He believes that no matter where you put your bait, a coyote will not be comfortable eating it there. "It's not the type of bait, but how it is used," he said. Downs states that "confidence bait" is by far one of the most important aspects of baiting. To allow coyote to feel more comfortable at bait sites, Downs established the use of small pieces of bait to be used in conjunction with the main bait. They will not commit to a bait site long enough to effectively hunt it. Often coyote will act extra wary around bait sites.
However, to be truly consistent, hunters should apply Downs' advanced techniques for increased baiting success. Utilizing long lasting, stationary bait such as the coyote baitsicle, or even a dead deer, is a great way to bait for coyote.
Now you can easily transport the bait in the bucket, and the spacer will allow the bait to easily slip free at the bait site. Put the frozen bait back in the bucket with the spacer on the bottom. After about five minutes, remove the frozen ice bait from its bucket and put a spacer (Downs recommends a hockey puck or a piece of wooden 2x4) in the bottom of the bucket. The warm water will surround the frozen bucket and allow the ice bait to break free from inside of its bucket. Place the frozen ice bait bucket in the bucket with the warm water.
While home, fill a separate five gallon bucket 1/8 full of warm water. Hunters can avoid this mishap with the following method. Many hunters get frustrated and actually break their plastic buckets as they try to dislodge the frozen bait. Removing the frozen bait from the bucket can be tricky. That defeats the purpose of using a baitsicle. If the hunter sets out baits prior to being completely frozen, they will be soft in the middle and melt prematurely. It is important to freeze the bucket fully before setting it afield. Downs advises to use warm water because it lets the blood seep into the water, thus creating flavor for the coyote even if no meat is present in the bite of ice. Using venison scraps from his butcher-any meat scraps will work-Downs fills the bucket a couple inches from the top and adds warm water.
That being said, there is an art to preparing the perfect baitsicle. The premise is simple: just hunt when you can. The baitsicle can last for several days or even weeks, depending on coyote activity. Frozen scrap meat the size of a 5-gallon bucket is a hard-to-devour bait. This is where the baitsicle proves so efficient.
According to Downs, inconsistency in baiting makes for poor success rates. (See PX August 2008.) Downs created the coyote baitsicle out of a necessity to keep bait at his hunting spot while balancing a busy lifestyle. I first introduced PX readers to the coyote baitsicle-a concoction of scrap meat and frozen water-in my Bait & Pitch article. It was then that he saw his success rate soar! The Original Recipe To sustain his success rate, he had to modify and develop new baiting techniques. As a resident predator caller from Cape Cod, Mass., Downs saw his success rate climbed when he started baiting for coyote. In this article, we take an in-depth look at cutting-edge baiting techniques and concepts from one of the Northeast's most knowledgeable and successful hunters, Brian Downs. To be consistently successful, hunters must improve their baiting methods to stay ahead of the game. The Eastern coyote-in its supernatural ability to survive-has duped hunters at even the most tempting bait stations. The art of effective baiting must go beyond finding a road-kill deer and watching over it. However, anyone who has sat waiting and watching for three hours in single-digit temperatures knows that even baiting isn't the silver bullet for killing coyote. This is the mantra for any hunter who relies on baiting to lure coyote into gun range.