Wondering how you guys store your traps for the summer and when you start the wax dipping/preparation for the next season? Ive got a couple dozen coyote traps that i don't want to wreck with improper storage! Thanks for all the responses!

I she and wax then store in my square kitty litter buckets that I use for all traps. Label each bucket with content so you don't have to dig in bucket to see what is there.

I clean and wax my traps before putting them away for the season. Then I store them in milk crates but line the bottom with cardboard or plywood so the chains don't fall through and make you say bad words when your trying to get them out. Plastic barrels or empty lick tubs work great too.

I store them in totes till about October 1st... K9's get boiled, dyed and hung outside to air for about 2-3 weeks before the Trapping season opens. I have never waxed them, plan on trying it this October? My water traps and #155's are paint dipped and holding up well, I will just hang them out to air. DP's get hosed down at the end of the season, hung to dry and put away till next season. All the tools/equipment gets the boiled, dyed and hung to air treatment also.

Prep is up to individual taste and soil conditions. Eastern and some northern states have more acidic soil than the Plains and Western states so prep should include some sort of rust inhibitor. If trap is rusty and relatively clean of mud it goes in the logwood dye barrels in the heated portion of the shop. The tannin will dye the trap (much, much slower at room temp but no extra heat/energy is used) and even remove some rust over winter. Clean any others with the pressure washer (its a time thing). Heating the dye solution can take place at this time of year (late spring/summer) for any traps you want or think need it. After the dying all traps get rinsed in a neutralizing solution of baking soda and fully dried. Body Grips, DP's and Water Traps get any speed dip you (I) like -- land foot traps get the acetone/paint or non petroleum dip ( I have used oil based house paint with good results). Some guys will wax them after dying (I did for years) instead of this paint/petroleum/water dip covering,,,,, I don't wax now but time is my enemy and the wax takes me longer with extra energy. Snares and cable (new) are washed in an old dishwasher and when dry are submerged in either a very dilute acetone/paint mix or a water-based dip. Let sit over night or longer in this solution (the time thing) to soak into the fiber core of the 7X7 or 7X19 cable type. After the prep, whatever type is used,,,,,,.. the traps and snares are dried,,,,,,,, they are left outside, on racks, which vary in time, again due to my schedule (some 3-4 days, some 3-4 weeks) just depends. After that I have tried every type of storage container I have heard of and milk crates with a solid bottom win out. The 5 gal white and green buckets can be used when milk crates are in short supply or the kitty litter containers (with out lids). DP's, snares and canine foot traps are stored solely in buckets for my ease of use. MB650's and DP's get heavy in large containers for us old guys!!!!. Those canine ones may or may not get a sealable lid and I may cut some red cedar short branches for storing with them before the lid goes on. White Buckets for the snares, Black Plastic Buckets for the canine ones and only metal buckets without lids for the DP's. You can put too many DP's in a plastic one and destroy it by dropping it, pointed anchors pushing it and even storing it in the sun - Uv light or even stacking it too high. I do not use plastic lids on any other buckets just wood squares to allow air flow. Sometimes the snares get hung under an eve for a long period but rust will go to work on a cable from the inside out and by the time you see it on the surface it has weakened the overall cable's strength so they come in the unheated building with all the rest. With this prep and storage I have had traps stacked in my building for 10 years or longer with no rust or rodent problems ready to go when the market prices and animal pop. are favorable My take...…………………………….. the mike

Clean and boil traps,. Possibly dye/spray paint. I wouldn't recommend waxing till fall unless you can store traps in a closet mate controlled building. parrfin wax melts at 115F at the low end. I know my trap shed or storage barrels can get that hot or more in SE Ohio easily in the summer so wax gets a bit messy.

Never store traps in a closed container wet.

Start your prep now.
Store in metal trash cans

I Clean in Dawn and hot water. Spray / rinse to get off any extra blood, mud and crud. Let dry for 24-hours. Spray with flat black or brown cheeeeep paint. Let dry a day or two just to be sure they’re dry. Then dip in full metal jacket. After drying, I store in plastic totes. Did it in January when I was home recovering from a nasty cold. I’m all set for next fall. Full metal jacket is like liquid floor wax. It doesn’t have any odor once it dried and literally wears like an industrial floor wax should. Holds up very well in Minnesota soils

Normally my finish routine for storage involves a lot of, gathering couple traps i set down here, four i hung here, finding some my boys put there. Once all gathered i clean any debris out of jaws, soak in water and spray off any blood or mud. Then i do any repairs to traps that are needed. After fully dry they go into a large wooden storage box i made on skids specifically for my traps, bundles of 6 or so. I have J hooks inside that i attach individual bundles to so chains dont get tangled. They spend the summer there until a month or so before i start laying steel. When they come out of box its hot logwood dye bath, and wax. Hang outside in undisclosed location for couple weeks and were off to catch some fur.

I boil mine with bows of sagebrush, always have. It actually dyes the steel pretty nicely as long as there is some slight rust on them, and I figure it’s a natural scent sense everywhere I trap has the stuff. I Do that a dozen at a time, take them all out let them hang on the fence a couple weeks, then wax them one by one. I put them all into heavy duty black totes 24 at a time, keep them in the shop where it’s cool, and call it good.

I use alder bark to boil and dye them. Used alder bark and hemlock boughs when I was a kid, not sure how much the hemlock boughs helped but that was the way my dad did it. I have used walnut hulls a time or two, and they work good, but alder bark is readily available and does a nice black dye without any residue like dips. Even traps dyed with logwood crystals I've often seen with kind of a powder on them.
Wax my footholds and don't my bodygrips.
Used full metal jacket one year on some new wolf traps bought right at the beginning of the season. Just degreased and full metal jacketed them. Have done the same with wax for new land traps, since they are being covered anyways it works just fine.
Thinking about powder coating some new wolf traps white this year for snow sets.

When is am finished for the season, I pressure wash and and put them in a 55 gallon drum with about 5 gallons of red oak sawdust on the bottom and fill with water. I pull out mid October and they are jet black and then I just wax them.