CR questions

Banjo, that's painful to even look at! Talk about broken hearted.

Did you place the brush or was it there already? If that was an aged location I think it's a perfect example of Where To Set.
Did you continue walking through the set when you made it, or did you set the cable, turn, and walk away in the opposite direction?
I've seen tracks stop short when I stop short. If I have to walk up to a set, even in the snow, I continue to blaze a trail beyond the cable so that my scent doesn't suddenly stop at the kill location.
Could that be the case with the 2 coyote turn around?

Some guys like an unloaded cable, but I highly prefer the look and action of my homemade loaded snares.
John Graham, a legendary snareman out west prefers an unloaded loop.

I've caught a bunch of them with #9 wire, but I've gone to using weathered lathe boards ripped down to 1"x1.5" with a short stub of wire sticking off the side. Much like what Dietsch has going on there. You can easily blend in the "stick" if you want to by attaching some goldenrod/briars/whatever to the stick from the immediate surrounding.
I usually just make 3 pilot holes with my driver. One for the lathe board and two on each side to jam some camouflage in the ground to blend in the board.
The advantage to this is a much stiffer support anchor....resulting in a loop that closes more quickly.
It also gives them something in the catch circle to focus chewing on rather than chewing on your cable

Furdog, what locks are you using there?
I made up a bunch with micro locks this year and really like how smooth they work on a loaded snare with a hard gooseneck bend.