Does anybody know of any books or dud's about making snow sets for coyote and fox with foot hold traps? i would use snares but they are not leagle in my state. and i live in a snow belt where 4 feet of snow over night is not uncommon. the only place i can find to make a set is by the root system of large up rooted trees. for some reason its the only place i can find to make sets that do not get covered up by snow. i make dirthole sets at these locations. with not much luck. but i'm not giving up i just need some new tricks. i wish Hal would wright a book - Snow sets for K-9's 2000 that would be so cool.

The best set for canines under those conditions is to set on the seat of your truck and drive south.

-- Hal

Just for the sake of starting a discussion. Where do you think the K-9's are shopping now that there is a good amount of snow cover. They need to eat and they won't all fit in the back of Hal's truck for a ride south.

wWhere ever there are rabbit tracks. I was out yesterday and thats all i seen was rabbit tracks followed up by a set of fox,

Enjoy the north country! If you are lucky enough to find a well used trail(like into a deer carcass) approach the trail from the side. In the deep snow the animals will use their same tracks. Dig the snow out on the side of the trail and slide the trap into the track. Dust some snow over the trap. Don't walk on the same trail as the canine..

I think i am going to watch the weather really close and as soon as i get a 4-5 day break from the lake effect snow i want to try a set i thougt of on my own. i want to take a 2 inch x 1 foot white pvc pipe with a cap on one end and incert it in the snow cap first like a dirt hole and have it stableized by a Y stick under the snow with only the open end showing. top of pipe level with the top of the snow but angled like a dirt hole. and bed a trap in siffted peat moss in front of it. then put wool in the pipe with a call lure and plug the open end with a wad of dead grass or something. and brush out all my tracks with a hemlock branch. the coyotes come through the area about every 3 days i see fresh tracks. i even seen a coyote about a week ago on the line but could not get a clean shot. i am a newbee - green horn when it comes to k-9's what do you guys think of this set? am i wasting my time with this set? any improvement ideas or other ideas are greatly appresheated amd thank you to all.

I tried the "PVC" set this past fall for coyotes and Hal told me it wouldn't work. Hal was right! Maybe you will have better luck using it in the snow. I do think watching the weather - and waiting for the right time is your best bet. If the snow in your area gets crusty enough to bed a trap solidly, you may want to use hay as an attractor around your trap with some tainted bait mixed in with the hay and some skunk essence for calling advantage. This, too, will probably not work if you get dumped on by snow. Watch the weather forecast.

( Edit: You are pressing your luck. One of the tenets we hold here is that you should have the experience to back up your advice. You don't. Stick to what you know, and don't venture beyond that. -- Hal)

You guy's are missing the point.

Here some facts to think about.

Animals need to consume more calories than they use... or they die.

Fox and Coyote do not have large fat reserves therefore they must eat on a fairly regular basis.

What does this mean.

Find areas that have the least amount of snow and most cover for prey.

Fancy sets are unnecessary.Fox and coyotes are susceptible to the most basic sets if a good meal is in the offing.

Do your homework on winter set construction it will be of the utmost importance if you are limited to footholds. I know our Tug Hill friend doesn't have the option but snares really shine in these conditions

You can make a hay bale set. I have a buddy (Stef Forget of Forget lures) that has had very good success with it.

I haven't had the same success. BUT hay is not a natural thing where I trap AND I use my hay for my dogs. It kills me to use a bale to make a set.

The set itself is fairly simple: You bust a hale bale in three parts. The middle part you place your lure/bait. The left and right hand parts you bust up to cover your two traps. The trap is in a plastic bag and attached to a grapple. You must use large traps.

Once snow starts falling it's lots of work to keep foot holds in operation ...

The "used" hay from the dog box would probably work well on it's own. We don't get much snow down here, so no advice on that.

If you trap farms, look along tractor trails where the farmer has driven recently you can sometimes find areas along the trail that is out of the weather or where the wind blows the snow off the ground so its bare or has a light dusting (keep traps out of the road). Trap in the woods if possible, I have a location of mostly hemlock that will hold snow at bay for the most part. You can also look to roundbales left in the field, many farmers place their bales along the edge of fields to retrieve through out the winter, these too can provide breaks. Of course there are also times when you just need to dig out the set from feet of snow and try again its just part of northern trapping.

Last week I did catch a nice Red Fox using a hay set. It was a farm lane through a wooded section with about 18" of snow. I dug down to dirt, which was not frozen, and double staked my #2 Duke. I replaced about a foot of snow, packed it in hard and dug a trap bed. I put hay in the trap bed, under the trap, and made a circle of hay the size of a small tire around the trap. In the center of the circle, the hay was only about a half inch thick over the trap. I put tainted venison in the circle of hay and a few drops of pure skunk essence. I had a first night catch and I have a picture of it. As soon as I figure out the "photo bucket" procedure, I will be able to post some pictures.

Ron

urine posts, trail sets, buried bait sets, & even mound sets are good winter sets for canines but like mentioned earlier foothold sets can be hard to maintain in snow conditions, I can and do snare but I still add foothold sets to the line and they are effective.

After our deer season, because there a unfound shot deer available, trapping becomes very challanging.

iam having the very same problem here in Va we got 14 good Coyote & Fox sets made & then 2 days later they got 4-6 inches of snow on them .Now what do i redo them all or what iam open for suggestions

What's your weather for the next few days? Are your traps 4 coiled? Is it a fluffy or crusty snow? What are your traps bedded in?

All these variables are important. 4 inches of dry fluff on a 4 coiled #3 should still produce a catch.

If a serious warm up is coming and your traps will not freeze in, don't touch them.

A half inch of crusty snow could mean that your trap does not fire or that it fires too slowly.

Your safest bet is to carefully brush away as much snow as possible off the set. Try not to track up the location too much.

As long as you are confident that the sets are in working order you can leave them alone.k-9's can find them easily though that amount of snow.Nothing wrong with putting in a few sets that will be a little more visible.

In my area trapping k-9's after the major deer hunt is always problematic. There is a great deal of food scattered at different locations. Normal behavior has also been disrupted by the influx of hunters in the woods.In a week or so things will calm down and they will establish more regular patterns. Breeding season is about to start so take that into account with you set choice

Dated for search.