I have a big walnut tree next door and was wondering how i use those for dying traps? Do i have to wait until they fall off the tree or can i pull them off now and use them?. Also do i have to "skin" the walnuts and just use the hard part or use the whole thing? thanks guys.

I've heard that you just use the outside hulls.

You can use the whole thing..I have before. I think they work better when they're split, just because you have more surface area to mix better with the water. Just put a bunch in a rag and pound them with a hammer.

thanks ADC, that was good info. guess i have to wait till they fall or knock a bunch off and let them ripin quick. i'll toss a bunch in a bucket and watch them for a while and see what happens.

You don't have to wait for them to fall - you can pick em off the tree if you want. The hull is what has the dye in it.

I put a bunch in a onion sack and smack it against a tree trunk a few times to bruise up the hulls.

I put the whole sack in the water as I am heating it and let it boil for a while with the sack in there.

Having it in the sack keeps the debris retained.

I then remove the sack, put the traps in, put the sack back in over the traps and then boil for another 1/2 hour at least.

I then turn the heat off and let the whole thing cool overnight and remove the traps the next day.

When I take them out they are as black as midnight. :-)

When I dyed my traps with walnuts it made then really black but with the slightest touch the stuff would just rub off. It was like a black powder all over my traps. Did I do something worng or what?

Thanks,
Drew

hmmmmm were they rusted good? i would think that stuff would stick like paste. but ive never done walnuts before. ive done alot of other nuts, but never walnuts. :o)

I do like Billy Y.and it works great.

All trap dye I used will rub off, I see little protection from rust with a dye, they are rusty on the edges when they dry, I rinse them then wax.T.20

From my experience, the tannic acid (dye)in black walnuts is at it's maximum concentration at the end of their "growing" season - when they fall to the ground. Much easier to harvest then.

I leave mine in a 5 gallon bucket until they turn dark brown/ black, and use them whole in the boiling pot, confined in a fine-meshed "sack." You can also "husk" them quite readily if you have access to an old, hand cranked corn sheller. Either way, the dye is black. Does a nice job. The same results can be had from the natural dye in sumac berries if one does not have access to black walnuts.

Jonathan

TexA- how is a walnut odor a bad odor to have on your traps?

ttt

put the hulls in a pair of panty hose and no mess i used them befor and it worked good. i think ill try the formula 1 this year

I have used walnuts and sumac tops. I like to boil them in a few gallons of water then strain them thru a screen. I then add the dye to my boiling pot. This helps to keep the small chunks off of the traps.
I've also noticed the odor but it seems to decrease once the trap is waxed. It still makes me worry a bit so I prefer to use the black crystal trap dye.

coontrapper81-any odor can be bad if it draws a fox or coyotes attention to the fresh dirt at it's feet.

oh ok thanks, i dont know what u guys are talking about getting stuff stuck on your traps. thats never happened to me before and i dont put them in anything i just let the walnuts float on the top.

Sumac does this worse than walnuts but sometimes the boiling water will make them come apart and fine deposits get stuck in the springs. Makes your wax dirty and sometimes the wax will flake off of the trap. Sounds like your walnuts are whole and this doesn't happen. As long as they dye your trap then it should be fine. Take care.

i just use speed dip

I have observed there are residual trace "odors" of varying degrees of detectability left on traps from any of the natural dye treatments: walnut hulls, sumac berries, oak/maple barks, leaves, etc., including the logwood dye concentrates - chips, crystals or powders. These comments do not pertain to the solvent based dips, or Formula-1.

After using all of these over the years, at one time or another, on my red fox traps, I have never seen evidence that the minute, natural odors from any of these dye sources has been detrimental at a fox set.

Now, if the "wax" put over dyed traps from any of these sources should become contaminated for any reason, without knowing it, that is a different scenario that may lead one to conclude that it was the trap "dye" that caused digging, or set avoidance by canines.

Just a humble contribution to the discussions on the this topic.

Jonathan

how do you tell poison sumac from normal sumac? just curious because im so darn allergic to poison ivy crapola and i guess sumac.