Choosing the Best Snare for Coyotes
A Practical Guide for Landowners and Trappers
Snares for Coyotes made simple. As coyote populations continue to surge across many parts of the United States, particularly in semi-urban areas, homeowners and landowners are increasingly searching for effective ways to manage these adaptable predators. Whether you’re dealing with threats to livestock, pets, or simply aiming to reduce nuisance activity, selecting the right snare for coyotes has never been more important.
In just one week, over 50 coyote sightings were reported within a five-mile radius in Oak Ridge TN. This explosion in population is often attributed to habitat reduction, but other factors are contributing as well. For example, a decline in rabbit hunting has created a food surplus, leading to what’s known as a “predator pit”—an environment where predators like coyotes thrive. In this guide, we’ll break down the essentials of using coyote snares to help control the growing issue.
Understanding Coyote Snares
When choosing a snare for coyotes, it’s important to recognize that personal preference plays a role, depending on terrain, setup location, and the specific behavior of local coyote populations. Among the many options available, two of the most effective and widely recommended coyote snares are the Micro Lock 60-inch and the Cam Lock 84-inch models.
Before selecting your setup, let’s dive into the components that make a successful snare.
Best Snares for Coyote's
Cable Configuration: Flexibility vs. Strength
The diameter and cable type are essential to success. The most commonly used cable for coyote snares is the 3/32-inch 7×7 cable. This cable offers a good balance of strength and flexibility. It forms a teardrop-shaped loop rather than a perfectly round one, requiring more precision in placement but offering quicker closure and better reliability.
Alternatively, the 1×19 cable is stiffer and maintains a rounder loop, but in practice, it tends to close more slowly. There’s also a 5/64-inch cable option, but most experienced trappers agree the 3/32 is the best balance between durability and efficiency when crafting or buying a snare for coyotes.
Lock Mechanisms: Micro Lock vs. Toothed Cam Lock
The locking mechanism of your coyote snare determines both the outcome and the legality of your trap.
Micro Lock: Known as a relaxing lock, the Micro Lock grips tightly when tension is applied but loosens slightly when the animal stops struggling. This reduces fur damage and is ideal for live captures or areas where non-target animals may be at risk. These locks are fast-closing, reliable, and a top choice for many seasoned trappers.
Toothed Cam Lock: This is a non-relaxing, “kill” lock. Once engaged, it will not release unless manually reset. Because it ensures a quick and humane kill, it must be used with caution and only in areas where there’s no risk of catching pets or protected wildlife.
How To Set A Coyote Snare
Setting coyote snares is not really that difficult once you learn the basics of it. A Coyote is like any other animal and will take the easiest route or path of least resistance. This is what you want to look for when deciding where to make a set.
When I am out searching for a set I look for places like easy fence crawls where the fence is not so close to the ground, maybe a gap in the fence. I look for already existing trails made either by other animals or by man, look for ditch lines as well since coyotes like to travel unseen. Foliage, rocks or debris that forces the coyote into a specific location are good choke points to set a snare in.
Anything that will cause him to go in a set specific direction. Any natural or man made feature that restricts the line of travel and causes the prey to take a specific route is defined as a choke point.
Wildlife Regulations and Safety Measures
Before setting any coyote snares, check your local wildlife laws. Some states mandate the use of a deer stop—a simple aluminum ring crimped onto the cable to prevent the loop from closing smaller than 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter. These stops reduce the risk of accidentally snaring deer and are advisable even where not required by law. Their presence won’t impact the snare’s closing speed and adds a valuable layer of protection against legal issues and unwanted captures.
Recommended Setup for Effective Coyote Control
For a reliable and humane setup, we recommend using:
Cable: 3/32-inch 7×7 galvanized aircraft cable
Length: 84 inches
Lock Type: Micro Lock or Cam Lock (depending on use case)
Support: Spiral support collars (allow easy adjustment compared to crimped wire)
Swivels: #9 gauge swivel to reduce cable stress and wear
Extensions: Swivel extension cables for added flexibility and rotation
This configuration has proven to be one of the most consistent and efficient choices when selecting a snare for coyotes in rural and suburban settings alike.
Anchoring The Snare
Now you will place your support wire. I like to use black electrical tape if I don’t have fence nails. If you have fence nails these will work wonders. Attach your support wire high enough that it is well above where your support collar will be. This will allow you to position the snare easily at this point.
Now insert your other end of the wire into the support collar on your snare. You can secure the support wire using twist locks like we have on our snares or you can use wire pliers to crimp the support wire onto the cable. This step is to do two things
(1) to make sure you can adjust the snare up, down or left and right
(2) To ensure that the anchor section of the cable does not move when the prey enters the loop of the snare. Allowing this to move can result in back outs (discussed later in this article). You can also use black electrical tape to secure the Wire onto the cable. As you are setting this support wire, make sure your loop will be at the right height and position before you crimp or take the wire down.
