Trap Prep: From Box To Dirt

President of the Georgia Trappers Association Josh Hall said his trap-prep method is “old school,” but using Logwood Trap Dye and wax, one right after the other and before traps can cool, works very well for him.

If only you could open that box of traps from the UPS man and have them ready to deploy for duty in the dirt. In a phrase coined by a wise man many years ago, “it just don’t work that way.”

To be successful in trapping coyotes, foxes and bobcats using foot-hold traps, there are trap-preparation steps that must be taken after the UPS man leaves and before the steel touches the dirt. There’s also work that most trappers do to their traps at some point in between trapping sessions.

Now, as in all things trapping, you get a myriad of opinions on what those steps look like. We spoke with several guys from the Georgia Trappers Association to see how they prepare their foot-hold traps as wintertime trapping season kicks off Dec. 1.

Josh Hall: The president of the Georgia Trappers Association, who has been trapping for 25 years, said, “For the purpose of this article, I’ll talk about what I do with MB-450s and MB-550s. If I buy other traps, like some of the ones from Dukes, there’s modifications I make before dying and waxings. That’ll be another article.”

Per Georgia trapping regs, all traps must have the owner’s name or owner’s permanent trapper’s identification number provided by DNR. You can buy etched trap tags and fasteners at most places that sell trapping products.

“The first thing I am doing when I get them out of the box is to put anchors and my tags on them,” said Josh. “Then I’ll spray them down with a degreaser or vinegar and let them sit out for a day.”

A trap may be about the only item you want to take shiny and new from the factory and force it to rust. Brand-new traps need to rust before you put them in a dye mix the first time. That rust opens up the pores on a steel trap, which in turn allows the dye to do its job.

“The next day the traps are going to have a little bit of rust on them,” said Josh. “Wash the traps off with a pressure washer or a water hose with good pressure and then allow them to sit out for a few more days. I’ll just lay them on the ground by my trap shed.”

It usually only takes two or three days before you have a consistent coat of rust on your traps and can move to the next step of dying them. Josh said if the rust is only spotty, wait another day or two. Weather will speed up, or slow down, the rusting of traps.

“When you get the traps with a good coat of rust on them, you can then dye them,” said Josh.

Even though you want rusty traps before you dye them, it’s the dye that protects the traps from rusting when it counts—when they have been called to active duty just below the dirt.

“The dye protects the steel,” said Josh. “It fills those pours that were opened by the rust but then also protects the trap from rusting while it’s being used. The dye also seals the trap while covering up any smell below the dye—like rust or the metal itself—from odors that can cause a coyote to dig up your trap.”

Josh mixes his dye solution in a fish-cooker pot. Before heating, he adds water and brown Logwood Trap Dye, which is a popular dye you can find at many trapping supply companies. He adds one bag of dye per 5 gallons of water. Josh’s fish-cooker pot allows him to use about 10 gallons of water, so he’s using two bags of dye.

“For my particular setup, I’ll take a piece of wire and tie three 550s together or four 450s,” said Josh.

If you have traps with rubber jaws, Josh said he uses a thermometer and won’t let the dye mixture get hotter than 190 degrees. For his all-steel traps, he doesn’t need to read temperature. He just eyeballs it. Meanwhile, over to the side Josh is starting to heat up a pot of un-scented trapper’s wax. More on that shortly.

“You do not want to let the dye get to a rolling boil,” said Josh. “I like a good simmer, and then I will drop my traps in there totally submerged and let them boil for 15 to 20 minutes.”

When time is up, he’ll pull those traps out and walk out into the yard with them.

“I’m slinging and popping and giving them the helicopter to get all the excess dye off the traps,” said Josh. “Then they are going straight into the heated wax. The wax protects them from the weather and it also makes them perform better and snap faster. Wax serves as a protectant and makes them scent free.”

Some trappers dye their traps, hang them for a period of time and then wax them. Not Josh, who has good reason why he waxes immediately after he dyes his traps.

