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Post by mntrapper on May 28, 2011 21:40:10 GMT -5
what do you guys look for when cold rolling into anew area for cats and coyotes. Places you have not had a chance to scout. Do you look for intersections, ridges that meet the road, rivers with woods on each side funneling the animals to the road etc,etc.
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Post by Law Dog on May 28, 2011 21:49:42 GMT -5
Were would you walk if you went cross country is what I keep in mind? Fence corners, gates, cattle trails, rock piles, ponds, roads, crop changes and weed patches! In the rough county saddles and the best place to walk just off the animal trail a bit!
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Post by Law Dog on May 28, 2011 21:52:19 GMT -5
In NW MN I would think logging roads, gravel pits and clearing would be the top choices there!
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Post by ScottRainbolt on May 29, 2011 6:32:10 GMT -5
i look for any farm lanes that devide 2 fields cut throughs in fence lines deep ditches they will often run the edge and trails along the top of bank along creeks or rivers
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Post by cdr on May 29, 2011 8:54:28 GMT -5
I look for the same things that I find at my normal trapping sites......
anything that creates an "edge" (i.e. fence lines, timber line, two tracks, field edges, and so forth). Look at crop field corners, espessialy when a creek parrellels the crop field. Corners of pastures and all gateways on the partition fences. I like lone trees on a point protruding into a field. Waterways and drainages for fields. Old fence posts where the fence is down now... Ridges and tree rows. Rocky bluffs, canyon bluffs, and steep creek banks. Creeks and ponds (pond dams are used a lot by yotes and cats). Cow trails are used very often by yotes (here we cant set the trails, so I set right off them). Beaver dams, trees fallen over a creek to create a crossover.
There are so many possibilities and things to look for-- cant list them all. I hope some of this helps and it will come to you a lot easier in time.. If something "stands out" to you, it probably does to the animal also---this will make it a "point of interest".
Find things that naturally funnell the animal. Find the "sign" and you will increase your odds of a catch!
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Post by bill1958 on May 29, 2011 10:51:43 GMT -5
all this is fine but most this is for the basic yotes and works in most areas.
what do you look for when you are after thick cover yote's ?
when do you know to set up for open yote's or thick cover yote's ?
whats the difference between the two yote's ?
what happens when you can't see any sign may be covered with leaves in the fall ?
how long before you pull a set in a new area ?
remember this if a yote has adapted so has thier travel pattern and how they work a set. sure wish my brother JT was here we would have a blast with this thread.maybe yotekillerbill will chime in because there is some areas 95% of the above will not work
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Post by cdr on May 29, 2011 11:33:43 GMT -5
Bill, are you saying that "no where" in thick timber is there any sign? I tend to think there would be. Scat or something... And I would assume one can find a "crossover" on a stream or creek in thick timber. Also, I would assume that there may be ledges, high banks, and sometimes large rocks in amongst the timber. Old timeber growth and new growth. Clear cuts from logging, maybe logging roads......Then again, I dont have thick timber so these are just "assumptions".
Well, those are just my thoughts. I think the original question was "what do you guys look for when cold rolling for cats and yotes?" I think I answered it correctly---with what I look for.
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Post by Law Dog on May 29, 2011 12:09:53 GMT -5
Have seen were yotes will drag deer remains off into thicker cover to get out of the open but the birds will often give that location away!!! Also tracks in the snow going into cover would be a great snare location. Just some ideas!!!!
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Post by bill1958 on May 29, 2011 12:22:58 GMT -5
very little cdr.. brother you done find with your answer and i agree with your reply now what i wanted the guys to do was go one step farther and that's why i asked the questions in some area's yes and other areas none.a fine example lets take coon here,in the swamps, amd larger creeks i find a lot of sign but take the smaller creeks ,you can walk for miles and find may be a couple tracks and i do mean some times.tony and me scouted last season for 9 hours flat and found 1 track and no droppings. now on a mile of creek that location produced several greys,and a couple dz coon in a short time frame.
here the timber leaves drop fast and that covers up the tracks and droppings as well as trails and old road beds now if you look at the out lines of the trees you can still locate these road beds but as for sign you can't always see it but like you said if you hit the nearest water you will connect and that was a valuable tip for thick cover .there is still ways to locate animals and that's by watching what goes on around you.
can you make a location ? YES
after the leaves dropped tony took and made a trail from a road to the creek and on threw the woods and that trail was new so it got thier coursity going and the yotes and cats followed that trail., i have taken white trash bags and filled up with leaves here and had good luck ,why? because it got thier coursity up and you can do the same with fields and if it snows use black bags instead. the same applys when you take a weed eater and make trails in uncut fields you are making a location to set and my point is this .work on the coursity factor of the canines .
here you scout the summer and fall every road is covered with tracks and droppings but let hunting season come in and you want find any as they get wise due to being shot at and that forces them to thick cover , now when they move to thick cover every thing is covered with leaves in the fall but there is still borders in thick cover just like fence lines and fields but you need to watch close on the area.here on my lines you might have several hollows with several high points so you must figure which one to set .you are right some times they might be a large rock to set by but you can't always count on that .as for log cross overs, i have areas that has two and some times a dz with in a few yards apart.here i first step back and look close at the area around me is it more thick then clear fields ,then i look at the hunting season and how long has it been in and then i decide how i will set the property up.if 90% is thick cover and hunting season has been in a couple weeks then i know there is a higher chance the yotes has moved to the thick cover for protection.so that's where i start out.
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Post by ScottRainbolt on May 29, 2011 12:44:39 GMT -5
bill in thick cover i look for deer trails or where hunters have stomped trails down threw thick high grass power lines or any little opening i can find. and yes i have noticed more yotes going to the thick stuff around here they seem to be a lot of young yotes in the thick or really old ones i think they go there for 2 reasons one i think the old and young go there to kinda hide out from the alpha couple ant two i think they get tired of every yahoo with a deer rifle or shotgun blasting away at them
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Post by cdr on May 29, 2011 15:05:38 GMT -5
lol... Bill, I can always get you to go into detail to prove a point! Point well taken! Thanks for the info.
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Post by lyonch on May 31, 2011 8:28:03 GMT -5
For thick cover, i look for pinch points in the woods, and anything water. The water can be a crick, pond, stock pond, etc etc. If you can find a small ridge that travels between two wet swampy areas, you found another location that K-9's will travel heavily. Add a path to that situation and you have concentrated them even more. If you have a crick or river that runs through a thick patch of woods, look for where the farmer made a spot to cross over it and get to the other side. Your animals will cross here as well.
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Post by javery on May 31, 2011 8:46:40 GMT -5
Just by reading this post i have decided that trapping yotes is diferent than hunting them. I have always set my traps at a fence crossover and occasionally at a bait pile. Now i have some different ideas of how to trap exspecially in thick cover. Thank you guys for posting
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