Snare Height and Loop Size
For Coyote snares you want a 10-12”diameter loop approx 10-12” off the ground. Make sure the loop is set so that it falls closed easily, you do not want to have the prey pull it closed. They will feel this tension and back out on you (mentioned above – “Back outs”).
If the coyote feels any movement and the snare does not close he will stop and back up. This is also where loading snares or putting tension on snares comes in. More On that topic later.
If your choke point is in a wooded trail you may need to lay some debris to the left and right to encourage the Coyote to enter the snare (choke points). Small objects such as dirt clots or small ricks work perfect, coyotes hate to step on objects. You don’t need anything large.
Don’t make a mistake of placing a bait under the loop. This will cause the Coyote to nose down to investigate the bait and most likely duck the snare or feel it and realize something is wrong.
Types of Snare Sets
Snare sets are no different than trap sets. The idea is to locate the best most logical place to catch the predator. This involves a bit of wildlife detective work, some understanding of habits and sometimes a bit of persuasion.
Understanding the habits of coyote will help you greatly. We are working on another article just for that purpose and we will announce it once finished. For now lets take a look at some basic set locations.
Fence Crawls
Setting coyote snares in fence crawls (a place where a Coyote goes under the fence lines) is a great place to set snares for coyote. Once they commit to going under the fence, it is very uncommon for them to “Crawl” back out, in fact they almost never will.
Set the snare low in this instance so that the head will enter the loop, as they push through the crawl they will close the loop and seal their fate.
You can find fence crawls by looking at the fence very closely. You may see hair on barbed wire, look for spots where the grass has been flattened or worn down. Fence crawls should be easy to spot and are among the best points for snaring coyotes.
Field Edge & Coyote Trails
I have seen them just along the treeline at dusk scouting for prey. This might be a good place to set some bait. Use the choke points we mentioned at the beginning to direct him in.
Funnel Points
As we stated in the beginning of the article, Foliage, rocks or debris that forces the coyote into a specific location are choke points or a funnel. This will guide the target species in a desired direction.
For coyote this does not require a lot of effort. They are very picky creatures and they do not like stepping on small rocks, dirt clots or branches so use these to your advantage. An example of this is described below.
Perhaps you are setting along a trail that is wide enough for two coyote side by side but this give room to miss your snare. Simply places some rocks along the sides of the trails, nothing too large and perhaps 4 along each side spaces out the length of a coyotes body.
Ensure that the rocks will narrow him down so as to allow only one at a time to pass. You just created a funnel or choke point. Alongside the trail outside of the normal path of travel you can place some tree branches to ensure they do not skirt outside of the trail itself. Coyote are lazy creatures, they will take the closest path with least resistance.
Place your snare loop in the center of that path and you have increased your catch rate chances greatly just by creating this funnel.
Using Coyote Baits & Lures
When snaring the use of coyote baits and lures take a bit of thinking. You do want your baits to cause the coyote to skirt your snare or miss it. The idea here is to look at the path of travel and place your bait so that he will run through your snare as he continues to investigate.
Once a coyote has gotten scent of something he will investigate it thoroughly and from all angles. A good is example scenario is listed below. In this example we have a log crossing, dead trees to the right and brush surrounding our bait locations.
Notice we have debris set at each opening that can be traveled freely. We set just enough debris to encourage him to take a new route. In the path of that new route we have our snares set one at north, south and one at the log on the right.
Now notice the log on the north, in this case we pretend we have a log jump. You want your snare on the landing side, as he comes over he is committed to moving forward. This will increase your chance of a catch.
On the right we pretend we have a crawl or a duck point. He has to crawl or duck under the log, set that snare right in the crawl. Once he starts in he is committed. You bait goes in the center and they have to come in to inspect it from one of those set entry points.
So there you have it. A basic introduction to snaring for coyote. We will continue to write articles on this topic as well as doing videos so make sure you keep up to date with us and watch for those. Happy snaring !
That was a quick and crude example, if you want to get more information on snaring tips and tricks you can check out Bruce Hemmings classic trapping videos or get on the list to be notified when our Coyote Trapping Tricks DVD is released. The video will be sold retail for $29.95 but customers on the list will get the DVD for only $13,99. Register here to be notified.
Coyote snaring is quite simple once you learn a few basics. Watch for more articles from us on the Basics of Snaring. You can have a look at how to make a snare and get a head start on snaring for coyotes.
Final Thoughts on Coyote Snares
Snaring coyotes requires more than just placing a trap. It demands knowledge, ethical consideration, and an understanding of local ecosystems. With predator numbers on the rise, using a professionally configured coyote snare can be an effective and responsible part of your wildlife management strategy. Whether you’re protecting livestock, pets, or simply reducing the risk in your neighborhood, choosing the right tools can make all the difference.
Stay informed, stay legal, and stay safe.