“Every time a trap gets cold and hot and cold and hot, it weakens the springs,” said Josh. “Since the trap is already hot from the dye is why I go ahead and place them in a hot wax. It prevents them from being heated an extra time.”

Please note that wax is very flammable, which is why Josh slings those just-dyed traps so hard in the yard. You don’t want to put wet traps into wax.

“Do not boil the wax,” said Josh. “Boiling wax will create fire. Once the wax is melted down, it’s ready. Since my traps are already hot, all I have to do is ease them down all the way to the anchor and count to about five seconds. I’ll pull them back up and let them drip over the pot to save the excess wax for the next traps. It’s important to mention that I only have to dip the traps in wax about five seconds because they are already hot. If it was a cold trap, you’d have to put it into wax longer in order to first heat up the trap.”

After waxed, Josh goes back to the yard and slings the traps to remove the excess wax and then hangs them on a board until he’s ready to use them. If you’re in a hurry to plant traps, Josh has used freshly waxed traps within just a few days of being removed from the wax and has had no trouble from critters. After running his trap line and pulling traps, it’s time to dye and wax all over again.

“When I pull my traps, I’ll take them and hose them off really good at the car wash or use a pressure washer,” said Josh. “This will clean the dirt and animal smells off before you dye and wax again.”

There are other smells that get on your traps during the nasty, wet winter season when you’re trapping, even if you don’t catch an animal with that trap.

“When it rains, that dirt hole—which has bait and lure in it—will fill up with water and run off into your trap bed,” said Josh.

After traps have been sprayed down with water, he’ll take a wire brush to the traps before adding it to the dye and beginning the process of getting them ready for the next round.

“By doing this all over again, I’m confident that my traps are clean,” said Josh. “Trapping is too much work to take a chance. I don’t need to have a client paying me to trap and then have a coyote digging at my trap because he can smell it. If he visits my set, I need to catch him.”

A last thing to consider for your seasoned traps is to not let them sit around after usage without protecting them with dye and wax. Seasoned traps that sit around getting rusty could put a dent in your wallet down the road.

“The only time you want to force your traps to rust is when you get them from the factory,” said Josh. “After that initial rust, you want to avoid rust on your traps. Rust will weaken trap springs. If someone is letting their traps get real rusty in the offseason, that’s not good.”

Jacob Parker: GTA’s vice president of the Georgia Trappers Association, says, “I do things a little different than everyone else. Once a year, usually in the summertime when it’s warm, I’ll paint my traps. I use black-colored High Performance Flat Rusty Metal Oil-Based Rust Preventive Primer mixed with either acetone or paint thinner. I’ll put the mixture in a 2-gallon bucket in a 50-50 mixture and then add some more paint thinner. It breaks down to about a 60-40 mixture before I dip the traps in them. You just don’t want the mixture so gooey that it takes two months to dry, but if it’s too thin a mixture, it’ll dissolve once it hits the air. The right mixture will seal and protect your trap.”

After a quick dip in the paint to cover the trap and the chain—but not the Super Stake—Jacob will hang his traps out before waxing.

“I’ve had folks ask me why I dip my traps in chemicals, but I haven’t slowed down catching critters,” said Jacob. “The biggest thing is that you have to let them air out before waxing. I’ll hang them for a minimum of one week. The smell is pretty much gone by then, but I usually wait two to three weeks before waxing.”

Unlike Josh’s waxing method, Jacob is dipping cold traps into hot wax, which means traps must sit longer in the hot wax. Jacob uses a big pot for waxing and has a piece of rebar to help determine when the wax is ready for traps.

“It’s close to being ready when there is a hoop of wax left in the bottom of the pot,” said Jacob. “I’ve got a piece of rebar I use for the wax and when that hoop finally melts and is gone, the wax is ready. Also, I dip that rebar in the wax and if it’s still white and goopy, the wax is not ready. When it comes out shiny, your wax is ready.”

Jacob will submerge two traps between a minute and 30 seconds and a minute and 45 seconds. He said if he was dipping one trap, he would submerge it for about 45 seconds. Traps are ready for the dirt once they dry.

