Who hunts predators over a bait pile?

[Jdubs]

I tried hunting predators for the first time last year starting with a Fox Pro caller.  That didn't bring the desired results right away so I tried sitting over a bail pile.  Then the action picked up!  Yotes, foxes and fishers all made visits.  I missed 2 opportunities on foxes and never caught up with any yotes.  This time around, I'm better prepared, but wonder what others are having success with?

[wolc123]

Deer carcasses and road-kills work pretty good.  I place them in a pile, about 100 yards behind my bedroom window and shoot the coyotes at night with a .22 rimfire.  They are thin-skinned and easily killed with a yellow jacket, placed behind the shoulder.  The relatively silent report does not wake up my kids.

[airedale]

Once the weather turns and stays cold a predator popsicle makes a good draw for most predators. Making one is fairly easy, all you need is a large cheap plastic tub and then fill it with whatever  various food scraps you can get your hands on, cheap bag of dog food, road kills, table scraps, whole corn, Deer guts, etc etc. 

Once the tub is close to being full fill it the rest of the way with water, mix everything well and then leave it out in the cold to freeze into a solid block. 

Once frozen solid haul it to your stand-blind area and dump it out of the tub, it will come out like a giant ice cube. As long as the weather stays cold it will last for a long time as any predators drawn to it will have their work cut out for them eating it down and it will be too heavy to carry off. 

Al

Edited December 21, 2016 by airedale

[turkeyfeathers]

If using roadkill deer or what's leftover from your carcass after processing. Wire it where you want it. They'll drag it off often.  

The giant baitsickile sounds neat. 

[grampy]

43 minutes ago, airedale said:

Once the weather turns and stays cold a predator popsicle makes a good draw for most predators. Making one is fairly easy, all you need is a large cheap plastic tub and then fill it with whatever  various food scraps you can get your hands on, cheap bag of dog food, road kills, table scraps, whole corn, Deer guts, etc etc. 

Once the tub is close to being full fill it the rest of the way with water, mix everything well and then leave it out in the cold to freeze into a solid block. 

Once frozen solid haul it to your stand-blind area and dump it out of the tub, it will come out like a giant ice cube. As long as the weather stays cold it will last for a long time as any predators drawn to it will have their work cut out for them eating it down and it will be too heavy to carry off. 

Al

Thanks!!! This is a great idea!! Think I'll get started on one right away!

Edited December 21, 2016 by grampy

[Jdubs]

1 hour ago, airedale said:

Once the weather turns and stays cold a predator popsicle makes a good draw for most predators. Making one is fairly easy, all you need is a large cheap plastic tub and then fill it with whatever  various food scraps you can get your hands on, cheap bag of dog food, road kills, table scraps, whole corn, Deer guts, etc etc. 

Once the tub is close to being full fill it the rest of the way with water, mix everything well and then leave it out in the cold to freeze into a solid block. 

Once frozen solid haul it to your stand-blind area and dump it out of the tub, it will come out like a giant ice cube. As long as the weather stays cold it will last for a long time as any predators drawn to it will have their work cut out for them eating it down and it will be too heavy to carry off. 

Al

Sure does!  I read about the 'baitsicle' and made one with chicken livers.  Put a cam over the site and got a ton of pics and vids!  The fisher in particular loved those livers.  Later I found a roadkill deer and wired that down in the same spot.  At least one yote came in, but my cam batteries died on the second night when he came in and started feeding.  If I had a better gun and light setup to start with, at least one fox would have been taken.

Now I have a bunch of scrap deer meat in a bucket for this season's first baitsicle.  Hopefully my buddy still has the rib cages in his shed too.  

Edited December 21, 2016 by Jdubs

[diplomat019]

I only predator hunted a handful of times.  Bought a middle of the road e-caller last year.   Anyway.  When ur hunting over a bait pile do you just sit and wait at dusk?   After dark?  Is there anything else to it besides just sitting and waiting?   Do you call at all?

[airedale]

After dark will definitely will have the most action, a good powerful varmint light with a red lens cover will hold them there long enough to get a shot, some can be scope mounted which makes sighting nice. Just before dark and at daybreak will also be productive. A setup in the woods where the range is shorter a blind of some sort would work well. Playing the wind is real important for where you setup as the Foxes and Coyotes will circle and come in from down wind so it is easy to be busted.  An open field setup at long range works real well as far as the wind goes, you will need good binoculars, camo, a good rest and an accurate rifle to make clean kills. Coyotes like to hang at the treeline edges until almost dark and many times can be spotted for a good shot.

As far as calling I  wear camo and break my outline usually sitting at the base of a tree. I have had good luck with both mouth calls and electronic types, middle of the winter when the snow is deep and it is cold brings the best results. They are hungry and come in on the run. In the woods because of the ranges I will use a shotgun with shotshells matched for varmints, out in the open I will use a scoped accurate varmint rifle.

Back when I did a lot of varmint hunting I would most times have one of my Airedales along, they will many times alert me early to a varmint coming in and sometimes using a shotgun I would get a runner and  if needed they will track them down and finish the job.

Al

Edited December 21, 2016 by airedale

[Jdubs]

In my area, nearly all of the action has been at night.  Night hunting is addictive!  A good light setup is key.  This year I will be using a red headlamp to scan for eyes and a good rifle-mounted red light that I picked up at the end of last season.  

Any thoughts on preferred spots to place a bait pile?  I have a wide creek bed with steep banks leading up to wooded areas.  Last year I set the pile up in the woods maybe 50 yards up from the creek bed.  Should it be set down low instead?

[silent death]

On 12/21/2016 at 10:02 AM, Jdubs said:

In my area, nearly all of the action has been at night.  Night hunting is addictive!  A good light setup is key.  This year I will be using a red headlamp to scan for eyes and a good rifle-mounted red light that I picked up at the end of last season.  

Any thoughts on preferred spots to place a bait pile?  I have a wide creek bed with steep banks leading up to wooded areas.  Last year I set the pile up in the woods maybe 50 yards up from the creek bed.  Should it be set down low instead?

Doesnt really matter where you place it just make sure you can see the down wind side coyotes normally always circle . if you can get up into a treestand its even better if theres snow on the ground that way you can actually watch how they come in...gotta watch the wind 

Edited December 25, 2016 by silent death