Baits
09-25-2017, 10:08 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: East Coast
Posts: 44
Baits
Hey guys--alongside my shot placement post here I'm also just asking:
What are the best attractants for
--fox
--bobcat
--coyote
--groundhog
--beaver
--raccoon
I was thinking raw meat for foxes, coyotes, and bobcats (in addition to my calls), corn (the same corn as used in deer feeders) and birdseed for groundhogs, and maybe the suet cakes with mealworms embedded inside them plus some birdseed for coons. I don't know what beavers will eat. Am I wrong with any of these? Will bobcats, foxes, and coyotes go for meat or am I better off shelling out for a moving feather decoy to put next to my e-caller? Should I use both meat and a decoy? And what do beavers eat?
Will coons eat the suet with a side of birdseed, and will the groundhogs go for the corn and seed?
Thanks,
Wolven
What are the best attractants for
--fox
--bobcat
--coyote
--groundhog
--beaver
--raccoon
I was thinking raw meat for foxes, coyotes, and bobcats (in addition to my calls), corn (the same corn as used in deer feeders) and birdseed for groundhogs, and maybe the suet cakes with mealworms embedded inside them plus some birdseed for coons. I don't know what beavers will eat. Am I wrong with any of these? Will bobcats, foxes, and coyotes go for meat or am I better off shelling out for a moving feather decoy to put next to my e-caller? Should I use both meat and a decoy? And what do beavers eat?
Will coons eat the suet with a side of birdseed, and will the groundhogs go for the corn and seed?
Thanks,
Wolven
09-28-2017, 08:03 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,902
Double check your state laws to be sure any or all of these species can even be legally baited, and if yes, how it must be done. Some states have implemented "waste management" laws which prohibit trash piles, which in their books, includes carcasses and food wastes, in other words, includes bait piles. In other states, baiting might only be legal on private property. So know your laws.
If you have a bait pile set up continuously, coyotes will come to it. If coyotes are coming to it, it's pretty rare to have fox or cats regularly coming in. Roadkill deer work very well, and are inexpensive (i.e. free salvage tags). You will never be successful if you haul a bucket of meat out only when you're calling. It has to be a continuous food source for them.
I've very, very rarely gotten bobcats ever on a bait pile. Rarely foxes too. Cats are more apt to be spotted over a corn pile, snagging mice, rats, and birds.
Coons will come to a corn pile or timed feeder like flies to schitt, but that doesn't mean you'll ever get a shot on them. I have hundreds of thousands of photos of coons coming to my deer feeders over the years. Just like the roadkill pile, you need this to be continuous. If night hunting is allowed, especially with artificial light or night vision, I would say that would be your only safe bet for baiting coons. They're nocturnal, coon fighting sounds can draw them out of a den tree during daytime shooting hours, but I've never seen them come into my corn feeders during the day. If you had a light on your feeder on all of the time so they got used to it, maybe that would work - again, only if artificial light is legal in your state. If you placed a timed feeder in an area with den trees and good traffic, you'd have a chance of holding them there and get better growth for better hides, but I would NOT say I would use it as a hunting practice. Calling near den trees tends to be productive - there are dens there because the coons want to live there, which means there is a food source for them there... It's not like baiting herbivorous deer where their food source suddenly gets short in the fall... I just don't think baiting will increase your odds significantly over calling in general. If you REALLY want coons, you trap. If you kinda want coons, you run hounds, if you want a few coons, you call.
In my experience, you're not going to be able to bait beavers effectively. Or cats, or fox. I can't say for Groundhogs, 'cuz frankly, I've never even heard of baiting being done for groundhogs, let alone have direct experience. I might be wrong, but I'd chalk that one up as a fool's errand. I also can't say I believe baiting coons will be productive for hunting, other than the night hunting strategy I described above.
I will say this - as I've been incredibly effective in this for over 25yrs. Baiting coons with wet Fancy Feast dog food, chicken flavor, into a live trap is about as easy and predictable as it gets. You'll never kill 20 coons in a night like you might trapping with footholds or running hounds, but you'll get a coon every couple of days in a live trap with that bait. I suppose if you put out a hundred live traps, you might catch 20 in a night... But that's a he11 of a lot of live traps!
I have also used bird wings or rabbit parts hanging from trees to bait coyotes and cats, but only over traps, not in an attempt to SHOOT them. It's just too rare they'll come in for smaller baits, the hunter would win the lottery 3 times in a row before they were lucky enough to be there at the right time over a small bait set or an "in and out" bait set and get 3 bobcats in a season. Somebody would get lucky and ONE would come in, maybe another in future seasons, but I just can't see it being worth the trouble compared to simply calling in the right places.
