Steeltraps, Hmmmm. Sounds like you may not be bedding the dirt firmly within the jaws? Not sure but poly doesn't work though torrential downpours sometimes.

Mark, was bedding and packing the jaws with dirt. Lots of rain that year thats why I changed over to Underalls. may not have had enough poly under the pan. Just like the underalls better

Mark, how do you pack the dirt inside the jaws without hitting the pan? I haven’t been packing the dirt on the inside of the jaws and maybe wondering if that is why I’m getting misses? Normally I bed my trap solid with some polyfil under the pan, then just cover trap with some dry dirt and smooth with my glove, add a small stepping stone or dropping and off I go. Never thought to try and pack tightly in the jaws.

I’ve tried waxed paper . Screen pan covers leaves and I’ve found under all’s and polyfil to be my favorites underalls are great but not always available so I switched to polyfil and haven’t had an issue sense. I can pack the dirt solid inside the jaws. I find this important because I try to make the rest of the set solid as the non dug dirt they’re walking on before the set and if the dirt inside the jaw is loose it’s off to them. I find this especially true with coons which play with the dirt until they find the trap and dig it out . The polyfil and underalls allow me to pack all around the inside of the jaws with my fingers , making sure I don’t get snapped though.

Poly with waxed sand will work thru anything nature can throw at it.

I've always used Polyfil, just because that was how I was taught years ago. Something I learned was that a little goes a long ways. I used to put these huge globs of Polyfil under the pan and it's really not necessary. I've never had a digging issue with it and I've even re-used Polyfil in remakes before (but don't anymore, just because it's cheap and not worth it). Like others have said, I would imagine that any digging issues are because of bedding issues and not because of the Polyfil. Recently, I have thought about using a coffee filter on top of the pan instead, but not sure if I like the idea just because of scent. But I've seen guys use it in demos at conventions and it seems to work for them. I would imagine it's the same as anything else - scent proof them ahead of time by putting them in a bin full of dry dirt or peat moss. This season I'm thinking about doing some with Polyfil and some with coffee filters, just to try to them out.