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Trapping Season 2025-2026

Two sets in where I've been getting almost daily pics of yotes. Turns out, there was a dead yearling buck close to the second one, which isn't shocking given the conditions the past two weeks and the size of the yotes I'm seeing.

This one is set at the mouth of a bowl, or a thermal hub as the cool kids say these days. Multiple yotes have been through here daily since the first snow. Full disclaimer, I'm still a rookie and have only trapped one yote in about three cumulative weeks worth of trapping over the past decade. In my mind, anything done in the snow is going to be obvious, so I played on that by slinging dirt and leaves like I was digging furiously to bury my treasure. I have good backing here and the dirt was perfect for bedding the trap. Lots of salt and dry peat moss to cover it, then a dusting of snow. I made sure to soften up the snow and use debris in a way to encourage that front right paw to land on the pan as they reach for the hole. I had some rancid deer meat for just the occasion, so I filled the hole with that juice, then put fox piss on the top like I was claiming it.

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This one is near the intersection of the hollers and is also seeing a lot of yote activity. I cut off a tuft of deer hide and stuffed in the hole, which was filled with the rancid deer meat juice. Add fox piss, and decorate to your liking. We'll see how it goes. The buck had a leg torn off, so I bungeed it to the back of the quad and made a loop around the trails dragging it through the snow, then by each set. There's cell cams on each, so it would be nice to wake up to some cool videos!

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Can you drag the yearling buck into a nearby thicket and set snares on the routes in where the coyotes would still be traveling at a good clip?
That’s how my buddy does it and with good success. He creates a backstop from brush so the critter comes in from the frontal trails which increases his catch percentage while cutting off the back door entry.
 
You certainly can, but I'm not much of a snare guy. I wish I'd have found it sooner and drug it up to the field were I could have spotlighted with a rifle. Sit in the truck and stay warm in the process 😂
 
  • Haha
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