Scent controll for coyote snares
12-21-2011, 05:21 AM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Hubbard Lake, Michigan
Posts: 914
Scent controll for coyote snares
Think i've got all i need to try snaring some yotes. My biggest concern at this point is scent controll. I know this is gonna be a big part of it. Since i'm brand new to this i'm handling the snares quite a bit in order to get a system down for getting them set. I know this isn't a good thing, plus i'm a smoker so i know i've got them all stunk up. Right now my plan is to put all i need for a set together, snare, support wire, anchor, etc, in a coil, then maybe boil it in some kind of solution? Followed by putting each one in its own gallon ziplock bag until i set it?
What do you guys do? I read something about boiling it in a baking soda solution to take the shine of a new snare, but also figured this would help with scent elimination. Also any tips or tricks for scent controll while setting them would be appriciated. Thanks!
What do you guys do? I read something about boiling it in a baking soda solution to take the shine of a new snare, but also figured this would help with scent elimination. Also any tips or tricks for scent controll while setting them would be appriciated. Thanks!
12-21-2011, 06:50 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
yeah, we use bakin soda...as far as scent, nothing works better than smoke..i believe all animals are used to the smoke scent, as fire happens everywhere. we used bakin soda to take the sheen off, and then smoked cigarettes to go put them up....had a yote, we are tryin fer pigs, the next day. a good trail under a fence werks great, and easy to make the figure to hold the snare from the bottom barb wire of th fence, tied to a tree or a post.
12-22-2011, 07:52 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
12-23-2011, 10:42 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
Frankly, if you boil and wax your snares, you won't have to worry nearly as much about scents on the snare itself as you do about laying scent trail as you go hang them.
To be honest, I don't put much stock in "scent controlling" my traps and snares. After 20yrs of trapping, I just don't see much difference. Around my area, I'm the guy people call to alleviate "coyote problems", and I keep an extra set of snares in my bedbox in my truck for that purpose. I don't do ANYTHING to these snares, just take them out of the box (I use a "rope can" like for cattle roping lariats, found at any farm supply store) and go hang them up. As long as I do my part to minimize my scent as I'm hanging them, and I put them up in the morning, it's a good bet that I'll have a dog in one of them that night.
Snares DO need to be "steeped and rotted" before use. Boil them in water, then hang them outside for a month or two before use. This should make the snare cables dull, not shiny. A little spray paint also helps to camoflage the snares with their surroundings. In general, I boil mine in baking soda, set them outside for a month, then spray paint them, then set them outside for another 2 months (yes, it takes 3 months to make a set of snares "hunt ready"). I have a few hundred feet of cable that I prepped when I bought it, that way I can cut new snares any time I need them. About 2/3 or 3/4 of it is sprayed tan, while the remaining portion is sprayed white. We don't get much lasting snow around here, but it's good to have a set of white snares for when we DO get snow.
The biggest KEY, absolutely critical in my experience, is to meander along the game trails as you're setting your snares. If you walk quickly to your snare-set, then spend time there setting and staking the snare, you'll lay very minimal scent along the way, but a HEAVY scent at the snare. This will send up a red flag for the dogs. In general, I like to move quickly, but stop a few times along the way and kneel down, walk in a circle, etc, then I WALK PAST MY SNARE POSITION along the trail and make a few "meandering stops" further up along the game trail. That way there are a few different spots, not just the snare, that have varied levels of activity (bootprints) and scent.
Different snare-hangers disagree about moving their snares after they catch a dog. In my experience, I tend to move my snares further up the game trail after I catch one. Once I catch a dog, he lays a TON of scent around that snare as he's fighting, and greatly disturbs the area. I also don't have any reference for whether other dogs were with him when he got caught. I've seen tracks in the snow several times near my recently caught snares that show dogs traveled straight up to the trap along the trail, then refused the crossing. When I was in college, I used to get "off spec" meat from the local locker and place it under where I just caught a dog (without a snare) to entice the dogs back through that area, then move the snare a little further up the game trail.
Frankly, how and where you hang your snares, and how you prevent them from freezing, is much more important to me than controlling my scent on them. Coyotes WILL smell your scent, period. It's just a matter of minimizing your scent, and not allowing the dogs to associate the snare location with your scent.
I've had coyotes follow me while coon hunting at night, and I've seen coyote tracks overlapping "yesterdays" bootprints when I've gone out to check my snares (and usually find a dead coyote caught). If you don't give them a reason to avoid your snares, your scent alone isn't reason enough either.
How and where... that's all you need...
