trap placement

When you guys set a dirt hole where so you put your trap in relation to the center of the dirt hole?
And does it differ for the animal you are after?

i put mine straight out infront of the dirt hole, caught coons, coyotes and cats, i didnt see any differance, caught all 3 species using the same set up, good bait and lure will keep them working the set

I agree

For coyote/bobcat I offset the trap. 9-10" out 2-3" to the side to the center of the pan. Most of the time to the left. No reason for the left placement. It kind of depends on the conditions at the set. I also do not set many dirt holes only for bobcat. If a cat comes along and gets caught in a coyote set that is a bonus for me.

For fox 7" out from the hole right in front of the hole.

If you are trapping in snow country, and constantly having to sweep off your sets to keep them working, it a good idea to set them all the same as this way you will know where the foot target area is. If you are using exposed pans, well, think that one is a no brainer. As far as distance, I raised a couple of coyotes from pups to adult. These guys ran loose around my place from when they were little up until breeding season the next year (then they took off, go figure). I would put a dirt hole in a road side bank and also on the level with a short backing behind it. It seemed they (when they were about 8 months old) would walk up to it and their foot was 8 to 9 inches back from the edge of the hole. Measured this situation a bunch of times and it was pretty consistant. I started using the 9 inches out from the edge of the hole to the center of the pan as a standard and had very few misses.