I have heard from quite a few folks on youtube videos and what not to not worry too much about trap levers freezing down to the ground. Being new to using wax dirt and trapping in a much colder environment than i used to i continue to make mistakes. Yesterday with plans to move a few sets i went to set off a few perfectly wax dirted sets and found them dead in the water. Wax dirt worked perfectly on top but the levers froze down. Out of 8 traps moved 3 were froze down. These three traps in particular have been set since the day after thanksgiving and not touched. So to shorten the thread. Make sure you have either wax dirt or a different non freezing agent under the traps as well in the colder climates.

I bed my traps almost exactly like yukonal does (when I'm not bedding like zagger) . The one problem I have found is the waxed dirt working its way up under the pan from the bottom making for some very heavy pan tension (especially with traps like the bridger #2s that have a large pan and very little clearance under the pan ). Pan covers don't do anything to alleviate this . I've tried a lot of different things with varying results . The best method I've found is what Lames Lucero describes in his book master wolfer . Take a plastic sandwich bad (the kind that has the flap you fold over) put some fiberglass or pipe insulation in it (he adds a little salt into the bag , I haven't yet and have had no issues) fold the bag up , squeeze the air out and tape it closed shove it under the pan then wiggle the trap into place like yukonal does . No dirt can get in from under or over the pan . The trap is sandwiched in waxed dirt and stays functional without pan tension interference . The only problem is when you get a good rain then a hard freeze . The waxed dirt holds the water on top of the trap bed (I bed level with the surrounding ground and still have this problem) and it freezes like a solid plate over the trap . A coyote can dance all over the trap but its weight is distributed over the whole trap bed and it won't fire . The plate has to be removed but it comes off very easy . Deep snow does the same . I prefer the Zagger method but I have had a number of traps freeze down without even a speck of dirt over the levers or jaws . The pans have been depressed but the levers and jaws are being held by frozen ground from the bottom of the levers and the sides of the jaws (4 coiled extreme Jr's) . I'm working on a way to prevent that .

Yes, you need to put dry dirt and freeze proofing under the trap. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't. It really isn't going to take that much extra to do that anyway.

I don't go to youtube to learn anything about trapping. It seems like there is a never ending stream of idiots with no real knowledge imitating things they have seen in other videos. There definitely are some great channels as well, but it takes some discerning to sort through the bad.