The following extract from a letter received from a Canadian trapper, tells of a very successful coyote set.
"One day I found a dead sheep in the pasture, and dragging it down to the edge of the lake, I set my traps around it, covering them nicely with wool from the sheep. I told the boys I would have a coyote in the morning, and so I did. On the second morning I had a red fox, on the third morning a coyote, on the fourth a fox and on the sixth morning another coyote. Then I did not get any more for a week from which time, I caught one now and then until spring. I think I caught 23 coyotes and 2 foxes at that one bait. When the snow got deep, I set the trap on top of the bait. When a coyote came along he would smell the bait and would dig down through the snow, into the trap. I wore skis when looking at the traps and never turned around near a setting."
"My last winter's catch was as follows: 69 coyotes, 5 lynx, 2 red foxes, 5 badgers, 12 weasels, 12 muskrats and 2 mink."
"I want to tell you how I catch coyotes," writes a North Dakota trapper. "I set two or three No. 3 Victor traps around some dead horse or cow, cover the trap with a piece of paper or cheese cloth, then throw snow over that, having it look as near like the surroundings as possible. Sometimes I use a fresh beef head, but the coyotes are so shy they will not go close enough to get in your trap for sometimes a week, unless they are starved to it."
"I think the coyote is as shy as most any other animal. I do not think they can smell the steel traps for the strong smell of the fresh meat or carrion but they are afraid of your tracks, and naturally suspicious of everything. When I first tried to trap coyotes, I drove up within a few rods of where I wanted to set my traps, went and set them, and did not pay any attention to destroying my tracks. I would never catch any until snow filled up my tracks."
"Now I set my traps off of skis or snow shoes or drive up close to where I want to set my trap, and drag some fresh meat over my tracks; they are not afraid of a sled track for they will travel for miles in sled tracks when the snow is deep."
We will conclude this chapter with an article written by a Canadian trapper, telling how he caught his first coyote:
"This is my second winter in Alberta and I must say that we are having one of the good old fashioned kind. The snow is over two feet deep on the level, and the thermometer on one occasion, went on a strike. It was only 36 degrees below zero this morning.
"Last winter, which was very mild, was a poor year for catching the sly old coyote. He was too well fed and could get around so easily that he never suffered the pangs of hunger, so was constantly on the watch for danger. We had a cow that committed suicide by falling into the manger, and I thought she would make good bait. So she did until I set some traps around her and from that time the coyotes would come and look at her, but would not venture near. However, I succeeded in catching three large dogs.
"On January 5th, I changed my boarding place, moved to within a half mile of Battle River and Lake. The coyotes were quite numerous around the lake and river, and made nightly excursions up around the buildings, feeding on a dead horse, cow or calf. The boys had a couple of traps set beside a cow, but the cattle would spring the trap while feeding at the straw stack where the dead animal was. Then I took a hand and set the traps on runways used by coyotes. I set them with great care, but all I found was a footprint about two inches from the pan of a trap. Sometimes they would go as far as the trap and would turn around and retrace their steps. One night they actually scratched the snow off of the trap, as if to show me that I needn't try to fool them because they were on to my game.