Trapping Tactics That Work for Fox and Coyote

Trapping has had its ups and downs in Ohio in recent years. Red fox populations are down a bit, possibly due to predation by coyotes, grey fox are almost extinct north of Columbus and not too plentiful in the wooded hills south of that city. Coyotes? Their population seems to go up and up, so rapidly that those who hunt and trap them are making some excellent bags each winter. Are they worth trapping? Yes, for at least two good reasons. One, coyotes particularly, make serious inroads on all game. They feast on baby rabbits each spring, and adults anytime, plus muskrats, deer fawns, and other small animals, even farm cats and small dogs sometimes when they're really hungry. And two, their pelts are worth the seeking with prices for coyotes particularly, often reaching $40, even more for prime furs. Trapping these various predators has always been a complex business. Some use snares, and many more use dirt hole sets. I always had a problem with dirt hole sets during my youthful trapping days,. From time to time I'd made up extremely smelly concoctions made of fish and groundhog meat left to "mellow" in the sun for days at a time, and I'll admit they work, at least when skunks don't find them first. But it takes plenty of time and effort to make those sets properly, and sometimes over those years I didn't want to take that time. Then a veteran old trapper showed me how to take fox and coyote the easy way, and his technique took so little time and effort that he could set as many traps around his large farm as he wished in just a few hours. One of his techniques that absolutely hammered local fox populations was what he called a scent post set, which like his other techniques, required at least a few inches of snow. He looked for areas where good timber or thick brush paralleled a short grass or cut soybean field, then placed ordinary chunks of stove wood, pieces about two feet long and 8 to 10 inches high about twenty or thirty feet out in the field and parallel to the woods. Finally, he placed two traps, one near each end of the stove wood and on the timber or brush side under the snow. He rarely used urine or scent on the wood, though it wouldn't hurt, but the stove chunk itself was usually enough. The basic idea here is that foxes and coyotes are a lot like dogs. They like to mark their territory with urine and when they're trotting alongside timber or brush, as they often do, there are very few bushes or grass clumps out in that bare field to sprinkle. So, the wood is a natural spot to urinate, spring one trap or both, and get caught. The old timer found them a quick and easy set to make, and you should, too. Another favorite tactic of this old timer, particularly in large open areas between woodlots was to run his pickup across a field with six to 12 inches of snow from one timber area to another, then set traps in the tire tracks. Fox and coyotes are lazy, and they'll run the tracks rather than buck deep snow. He more than once found catches in both tracks sitting scarcely 10 feet away from each other. Since he raised sheep, another favorite set was made with sheep manure. He would often haul a pickup load to an open field with good cover nearby, pile it high, then set traps completely around it. The pile would routinely account for multiple foxes particularly, and whether they liked the smell, the warmth, or enjoyed rolling in it didn't matter. They came and they'd probably come to horse or cow manure as well. A final set that accounted for at least an occasional fox, but also hammered the local raccoons, skunks, and opossums was to use a box trap in wooded or brushy areas. He would cover the trap with a bit of brush or tall grass to break up its outline, then (and this is the crucial point), bait it with fresh pork cracklings. "I think they can smell those cracklings for half a mile, and they love 'em," he said. "Everything around follows in the scent and gets caught." Hooks & Bullets The Division of Wildlife is attempting to find every bald eagle nest in Ohio and asking for citizen help to do so. Citizen scientists can report sightings at wildohio.gov/reportwildlife until March 31 and hopefully find more nests than those sighted in 2019. Most new nests should be found along lake and river shores. The Sportsmen's Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping hunters, fishermen, and trappers, will hold its Spring Fling on Friday, March 20 at the Villa Milano Banquet and Conference Center in Columbus. Dinner includes all you can eat perch and gumbo, plus beer, and gun raffles will run continuously through the evening. Tickets are $40 or $320 for a table of eight, and can be purchased at 614-888-4868 Interested in wildlife? You can discover an unseen world at Ohio's Wildlife Diversity Conference on March 4. Sponsored by the ODNR, registration is now open for Undercover: The Unseen World of Wildlife at the Ohio Union on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus. Pre-registration ($25) can be completed at wildohio.gov or by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE A special drawing will be held Saturday, March 21 at the Lake La Su An Wildlife Area Headquarters for youth interested in turkey hunting. Call 419-485-9092 for details. Dick Martin, a freelance writer from Shelby, is a retired biology teacher who has been writing outdoor columns for more than 30 years. Reach him at richmart@neo.com. You also can visit his blog at outdoorswithmartin.com.