I am not an "every year" or die hard trapper by any stretch but I do like to try to do things the most efficient and effective way since if its worth doing its worth doing as close to right as possible. I had not trapped for the past 10 years or so and the last thing I did to my traps was dip them in speed dip and put them in my shed. We pulled them out and I set several traps with my daughter this year so she'd have something to get out of bed and mess with over Christmas break this year. We had what I thought was pretty good luck for the small amount of traps we set and the limited time they were running so obviously the speed dip and the way in which I had the traps stored was good enough so this is not a knock on speed dip. In the process of setting traps and reading and catching up on trapping techniques and what have you I decided I wanted to remove the speed dip and go to a dye and wax trap treatment before putting them away for storage which I have already completed. Our local bait shop/hunting, fishing, trapping supplies dealer sold me some log wood dye which led to a conversation about the pros and cons of speed dip and dye/wax trap treatment which he felt was largely just personal preference with neither having a huge advantage that he could tell from his experience once the traps were set. However he mentioned that if I was going to keep a pot full of wax that the wax is capable of picking up odors like lures and household odors while its being stored thereby possibly fouling the whole batch of wax for next year which got me to thinking in addition to my pot full of wax what about the thin layer of wax on the traps and how I keep it from absorbing the odors from my shed which at times stores chainsaws and things that would produce odors that are unnatural and possibly alarming to a coyote or bobcat. So I'm thinking I'll put my block of wax in a clean trash bag inside a brand new washed and rinsed and clean 5 gallon bucket and snap a lid on it and store the bucket outdoors under my carport in the open air and my traps I was planning to buy clean buckets and wash them with soap to make sure there's no residue from manufacturing inside them and thoroughly dry them and put the traps in them and put a snap on lid on the buckets and put them in my shed. Does anyone know of any pitfalls in this plan? What lengths do you guys go to, to make sure your supply of wax stays untainted and waxed traps don't pick up odor? I suppose the best way to keep the traps clean smelling as possible is hanging under a roof in open air cause even the plastic bucket might give off an odor that would cause a coyote to be suspicious? I live in town and figure hanging them in open air under the carport that the stray cats around might spray them or I'd have trouble maintaining possession of them hanging in open sight so I figure storing them in buckets with lids in my one and only shed is the best I can do.

Find a big canning pot for your wax put a bungee strap on it when it’s in storage to protect it from pests and odors.

I melted my wax in a 16 quart cheapy Walmart stainless steel cook pot. After it cooled it looks like it shrunk a little and pulled away from the edges of the pot. If it will dump out I was planning to dump it into a non perfumed trash bag and then put the bagged ball of wax into a clean 5 gallon bucket with a snap on lid and store under the carport. Maybe overkill but I think that should keep it from household, shed, and pet odors.

I have an old large pressure cooker, I clamp lid down when it cools, open it next time I melt wax

Plastic bags and buckets all give off an oder regardless of how much you wash them. Plastic is a petroleum product and removing it is impossible and the best you can hope for is to reduce it somewhat. Perhaps instead of new ones you can get some well used pails from a farmer that have had grain, corn or something in them. Adding grass or hay in with your traps will also help as the wax will smell more natural. Coyotes have an amazing sence of smell but one can over think it as they smell all sorts of things everyday. They come across rusty fences, old machinery and such daily so don't over think it. I know several long lines that don't do much with their traps for several years yet they still do well. Keep it simple.

Watch them cheap pots they get pinholes in the bottoms pretty easy I found a granite ware pot on sale for $18 it’s well made.

Very true!! Ive seen many times where a coyote trails where a person walked through the snow and stopped to investigate a piece of trash left behind or a campfire and people trash so I know they don't all head to the next county just because they smell something that's not "natural". No doubt that coyote was following human scent just to see what the person was up to out of curiosity. I suspect the buckets will impart their own smell to some degree. its nearly impossible to avoid a scent of some kind. I'm certain any dog trained to detect paraffin wax would never miss a trap that had been prepared and set a carefully as possible. That being said I guess what we're trying to avoid as much as possible is avoid alarm producing odors that grab their interest more than the dirthole or lure or whatever you use at your set. I totally agree theres no way to make a trap un-smellable. Look at what detection dogs do for the military and law enforcement they're impossible to fool basically once they're trained so I doubt anyone ever prepared a trap that a coyote was incapable of smelling unless a particular coyote had lost the ability to detect odors. I suppose unless its well known that storing in buckets is a problem I will continue as planned and see how it works out just wondering how careful most guys are when they put traps away for the year and how much care needs to be taken to protect the wax. I suppose airing them out for a week or two before setting may be as important as exactly how I store them up to a point. I like the idea of an old canner with a lid that can be locked down and basically sealed!

I don't think you have to go to all that trouble The wax was wrapped in plastic wrap when you bought it wasn't it? Melt it into a bread pan and wrap it up. Saran wrap.
I really don't go to any trouble at all. I just leave it in the melting pot and put a cover on it.
just

Yep! came wrapped in plastic and that's what ill be doing to store it. I think the guy was mostly just saying don't store the wax in the same cabinet as my lure or some kind of fragrant candles or something like that. Was curious how many people had ever learned that the hard way. It was the first time I had really thought about it or heard that it might be a real issue.

You could always store stuff I plastic totes with lids & put a few cedar or pine branches in with the traps & wax .
Dennis

I just cover my pot with tinfoil and store it in the barn. I take my traps and store them in totes with grass I’ve saved from the properties I trap. I’ll put a good layer of peat moss in the bottom of the tote too. I figure they’ll smell like what they get bedded in when I set them. Seems to work ok.

Hot dang...that’s a lot of reading......