks
scalloper nice going what lake is that? what did you hit coyote with? things got noisey 4:30 this morning just letting me know they are back in the neighborhood. time to really restock the bait areas. I let them run down just a little because it has been so cold getting the window open has been a problem. now that things have warmed up a little things should pick up a little... i hope. no sightings or pics for 2-1/2 weeks. they are around tracks say so but i can't get any times with out the camera.....eeerrrrr. hope it picks up for the rest.

funny story.... i got a friend into coyote hunting even got him him a big downed cow for bait. Tuesday night he got he his first shot called all excited even though he missed.... hit the leg of the cow in the dark. this morning he calls me again .. he shot one ... it danced all around but he could not find it as it went into the woods -- i told him go look some more i am sure it is there.... then he gets after me and says he is going to start sending me a bill every month becsuse of all the work he won't be doing in his shop because he will be coyote hunting. i said welcome to the addiction... he laughed and said this is so much fun ,,,,, then i laughed
 
Hey there. I just guessing here but I think that the fox in this vid and that yote in the other vid may not be scared of the IR rather I think they are hearing the cam come on.
 
My cousin and I shot this 46 pound female off our bait pile the other morning. They have finally started hitting the bait. We have a road kill deer that has been there since before Christmas and the yotes were digging for old dry dog food we placed there very early in the season. Funny why they want that over the deer?
 

Wcboy, welcome to the forum. You could be right about the click of the camera vs the IR. I do know they see the IR, because they stare at it at times, moving their head back and forth as they look.

Scott, nice going on the coyote. That is a large coyote. What did you shoot it with? I'm like you, you would think the yotes would go after the deer over the dog food.
 
6mm06--shot it with a tikka t3 in .243
we haven't had the huge flocks of ravens and crows over the bait like in past years. I have baited for many, many years and have noticed that if the ravens and crows havn't touched it neither will the coyotes. Once the birds get to it then the coyotes start. Might be a confidence or a safety thing--who knows.
 
They definitely hear the cameras. I have had many daytime videos were coyotes and deer stand there staring at the camera real jumpy like. They have incredible ears being able to hear a mouse under feet of snow.They never run from the daytime cameras as the video shows you. The infrared light sure gets their attention sometimes spooking them but most seem to get used to it after a while.
 
Originally Posted By: xxLeftyxxNice work, Scalloper. Too bad you didn't get a shot at the male.

Can you stake it out again?
Yes, if the weather clears up I am heading out at midnight with 2 kill lights one for scanning and one on the AR
 
Originally Posted By: Scott L6mm06--shot it with a tikka t3 in .243
we haven't had the huge flocks of ravens and crows over the bait like in past years. I have baited for many, many years and have noticed that if the ravens and crows havn't touched it neither will the coyotes. Once the birds get to it then the coyotes start. Might be a confidence or a safety thing--who knows.

I had the same result all last week Scott. The bait was cleaned when I got to the site but it was placed out there 2 weeks prior. I put a deer in the same spot and they wouldnt touch it. They would come in at night and walk right by it and keep on going. They did this 4 nights in a row. Even a raven or two flew around a little while but didnt touch down to feed. I am going to sweeten the site with some beaver carcasses next time I go in there. Spent 48 hours last week over bait and only saw a fisher.
 
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Just a thought,but are you guys opening up your Road Kill when you put it out?? When I put mine out I always do and I think it helps get their attention quicker.
 
Wallbass, I always open up the guts on our roadkill bait. This year is the strangest year I have ever had for baiting and I have baited for many many years. I am stumped as to why they are doing what they are doing. My only thought is that they have very little snow right now and what we do have is like cement from the previous rains and then very cold temps. They can get around very easily to get a meal. Over the years I have noticed that when the snow gets really deep and the weather gets cold then they hit the baits. On the up side they are predicting 2 good size snowstorms within the next 5 days!!!


Scott
 
Yes wallbass I usually open them up as well. Often I skin them halfway if the paunch is still intact. Unfortunately this last one I put out was froze solid. It was -12f the night I got it and -26F when I put it out. I do believe it being whole is atleast part of my problem.
 

I always remove the guts at the bait site. Then, I cut up any meat into small chunks and place in freezer bags. I save the rib cage and leg bones that have meat attached. I generally cut the ribs into about 4 separate pieces for wiring down later. I wire down the leg bones too. When baiting, I like to have a larger piece wired down and then spread several small chunks around the site.
 
been pretty quiet in my neck of the woods been getting visitors ... this fisher cat and also a red fox are regulars lately at my number 2 site but pretty quiet at the main site .. no coyotes for 3-1/2 weeks this is killing me, even the crows stopped coming and there is plenty of bait out there. we went calling last saturday, 4 sets at different propertys only 1 of them had fresh tracks.... usually these places all have fresh tracks. maybe this fresh snow and more additional bait will help not sure how the bait will help if there are no tracks to begin with. hopefully things will change around with the full moon.

 
Well big turn around for me with the storm that rolled in this week. We got about a foot of snow Wednesday and I just went and checked my bait and I've got multiple coyotes coming in every night since day before storm . 66 pics in 4 days all coyotes and 1 red fox . If all goes well I should have some kill pics to post up monday!!
 
Well that was a big flop! Coyotes were there Tuesday - Friday am I stayed up there Friday&sat and nothing! Just can't get on them this year. Not sure if there is less around or what????
 

There's definitely less around here right now. I haven't shot a coyote all winter, and have only had three visits since September 24th.
 
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