Many of the trappers who use this method use only three traps at a setting and arrange them in the form of a triangle. This is good but we believe that the use of four traps will give better results.
One trapper fastened his traps to iron pins, about 10 inches in length, and used this pin as a stake. The captured animal could easily pull up the stake but the entire bunch of traps would act as a drag, and it could not go far through the sage brush without getting fastened up.
One of the best methods for both the timber wolf and the coyote is what is known to trappers as the "cut bank set." All over the western country, along the water courses and wash-outs, will be found straight cut banks, sometimes overhanging. Select such a bank from 5 to 7 feet high, and if you can find two bunches of cactus, about 16 or 18 inches apart, on the top of the bank, this is the place to set the trap. If the cactus can not be found growing this way, place some there, being very careful to give it a natural appearance, so that it will look as if it had grown there.
The trap should be staked the length of the chain from the edge of the bank, and the stake driven out of sight. Set the trap about 20 inches from the bank, if for coyotes, and about 26 inches, if wolves are expected, and directly between the two bunches of cactus. Cover the trap nicely as per instructions on a preceding page, and fasten the bait between the cactus, on the very edge of the bank. When properly set, the animal can not reach the bait without stepping on the trap. When caught it immediately leaps over the bank, and as it can not get back, will be unable to make use of its strength in struggling, and will seldom escape. Another thing that speaks well for this method is the fact that the fur of the captured animal is always clean, which is more than can be said of those which are caught in traps set and staked on level ground, where they can struggle and roll in the dirt for hours, and sometimes days.
Coyote Caught at a Bank Set.
Mr. Ira W. Bull, official hunter for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and now located on one of the Colorado forest reserves, writes as follows:
"It would be hard to make an estimate of the number of coyotes and wolves in this section, especially coyotes, as there are so many of them and they seem to be getting more numerous every year. There are not so many grey wolves, but still, enough to do a lot of mischief, as they kill stock and move on, hardly ever coming back to the carcass for the second meal.
"My method of trapping varies according to conditions and time of year. When I set with small baits, I first select a smooth open place, and cut a hole in the soil the size and shape of the trap. I set the trap in the hole and cover carefully, fastening to a stake or toggle, concealing by covering with dirt. I cut the bait in small pieces, probably 40 or 50 in number, and scatter around the trap, leaving everything looking as natural as possible. With a large bait, say the whole or half the carcass of a horse or other large animal, I set the trap in the same way, but use 2 or 3 or even 4 traps at the one bait."