To be honest, I don't put much stock in "scent controlling" my traps and snares. After 20yrs of trapping, I just don't see much difference. Around my area, I'm the guy people call to alleviate "coyote problems", and I keep an extra set of snares in my bedbox in my truck for that purpose. I don't do ANYTHING to these snares, just take them out of the box (I use a "rope can" like for cattle roping lariats, found at any farm supply store) and go hang them up. As long as I do my part to minimize my scent as I'm hanging them, and I put them up in the morning, it's a good bet that I'll have a dog in one of them that night.
Snares DO need to be "steeped and rotted" before use. Boil them in water, then hang them outside for a month or two before use. This should make the snare cables dull, not shiny. A little spray paint also helps to camoflage the snares with their surroundings. In general, I boil mine in baking soda, set them outside for a month, then spray paint them, then set them outside for another 2 months (yes, it takes 3 months to make a set of snares "hunt ready"). I have a few hundred feet of cable that I prepped when I bought it, that way I can cut new snares any time I need them. About 2/3 or 3/4 of it is sprayed tan, while the remaining portion is sprayed white. We don't get much lasting snow around here, but it's good to have a set of white snares for when we DO get snow.
The biggest KEY, absolutely critical in my experience, is to meander along the game trails as you're setting your snares. If you walk quickly to your snare-set, then spend time there setting and staking the snare, you'll lay very minimal scent along the way, but a HEAVY scent at the snare. This will send up a red flag for the dogs. In general, I like to move quickly, but stop a few times along the way and kneel down, walk in a circle, etc, then I WALK PAST MY SNARE POSITION along the trail and make a few "meandering stops" further up along the game trail. That way there are a few different spots, not just the snare, that have varied levels of activity (bootprints) and scent.
Different snare-hangers disagree about moving their snares after they catch a dog. In my experience, I tend to move my snares further up the game trail after I catch one. Once I catch a dog, he lays a TON of scent around that snare as he's fighting, and greatly disturbs the area. I also don't have any reference for whether other dogs were with him when he got caught. I've seen tracks in the snow several times near my recently caught snares that show dogs traveled straight up to the trap along the trail, then refused the crossing. When I was in college, I used to get "off spec" meat from the local locker and place it under where I just caught a dog (without a snare) to entice the dogs back through that area, then move the snare a little further up the game trail.
Frankly, how and where you hang your snares, and how you prevent them from freezing, is much more important to me than controlling my scent on them. Coyotes WILL smell your scent, period. It's just a matter of minimizing your scent, and not allowing the dogs to associate the snare location with your scent.
I've had coyotes follow me while coon hunting at night, and I've seen coyote tracks overlapping "yesterdays" bootprints when I've gone out to check my snares (and usually find a dead coyote caught). If you don't give them a reason to avoid your snares, your scent alone isn't reason enough either.
How and where... that's all you need...
12-24-2011, 03:44 AM
#6
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Hubbard Lake, Michigan
Posts: 914
Wow! Thats pretty good if ya just started! I'd be happy with that!
Nomercy, thanks alot for the tips, you've been a big help on here! I've got a couple dozen snares that i bought that are supposed to be pre dipped and feild ready, Jan 1 we can start snaring here in Mich. Can't wait to get em out and see what happens! I have some farmland i can set on with lots of fencelines and good trails crossing them and heard tons of yotes during bowseason so hopefully i can put it all together.
01-13-2014, 08:17 AM
#7
Spike
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 2
defiantly boil in water and baking soda, then when you get to the woods to kill your scent and dull the color off the snares more is using birch bark, by lighting it on fire and smoking the wire black. get your snare hung then do it. try not to touch wire with the flame as much as possible. sorry to bring up old posts but its another good way.
01-13-2014, 08:24 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
defiantly boil in water and baking soda, then when you get to the woods to kill your scent and dull the color off the snares more is using birch bark, by lighting it on fire and smoking the wire black. get your snare hung then do it. try not to touch wire with the flame as much as possible. sorry to bring up old posts but its another good way.
01-13-2014, 08:49 AM
#9
Spike
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 2
I don't believe I was reiterating. halfbakedi420 was talking about smoking cigerettes as I could understand. If he was talking about smoking the snares he should of explained it for the rookies
01-13-2014, 11:38 AM
#10
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
Hope this helps;
http://www.trapperman.com/catalog.html
http://www.minntrapprod.com/index.php
http://www.bear-tracker.com/
As NoMercy suggests; nothing beats being "seasoned" for months in the great outdoors.
http://www.trapperman.com/catalog.html
http://www.minntrapprod.com/index.php
http://www.bear-tracker.com/
As NoMercy suggests; nothing beats being "seasoned" for months in the great outdoors.
Last edited by Sheridan; 01-13-2014 at 07:22 PM.