Overall - in my experience, you're only going to be successful in baiting coyotes. None of the others will give you any advantage over straight calling. Groundhogs are a wild card, but I lump them in too - I don't think a bait pile will increase your odds of getting them.
If you have a bait pile set up continuously, coyotes will come to it. If coyotes are coming to it, it's pretty rare to have fox or cats regularly coming in. Roadkill deer work very well, and are inexpensive (i.e. free salvage tags). You will never be successful if you haul a bucket of meat out only when you're calling. It has to be a continuous food source for them.
I've very, very rarely gotten bobcats ever on a bait pile. Rarely foxes too. Cats are more apt to be spotted over a corn pile, snagging mice, rats, and birds.
Coons will come to a corn pile or timed feeder like flies to schitt, but that doesn't mean you'll ever get a shot on them. I have hundreds of thousands of photos of coons coming to my deer feeders over the years. Just like the roadkill pile, you need this to be continuous. If night hunting is allowed, especially with artificial light or night vision, I would say that would be your only safe bet for baiting coons. They're nocturnal, coon fighting sounds can draw them out of a den tree during daytime shooting hours, but I've never seen them come into my corn feeders during the day. If you had a light on your feeder on all of the time so they got used to it, maybe that would work - again, only if artificial light is legal in your state. If you placed a timed feeder in an area with den trees and good traffic, you'd have a chance of holding them there and get better growth for better hides, but I would NOT say I would use it as a hunting practice. Calling near den trees tends to be productive - there are dens there because the coons want to live there, which means there is a food source for them there... It's not like baiting herbivorous deer where their food source suddenly gets short in the fall... I just don't think baiting will increase your odds significantly over calling in general. If you REALLY want coons, you trap. If you kinda want coons, you run hounds, if you want a few coons, you call.
In my experience, you're not going to be able to bait beavers effectively. Or cats, or fox. I can't say for Groundhogs, 'cuz frankly, I've never even heard of baiting being done for groundhogs, let alone have direct experience. I might be wrong, but I'd chalk that one up as a fool's errand. I also can't say I believe baiting coons will be productive for hunting, other than the night hunting strategy I described above.
I will say this - as I've been incredibly effective in this for over 25yrs. Baiting coons with wet Fancy Feast dog food, chicken flavor, into a live trap is about as easy and predictable as it gets. You'll never kill 20 coons in a night like you might trapping with footholds or running hounds, but you'll get a coon every couple of days in a live trap with that bait. I suppose if you put out a hundred live traps, you might catch 20 in a night... But that's a he11 of a lot of live traps!
I have also used bird wings or rabbit parts hanging from trees to bait coyotes and cats, but only over traps, not in an attempt to SHOOT them. It's just too rare they'll come in for smaller baits, the hunter would win the lottery 3 times in a row before they were lucky enough to be there at the right time over a small bait set or an "in and out" bait set and get 3 bobcats in a season. Somebody would get lucky and ONE would come in, maybe another in future seasons, but I just can't see it being worth the trouble compared to simply calling in the right places.
Overall - in my experience, you're only going to be successful in baiting coyotes. None of the others will give you any advantage over straight calling. Groundhogs are a wild card, but I lump them in too - I don't think a bait pile will increase your odds of getting them.
09-29-2017, 05:59 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
You can bait for Fox, mostly it is just them finding it the first time. They tend to make the rounds and visit Mouse hot spots and places where they have found food before. An old saying, when hunting Fox or Yotes you go where they have already been.
The progression was I planted a Corn plot for Deer. And nearby I put in a pile of cabbage-basketball sized rocks, filled in the gaps with dirt and planted Blackberries. The idea was to establish a large colony of European Rabbits. The rocks make it harder for Fox to dig them out of their burrows.
I put out a giant pile of Horse manure in the fall for use in the spring for next years Corn. I sat near the Corn for Deer and at the same time popped every Fox I could, to get my European Rabbits established. The next time I unloaded some new Horse manure I noticed where the Fox had been digging in the manure pile. It was full on winter now; I figured they were digging for worms, grubs, Mice looking for a warm place to live for winter or whatever. Just on a hunch I took a post hole digger and buried a few buckets of Chicken bones. The Manure was hot, it threw up a good scent cone in the cold months that you could actually see, kind of like your breath on a cold morning. I popped ten Fox at that manure pile the first winter. My guess is Fox not only follow their own trail and paths to food hot spots. but other Fox follow their trail to there favorite spots. And that manure pile was sending out a juicy scent trail for a long ways. Every couple of weeks I'd throw in some new Chicken bones. The guy who emptied the trash at Kentucky Fried Chicken thought I was a homeless guy and offered me dinner when he caught me digging through the dumpster.
