Coyotes can and have been caught in all sizes of traps, from #1.5's on up. Here is what I have found out trapping coyotes....the hard way,. Go with the biggest, heaviest, stoutest trap you can legally set above the water line. I have had good traps completely destroyed and made unusable by coyotes. They will pull the jaws out, bend the frames and dogs, break chains, and pull the stakes. Now, the ONLY trap I will set for them is a fully modified Bridger #3 with offset jaws. My traps have an extra strap welded to the frame, 4 coils, and laminations welded to the jaws to help prevent bend and pulled out jaws. Even then, a big male will still bend the crap out of them, and I have to spend the time to straighten them back out. I also keep them on a fairly short chain to keep them from getting leverage when lunging. All my traps also have a heavy spring shock adsorber attached in line on the chain. I now use the cable stakes, and they are a lot easier to use, and drive then rebar. They also hold a lot better than rebar, and I have not lost a trap with this setup.

You could get by with a #2 trap. Some brands of trap are naturally built heavier than others. A fully Mod'ed #2 would probably hold up fairly well. BUT, for the small difference in price, I elected to go with the #3's. I KNOW I won't have many problems with those.

When selecting a trap, just be sure of the jaw spread, and the spread on the frame. Not all sizes of traps have the same inside measurements. Additionally, once a jaw spread reaches a certain size, it is required to have an offset to be set above the water line. FYI, I think the last 6 traps I bought, with this setup, it was about $22.00 per trap. Thats adding in the shock and cable stake.