Are there any opinions on adding scent intentionally to was when waxing traps? I trap in a lot of sagebrush, would it be worth harvesting some leaves and drying them out and grinding them up and adding to the wax when I wax all my traps. Then store them in a tote and let them "mellow" till the season starts? Just wondering if this might be an option or if I would screw it up and should just stick to scent free.

Thanks for the advice and patience.

Stick to scent free wax. But, put some DRY sage in the bins where you store your waxed gear. The wax will absorb a little without it being overpowering.

Side note. DO not seal the traps in airtight bins! I had some traps all ready to go, threw a few green cedar pieces in there (error) and snapped the lids on. After a Summer of temperature swings I had mold growing on the wax of 24 MB550's! What a stinky mess! The moisture from the cedar plus the condensation of temperature swings and those traps had to be cleaned and prepped all over again.

Why would anyone want to draw attention to your trap or for that matter the trap bed?

This^^^^^^^

If I trapped in the west I'd put a small amount of sage in my waxed dirt, how natural can it get.. I've added dry oak leaves and pine duff for years here. As long as it's a natural smell to the environment you trap in and it's not over done or doesn't have an animal smell then your good.. Pine pitch added to trap wax helps the wax adhere better. Open your minds up a bit..

I use some rosin to soften the wax so it doesn’t flake off so bad, or an occasional toilet wax ring if I can’t get rosin, but I’ve never tried pine pitch. I don’t have many pine thickets that I trap though, mostly hardwoods.

I'd advise against that. Not so much as to why not do it but why do it.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I have a bottle of pine needle oil. It was sold by e. j daily to add as cover scent in the mountains of NY.

The KISS method Is always the best.

Besides there was some poster on here that told me that wax won't absorb odors.

The added scent will not mask your smell.
We smell farts.
Predators smell the brains and eggs and grits you had for breakfast, and the cheap beer you drank the night before.

I remember Asa stating he added something to his wax (pine rosin???). Native to his trapping area, anyhow.

Wax isn't scent free as is. Anyone here that can't smell pot full of hot wax?

add rosin to make the wax tougher


I use walnut and sumac to treat rust on my traps and ultimately the wax smells like sumac and walnut, the sumac and walnut aren't going to either attract nor intimidate creatures that smell them every day.
Sage would work the same way, it will neither improve your chances nor harm your chances; animals will likely not pay much attention to a smell that is normal to that environment and does not mean either food or sex or danger, they will react just like they do to dirt.

That works like oil won't absorb water, water also won't absorb oil; however the two things can be mixed.
"Absorption is the process in which a fluid is dissolved by a liquid or a solid"
I can mix sugar and sand but I can't make sand dissolve sugar, nor vice versa.

I add a small amount of rosin to wax to help it stay on better, there are nearly no pine trees here

I wouldn't add anything to clean waxed trap .The trap will pick up owders that are around the ground you set it in good or bad something different might make them dig at the trap not something you want but that's just my experience Dave.

If you get the traps as hot as the wax you won't have any trouble with the wax staying In place or chipping off.
After the first catch or 2 all the wax or other types of dip are gone. And I have no problems catching critters with bare used traps.

I just don't see why everyone makes this trapping so complicated.

Thanks for all the input on this. I am not trying to make anything harder than it was, I just like to think about things to see if there are ways to improve. If we only do the things that we can we will never be more than what we are right now, after all only the Lord is perfect therefor we have always got room to improve. I really appreciate and value all the different opinions on here, if we all agreed on everything then we would stop learning and striving to be better. Have a great week everyone.