For Coons I'd put a cross pole on two fence posts and two more poles as ramps. Smear the top cross post with old Sardine oil, rancid Peanut Butter, spoiled fruit or anything a Coon might like. Near a drainage ditch or some sort of water is the best spot. I cut the grass or whatever was growing and made a circle of dead straw, which eventually turned a lighter color than the surrounding vegetation. You can see a Coon against that light background on most nights. I've popped Weasels off that same post. Funny but Pine Martins are partial to Cherries, believe it or not. I noticed where I'd see Pine Martens year after year and suddenly that little light bulb went off, it was most often near a Cherry tree when the Cherries are ripe. Maybe the Mice hit the Cherries or the Martens like Cherries or both, no idea. Point is try to notice things.
I watched a couple of Hawks sitting in the same tree, late afternoon, early evening, on numerous occasions. I figured they had a nest nearby. Then I noticed a third Hawk, which wasn't normal. And then I noticed one day young Foxes coming out of the Den to play in the early evening. If you find a Fox Den they use them year after year, may be one of a dozen but they will eventually be back. Like I said try to notice things. Those Hawks were trying to pick off young Fox who were playing and not paying attention.
I've also dug post holes in a spot where Deer, Horses or Cattle are unlikely to step in them. And threw any old meat or Offal I had into the holes. Like I said, Fox make the rounds, if they found food once in a spot they are likely to check it out again. I shot half a dozen Fox there with there rear ends in the air digging and working at those post holes. I'd sit for Deer and Fox at the same time. I'd usually wait until the end of the most active Deer hours before popping a Fox.
Just a couple of things that have worked for me. Sorry about writing a book.
The progression was I planted a Corn plot for Deer. And nearby I put in a pile of cabbage-basketball sized rocks, filled in the gaps with dirt and planted Blackberries. The idea was to establish a large colony of European Rabbits. The rocks make it harder for Fox to dig them out of their burrows.
I put out a giant pile of Horse manure in the fall for use in the spring for next years Corn. I sat near the Corn for Deer and at the same time popped every Fox I could, to get my European Rabbits established. The next time I unloaded some new Horse manure I noticed where the Fox had been digging in the manure pile. It was full on winter now; I figured they were digging for worms, grubs, Mice looking for a warm place to live for winter or whatever. Just on a hunch I took a post hole digger and buried a few buckets of Chicken bones. The Manure was hot, it threw up a good scent cone in the cold months that you could actually see, kind of like your breath on a cold morning. I popped ten Fox at that manure pile the first winter. My guess is Fox not only follow their own trail and paths to food hot spots. but other Fox follow their trail to there favorite spots. And that manure pile was sending out a juicy scent trail for a long ways. Every couple of weeks I'd throw in some new Chicken bones. The guy who emptied the trash at Kentucky Fried Chicken thought I was a homeless guy and offered me dinner when he caught me digging through the dumpster.
For Coons I'd put a cross pole on two fence posts and two more poles as ramps. Smear the top cross post with old Sardine oil, rancid Peanut Butter, spoiled fruit or anything a Coon might like. Near a drainage ditch or some sort of water is the best spot. I cut the grass or whatever was growing and made a circle of dead straw, which eventually turned a lighter color than the surrounding vegetation. You can see a Coon against that light background on most nights. I've popped Weasels off that same post. Funny but Pine Martins are partial to Cherries, believe it or not. I noticed where I'd see Pine Martens year after year and suddenly that little light bulb went off, it was most often near a Cherry tree when the Cherries are ripe. Maybe the Mice hit the Cherries or the Martens like Cherries or both, no idea. Point is try to notice things.
I watched a couple of Hawks sitting in the same tree, late afternoon, early evening, on numerous occasions. I figured they had a nest nearby. Then I noticed a third Hawk, which wasn't normal. And then I noticed one day young Foxes coming out of the Den to play in the early evening. If you find a Fox Den they use them year after year, may be one of a dozen but they will eventually be back. Like I said try to notice things. Those Hawks were trying to pick off young Fox who were playing and not paying attention.
I've also dug post holes in a spot where Deer, Horses or Cattle are unlikely to step in them. And threw any old meat or Offal I had into the holes. Like I said, Fox make the rounds, if they found food once in a spot they are likely to check it out again. I shot half a dozen Fox there with there rear ends in the air digging and working at those post holes. I'd sit for Deer and Fox at the same time. I'd usually wait until the end of the most active Deer hours before popping a Fox.
Just a couple of things that have worked for me. Sorry about writing a book.
