Baiting


Hey Al,

There for a while I was kicking myself in the butt, thinking I missed a golden opportunity. I wanted both coyotes to come further down the hill to the bait pile, first for good video, but also for a better chance to take both. They were nervous in the beginning and I wanted them to settle down. They turned and left suddenly and I was really beating myself up when that happened. I guess patience is a virtue sometimes, but other times not acting when you have an opportunity can end up biting you.

The one I shot returned several minutes later though I didn't see the second one. No doubt it was out there, nearby somewhere. I just hope my shot hasn't scared it from returning. I plan to stay at the cabin tonight and hope for a return.

 
Started the bait pile back in early October , and with last years disaster of a season ... no coyotes and 11 the year before. I have been excited to get started and activity has been steadier than last. The other week I took my first at coyote in almost 2 years ....missed. Helped make up for it while deer hunting a few weeks later. Got all set up over looking a pasture after half hour coyote starts heading up hill towards me at 30 yards in front of me it lays down in grass overlooking the same spot I am hunting ...lights out for that coyote. I did not want to scent up the area so I left it ...... hoping that I might have a theory prove out. We all know coyotes chase deer but do deer follow coyotes. The latter proved out a nice doe came out from the same area the coyote came from. After a half hour of grazing she got close enough to the dead coyote that she froze solid for all of 3 minutes then tip toed away with flag up before she sounded the warning alarm once she was in the woods. Great fun. Happy Thanksgiving Season to ALL. Great to be back on here after missing out for a while.
 
lp I used 7mm-08, caught in back of neck ....took out lower jaw and filled mouth with fur. when I shot that was all that was flying through the air.......fur. never shot one that close.
 

I currently have two bait piles going, one at my place and one at my neighbor's (Danny). He visited me recently, asking for help with the coyote situation. His close neighbor had seen 5 in a pack. Anyway, Danny has a small cabin on his place and told me to use it anytime I want. I have since set it up for some bait hunting and have stayed down there two nights to no avail.

The coyotes here at the moment are not hitting the bait for some reason. They seem scared of it. I have several deer carcasses at both places (obtained from a local meat market) but the hunting is not panning out like expected. Night before last a coyote visited Danny's place, looked at the bait, circled a few times for some video but I never did see it take a bite. Frustrating.

 
6mm06, My bait usually will sit at least a couple of days to as much as 2 weeks before they hit it. Sometimes I think has to do with all the other goodies they are living on ...before they decide to hit it. It has been a little above normal temps. The little bit of snow we have makes for a perfect back ground to silhouette. The coyote I missed a few weeks ago blended in with the grass and I made the mistake of taking my glasses off. Good luck, I know you have had dry spells and now it sounds like you are on the upswing in activity. could be a really fun winter. Last winter was really awful here. My biggest excitement was having 3 bobcats on the bait all at once. That probably did not help the coyote situation.
 


Well, my efforts at Danny's place finally paid off. A female coyote showed up around 1:00 AM this morning. At the shot it hit the dirt but got to its feet and ran. I shot again but didn't hit it. It didn't go but maybe 15-20 yards anyway. I just left it lying where it was and retrieved it this morning.











Here's Danny's cabin. It feels like the Hilton compared to my little hobo-shack.










View from the bait pile to the cabin. I shoot from the back window. Shooting distance is only 45 yards, and down hill.







View of bait site from rear window. I would prefer a little bit further distance, but as you can see, I don't have that option. The fence-line is 47 yards.






A comfortable bunk and warm sleeping bag makes for a comfortable night. All the comforts of home.










When I stepped out of the cabin this morning, I noticed we had a big frost last night. Looked like snow.






Here's the kill video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9weWcBFSaKU&feature=youtu.be






 
Nice going 6mm06, great video and great pics.....thanks for sharing. Quite the set ups you have. I have wanted to do the night vision set up like you have. I still have to many other things going on. Although I maybe getting to a point in the not to distant future where I might be able to do this....I hope. You are right everything seems so much further in the dark.
Looking more and more like your long drought is over. Keep it going.
 

Dog Driller, thanks.

The home-made unit is not very expensive to do, around $225 or so and that includes a good 16mm camera lens. That price does not include a 12-volt battery or power source, nor an illuminator. A decent battery can be purchased on Ebay for less than $20, and a T-20 illuminator for less than $50. The unit works well for bait hunting.
 
Nice work David!!!! Those video's are inspiring to say the least. Not many can appreciate the effort it take to stay on point that long. Only going to get better as winter progresses. My site is shut down for mow. The owner of the pasture where I have my site has decided to keep his cattle there all winter. Looks like I may have to move it.
 

