Baiting

what do you use in your bait pile? sorry if you have posted this before and I did not catch it. when i can.. i use road kill especially deer.....that works magic. one thing i did to mix it up a little was to set up another site .... not big or elaborate just to get them to look around more. that worked... i could not believe it... first night it was out they hit it. from your vantage point pick another spot and may be as close to cover as possible so they are not exposed for to long when they are going to it. that 1 point seems to help the most in getting them to get on it quicker. by the way your shooting shack is NIIICCCEEE !! i cut a shooting window in the back of my pole barn so if i get a good night i can sit out a little protected from the weather. warmer and fog today not a great day. weekend weather this year so far has been terrible -- to windy, to cold.. maybe this fog won't last all weekend.. keep the faith something good will happen
 
Dog driller, congrats on the coyote. Sure sounds like you'll be getting some more sooner rather than later.

I use mostly food scraps. I try to stay away from big pieces of stuff like deer rib cages. Since I'm baiting in my back yard, I don't want to deal with buzzards, hawks, etc. and the odor of a deer carcass rotting less than 100 yds away. They'll eat some surprising things including many types of fruit, even some vegetables, and of course dry dog food.
 
Try going to a butcher shop and ask if you were to drop off a FEW pales if they can fill them !! I have a butcher shop that I can drop off eight to ten pale Monday through Thursday and they will fill in one day or I can drop off two or three pales every day , I get a lot of scraps . I am currently running five bait spots and if I can get the pales from a friend I am thinking of going up to six or seven bait spots !! GOOD LUCK
 

Dog Driller,

I use meat scraps of all sorts. Sometimes meat goes bad after being in a freezer for a while, like steaks, hamburger etc so I take advantage of that. I mainly use deer meat though, left overs after a kill. There's generally quite a bit of trimmings left and also bones that have meat on them that can be cut off into small pieces. I had two local hunters give me deer scraps this past deer season.

Over the course of a couple of seasons, I have learned to put out small pieces only. Every time I put out a rib cage or even just a small section of it, I get the crows, hawks and buzzards. The bait scraps I use are small, mainly 1.5 to 2 inch pieces, and I will put out maybe 10 pieces or so at a time. I visit the bait site daily and keep it refreshed as needed.

This is what happens when I put out large amounts of bait, or rib cages.

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Shooting from a barn can be productive as long as you have the wind right. Before I got my
storage building cabin in order, I hunted out of a barn loft that my son and I fixed up. We
boxed in the sides of it, cut window openings and hinged them so we could open and close it.
I didn't hunt there much and didn't take any coyotes from the loft, since I shortly afterwards
got the cabin. If you can stay warm and comfortable, hunting from the barn might be a good
thing.

Here's some photos of my barn loft setup before I got the cabin. The first photo shows the
windows closed, which looks natural. You can't tell there's windows at all.

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If I were to continue hunting from the barn loft, I would do more work to keep the weather
out. I would cover the cracks between the boards on the inside, perhaps with black plastic.
That would help keep the wind out. I also would panel the walls on the boxed area all the
way to the top of the ceiling, and try to have some type of heater to help keep warm.

The problem with hunting from a barn is that unless you can warm it up to a comfortable level,
as well as make a bunk where you can rest at night, it would be difficult to remain there very
long without fatigue and cold. Seems the coyotes will hit the bait at most any time of the night,
so to be really productive, you would have to pull an all-nighter.

My current hunting cabin allow me to have a comfortable and very warm night, get some sleep
and enjoy while I wait for action at the bait site. Many times I have spent in the cabin with no
action, but at least I was warm and comfortable, was able to heat up some food and coffee,
which made the stay there enjoyable.


 

Here's dreaming a bit I know, but it's nice to think about.

I found this cabin at a local storage building place in my hometown. It's what dreams are made of.
This cabin has an upstairs that is tall enough to stand up and walk in. It has two upstairs windows,
front and back. The upstairs would make a fine shooting loft. Insulated and heated, this little deal
would be the cat's meow. The building is 12x16, with plenty of room for a coyote hunter.

Just thought I would post this to get everyone to dreaming like me.

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Nice cabin Dave. I need a small one at the new bait site, with the temps in the single and teen digits anything beyond 3 hours starts to get a little uncomfortable. I have a nice setup, decent sign, just need to be there when the yotes are, so far no luck. I did build a small heater out of the side burner from a gas grill, mounted it in a 6 inch piece of heavy pipe about 14 inches long, I use that in my deer blind and it keeps the 8 by 6 by 4 insulated shack at 65 degrees on low. I was thinking about using it in my popup blind, may have to try that this winter, only thing is no insulation and not big enough to actually sleep in.
 
6mm06, your barn spot looks pretty nice. if it was me, I would get a cot foam pad layered sleeping bag and sleep out there .. that is nice. i been dreaming as well just not as elaborate. we have a wagon kicking around here with a busted stem. been thinking i might like a spring project. something we pull around to various spots deer season or coyote season. make so we can stay warm and dry .. maybe sleep in it. it needs to be stripped dowm and get it in better mechanical shape to be pulled around. my neighbor built an enclosed deer stand on top of 3 sections of old ladder staging....pretty sweeeeeeeeet.
 