“When I pull traps on a trap line, I’ll hit them with a pressure washer to remove dirt from the trap, springs and swivels and then hang them up until I use them again,” said Jacob. “I have noticed that traps that are painted versus just waxed clean up a whole lot easier.”

The only trap work he may do between his yearly paint sessions is to dip traps in wax that may be scuffed up or have caught a few animals. Jacob posted a video of this process that can be seen at GON.com/hunting/trap-prep-from-box-to-dirt.

Scenes like this are pretty rare without traps that have been properly prepared prior to hitting the dirt. This article looks at several different methods to get your traps ready for the dirt.

Brian McKee: Brian is the owner of Georgia-based Southern Snares & Supply, a supporter of GON’s annual Coyote Cull and the GTA. He has a new product called Ambush Dye and Wax Combo that is something for trappers to consider if they have bunches of traps to prep or are pushed for time.

“I was the traditional guy who prepped with Logwood dye and waxed, but I have some chemist friends, and we got together and developed Ambush,” said Brian. “It’s a cold dip and comes in pitch black, coyote brown and ganggreen.”

Like anyone selling a new product, Ambush has been tested by good trappers.

“We spent six months developing it, and then another three or four months testing it,” said Brian. “I’ve sent a lot of gallons all over the U.S. and even have a pallet of Ambush-ready traps fixing to go overseas. The results have been consistent, all positive.”

With shiny new traps, Brian said going through the rusting process first will allow Ambush to work much better, but it’s not totally necessary if you’re crunched for time in getting traps in the dirt. For seasoned traps that need a good cleaning and a fresh coat of Ambush, Brian pressure washes traps to remove dirt and then boils the traps in water mixed with a cleaning product called Battle Born.

“After that, I’ll hose them off and let them dry good before dipping them in Ambush,” said Brian. “You’ll want to shake Ambush up real good before you dip your trap, and you never want to let it freeze. A lot of guys use those plastic ice-cream buckets you get at the store and put Ambush in there before dipping their traps. Ambush works on both snares and foot holds. You dip the trap in there just long enough to coat it. Pull it out, shake the excess and hang it up. It’ll be dry in 10 to 12 hours and cured in about 18 hours. When it’s done, it will leave a thin, durable coat, which is in contrast to Logwood and waxing that leaves a thicker coat.”

One gallon of Ambush is $59, and Brian said he had one client who dipped 5-dozen traps with it and still had some left. This maybe something to consider when you factor in the amount of money needed to prepare traps with dye or paint, and wax, along with the time it takes.

“We try and be a one-stop shop, so we do offer some other products for guys to consider,” said Brian. “Bullet Proof Trap And Snare Dip and Formula One Instant Trap Kote are two of them.”

Check out Brian with Southern Snares & Supply in Hortense at www.southernsnares.com.

Randy Zerwig: Randy cleans traps in a way I’ve never heard of, but the executive director for GTA has the results to prove his method works well for him. The main difference in Randy’s method for trap prep is he doesn’t use dye but opts for a commercial steam cleaner to get traps ready for the wax.

“It’ll heat the water up to 250 degrees and melt off the wax and blow all the rust off,” said Randy. “I’ll put my traps on concrete, stand on the anchor chains, and I can have one trap cleaned in 60 seconds. I’m all about quickness.”

Randy’s steam cleaner of choice is made by Hotsy, and if you do a Google search, these heated pressure washers run several thousand dollars.

“I’ll hang the traps up and let them dry, and then they are ready for the wax,” said Randy. “If it’s cold outside, I’ll dip my traps in the wax about 20 seconds, and if it’s warmer maybe 15 seconds.”

Randy said if he catches an animal in a foot hold, the trap goes into a bucket to be steam cleaned and waxed again. For traps that don’t catch an animal, they go into a bucket ready to be used again.

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If a coyote or fox comes along and smells your trap just below the dirt, in most cases it won’t matter how well you bedded it. Proper trap preparation is one important key to overall success. Read through what these guys do and experiment a little with what works for you. I have no doubt that these methods work very well.