Sorry to hear about the loss of your site, Utah. No doubt you have put in a lot of work too in getting it up and going. Danny may turn cattle on the cabin side soon too and that will shut me down there, but I still have my place on the family farm. We used to run cattle too, then leased it to some other guys who did, but we have since not been running cattle. That makes for better hunting. My farm is only about 1/2 mile by crow flight from Danny's cabin, and the deep hollow that connects the two is a travel corridor for coyotes, so they will eventually be on his side or mine.

If you notice the greenery in the distance in these photos, that is my family farm as seen from Danny's place. My son's house can be seen in the left area. The black, dark-like place near center is a hollow on our farm below my son's house. That hollow runs for miles and passes below Danny's cabin which is at the lower right in the photo and maybe 200 yards to the right.

My cabin is on the other side of the greenery.





 
Beautiful country you have there David. Looks a lot like Mississippi where I grew up. Except we had more pines. We lived so far back in the woods we had to pipe in sunlight!
 
Is there anyone in here from the New England area who baits?
I will be putting out 3 or 4 baits this year however I prefer calling.
There are so many dogs in my area this year that I figured baiting would be an easier way to thin them out quickly.
 

Leatherneck,

I am like you in that I prefer calling, but things got difficult here so I resorted to baiting. I am not in New England however.

Baiting requires a lot of persistence and work. It can be productive but it's not as easy as most think, definitely fooled me when I first started. If you haven't done this type of hunting before, then consider a few things to help you get started.

You will need to keep a site baited pretty much 24/7 so a good source of bait is needed. Let trail camers monitor what comes to the bait and when. That way you can adjust your hunting accordingly.

Will you be shooting from your house, a cabin or shack of some kind? A warm place to lay your head and get some rest during the night is important since you never know when a coyote will show up, and generally they come during the night.

Baiting has been a trial-n-error thing for me over the past 4 or 5 years, but I have it down pretty good now. The only problem is coyote cooperation.

Give us a little more information about how you will set up and where you will be shooting from. There are a lot of guys on here who can offer some very good advice.

 
Leatherneck, Baiting can be a fun and productive tool for eliminating coyotes. I personally have had better success baiting than calling here in New England. My time is limited to weekend hunting so it cuts down a lot of my calling chances. Also there are others in my area that both call and run dogs so it does not take long for the coyotes to get trained.
Baiting if you can get the right set up can give you the chance
to maybe not hunt so much ....as it is checking for a shooting opportunity 24/7.

I have put bait in various locations over the years and of course the best one is the one closest to home...because that is where I spend the most time if not at work. Others bait sites have offered a place that I could drive by and check. I have tried sites that are more remote. These became more challenging because I was not able to visit as often as I would have liked.
Bait where you can keep an eye on it. the more you can be close to it the better the chance. As for bait itself it depends on a lot of things. I have tried various baits and eventually everything gets eaten ...sometimes not by a coyote. Deer and pig seem to work the best where I am. Downed dairy cows/calves sometimes you need to be careful with. If there is any chance it has been given some sort of injection for something coyotes seem to stay away from it. When I run low on bait in middle of winter I have made baitsicles from food scrap and dog food just to keep them around. The other issue has to do with your area and what other food sources is your bait competing with and how many other coyotes are competing for it. 2 years ago we had almost no deer around here with plenty of coyotes on game cameras. I shot a bunch that year on my bait pile and I know there where no other bait piles for many miles. Last year I shot ...NONE. and saw very few tracks around all winter. this past spring we had deer around and multiple young bucks. The coyotes have been moving back in ..as I have seen deer tracks that indicate it was running with a set of coyote tracks right behind it. I suspect I will get a few coyotes this year and be on the up swing again. I choked on my first shot of this year. daylight shot did not have my glasses on.

one more thing before I sign off. I have used pallets to hold down bait to keep crows off of the bait and to slow the coyotes down and make them work for it. I have also tied bait to a stake to keep them from dragging it off. What you need to keep in mind is coyotes smell steel. I learned this from a trapper, so pallets don't always work with the nails also if you use a small cable.... garage door type to fasten a bait to a stake they may not go for it. use a rugged strap for this.

Good Luck
DD
 
Well, I thought I'd jump back into the 'ol Baiting site. I have not been in since the end of last season. It is great to see so many of you getting yotes. That's great! I started my season the beginning of Nov. and here are just a few pics of how it went. Things have slowed down currently due to the full moon. Hoping things will pick up after that. Still no coyote population in my area to hunt . . .yet! I have 4 bait sites running. Its nice to be back in the stands again. gg



 
Back
Top