That sounds like a great project, Dog Driller. I like the idea of being mobile. I too have been thinking
of something like that. I have a 5x10 trailer that I had considered putting something on. I also had
the idea of trying to find a small pull-behind camper and fixing it up for a mobile hunting camp.

Here's a little deal I ran across that a guy built on his trailer. He uses it for selling slushies and treats
at various events. When I saw it, it had "hunting blind" written all over it, in my mind of course.

Notice the paneled ceiling. This one would be very easy to heat.


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I could sleep in the barn loft if I wanted to. I have a cot and a very warm sleeping bag. But,
the cabin is about 200 yards from the barn by crow flight, and the coyotes visit there just
as much, so the cabin is much warmer and very cozy. When I stay at the cabin, I rest well
and sleep so good. It's quiet down there, the cabin is warm and the bed cozy. An earbud
keeps me informed of what comes to the bait.



 
Hey fellas, I was wondering if regular dry dog food would interest coyotes or would I need to give it alittle kick. I live in eastern NC and I'm pretty sure the food is getting scarce this time of year. Also, sadly I noticed that I have some freezer burnt deer meat and was wondering if this would draw in some yotes.
 
either way, i put dry out when i am running low usually one pile so they know the spot and then spread a bunch around the same area so once they know it might be around they will come back. I usually have a stash of bacon fat i can warm up and mix in with the dry gives it the smell ..old freezer meat works good ... believe me they don't care... they are hungary most of the time.. don't overfeed them especially if you use the spot a lot..good luck
 
Big Pard, they will eat dogfood especially the young of year pups which haven't become as good at hunting. However I don't think food is all that scarce for them where you are because the winter has been pretty mild in the SE. Also if you're having a lot of rain, the dry dog food won't last long unless you cover it when it rains.

Farther north where it really gets cold and stays below freezing, some of the guys make what is known as a baitsicle with dogfood, deer parts, etc. frozen in 5 gal pails. You can probably find the subject covered somewhere in this thread by using the search function and baitsicle.

Hope it works out for you. They will eat most any scraps from the table or even meat scraps from grocery stores, etc. as well as many fruits including apples, pears, and watermelons when available.

How's the hunting in your area?
 
They will probably eat fish scraps okay. Some guys have reported success with some types of freshwater fish and some have had little success with other types. Don't know about saltwater fish but suspect they'll eat them too. Give it a try and report back.
 
Originally Posted By: Big PardHey fellas, I was wondering if regular dry dog food would interest coyotes or would I need to give it alittle kick. I live in eastern NC and I'm pretty sure the food is getting scarce this time of year. Also, sadly I noticed that I have some freezer burnt deer meat and was wondering if this would draw in some yotes.
I used dog food this summer and shot 4 right from my house.
 
Hey guys, just found this site and am looking forward to sharing and learning. I'm living in NC and have just discovered the #'s of coyotes in my area and started concentrating on hunting them. I trapped fox in WV along with calling them in, but coyotes are new to me. I have now been in NC 20+ yrs and enjoy all the warmer climate has to offer.
Pard,
I know for a fact that fish scraps work. I started a pile 2 wks ago using catfish and saltwater fish scraps. Took 2 nights for the fox to start and 3 nights for the coyotes. They have been on it every night since. Just waiting for my scope light to start the killin. I stop at the fish house and get a 5gal bucket of heads & whatever is left. Where in NC are you? I am just north of Wilmington.
 
Welcome NC-coast, lots of good people here who will help you anyway they can.

Are you going to be shooting from your house or do you have a separate site to use as a blind, etc.?

What distance will you be shooting and caliber? Assume you aren't trying to save fur that far south. Best wishes to you on your new adventure.
 
Decided to switch my PVS 14 mount over to my .300 blk tonight. 'bout an hour after dark, I was tweaking to get the reticle in focus at 90 yds. Around the third or fourth time I put it back on the scope, I looked through and was surprised to see a yote at the bait. No problem, took careful aim, safety off, squeezed, and CLICK!

Forgot to put one in the chamber, Aaarghhhh! By the time I snuck off to another room, loaded up and returned - guess who was gone? I swear I heard a laughing howl in the distance a minute later.
 
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Not shooting from the house, too many neighbors and our yotes are not that friendly yet. I have my bait off a large field in a pine wood edge. I am hoping to pull him out off the pile with calls. I have a well used rem 243 with redfield scope purchased with first paycheck in 1977. Had my list right back then. I will be shooting around 200 or under here. Not much open area for anything longer. Back home in WV, I shot groundhogs up to 400yds. I do miss those days. I'm actually having a hard time finding anything to shoot around here and my finger is itchy! I wish the fur was usable down here, but I don't think they prime up in the 75 deg weather we are having now. One thing is I don't miss the cold.
 
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