I agree with DoubleUp - trail cameras are a lot of joy and just as much fun to keep check on as the actual hunt. Having four coyotes at the site is something I have yet to see. Doubles are all I have had, and not many of those.
Matt Antle, glad you enjoyed the video clips. I am attaching more, but first to answer your questions:
You check yours everyday? Yes, most every day. I live about one mile by country road to my family farm, so it's relatively easy for me to keep check.
Do you think leaving scent behind in the area matters? Generally no, I haven't found that scent seems to matter much. I know that my scent is left at the site, there's no way I can prevent it. Coyotes don't seem concerned once they find the bait. They generally are a bit nervous at first, maybe for a few visits, but then seem to warm up and don't pay any attention. I have had coyotes put their nose up to the trail camera I touched just a few hours before, and showed no concern at all. I have also had a metal stake in the center of the bait site to sometimes tie down larger pieces of bait. The stake had my scent on it and a coyote would smell it, but wasn't alarmed. I have had another coyote or two that seemed to smell something they didn't like. But generally, I haven't found it to be a problem.
Do you have a set bait pile and keep putting more bait out or different spots? I have one bait site that I keep going year around. It stays baited. Rarely does it not have bait, only when something gets it, be it coyotes, possums, skunks, crows etc. I replenish it often. When coyotes show up, I like to leave them small pieces of bait scattered here and there in the grass so that they have to linger around and find it in the grass. That gives me a bit of extra time to get a good shot. I have also tied down a rib cage and a dead calf so that coyotes and bobcats can't drag it off. But, with larger baits like that, you will invite crows and buzzards more.
Do you get a lot of the same dogs and cats or is it hard to tell? Sometimes it's hard to tell, though after a while I can generally determine if it's the same coyote visiting or not. Last season a bobcat visited nightly for almost two weeks, definitely over a week every night, but I think I had two cats coming, but wasn't totally sure. One thing I have noticed, however, is that after shooting a coyote, it seemed that it didn't take long for another one to show up. It's been something over three weeks now, closer to a month since I killed my last coyote, but I haven't seen one since.
Was my first time using that camera, the flash was terrible and you could only see a few yards away with it. I'm gonna be sure to use a different camera on my next bait pile. You are going to find that trail cameras are bitter-sweet. Some do a better job than others, but in my experience, they all give problems at one time or another. I have gone through a lot of cameras over the course of the last three seasons.
Here's a recent cat video. Click on photos to view videos.
Watch this video all the way through. This coyote was a bit nervous.
Another day-time coyote, caught from different angles with two trail cameras.
This coyote appeared to have smelled something he didn't like, maybe my scent.
Not sure. Generally they don't seem to mind. Also, I do wear gloves when distributing bait.
Here are two coyotes that showed up one night. I have two trail cameras set up,
capturing video from different angles. These next two clips show the two camera angles.
Some coyotes pay more attention to the IR light from the trail cameras than others.
Some are skiddish at first, but seem to warm up to the lights.
Skiddish Coyote
More Coyote Videos
I prefer video to photos as I think it gives a better account of what is going on at a site. It also indicates
an animals behavior much better than photos do. Video does eat batteries much quicker, but I am using
optional battery packs for a couple of the cameras, which helps a lot.
I like to place one camera up close and personal, and low to the ground, maby one foot off the ground.
It gets some good close-up videos and effects that way.
Also, I like to have at least two cameras monitoring the bait site. Trail cameras seem to have a mind
of their own sometimes and may not always capture what comes to the site. Having two cameras
generally solves that issue, plus it also gives video of different angles that I sometimes edit up.
