I'm looking into actually spray painting my predator traps this year. What are your thoughts on it? Can I wax them after I paint them? Is paint durable and safe to use on traps? All info is appreciated!

I used spray paint on my conibear traps for Fisher and marten.

A lot of people wax them after spraying with good results. I just spray them. Let them hang a couple weeks and go. Our Nebraska coyotes haven’t seemed to notice. If I didn’t run some salt from time to time I probably wouldn’t do anything.

Cheapest rustoleum I can find. I did right around 5 dozen traps with 2 cans not long ago.

No problems here using spray paint. Pain now and let'm hang to air out a bit. You can wax them too but let the paint cure for awhile before you do.

Whoa, I ended up using almost an entire can on 4 #3s!

You don’t have to make them drip with it just cover em! This will be my 5th season spraying and I’ll never go back.

I would dip my traps in brown paint then hit them with spots of green camo them.

I wouldn't HOT wax over any kind of paint. If you do It right and bring the trap up to temperature of the wax the paint will start to burn and that's going to ruin your paint job and your wax. The wax Is going to take on the paint odor.

It's what I use but I don't catch a whole lot. Let's just say it's not the paints fault though.lol

I used Rust-Oleum rusty metal primer and acetone dip for a couple years and during this years I had more rejections and caught fewer coyotes than ever. The bobcats and other animals didn't seem to care. First year I dipped and then used FMJ, halfway through season I waxed and then the numbers picked up. The second year I dipped and didn't use anything until I waxed halfway through season and once again the numbers picked back up. Both years I dipped in early June, so I would have thought that the scent would have gone away.

Oh, I didn't. I just gave them a nice pure even coat; I re-coated lightly once they were dry!

I use to know a guy that worked in a body shop. I would take my new clean traps down to him and when they were priming a car he would do my traps. It only cost me the price of a 12 pack.
Know I just get them powder coated I know a guy that does that too. But It costs me more then a 12 pack. But not to much more. LOL

Wow, where can I get that done?

You have to know someone.

I wash traps, new and old, in a bucket of warm water and Dawn. It gets rid of the mud and crud and oil. Then a rinse. Let em dry. Then the cheapest flat black spray paint I can find.

Put a nail or something between jaws. Spray paint pretty good. Let dry (it usually takes a hour). But then I let them further dry and lose any odor for a couple days. Then dip in FMJ. If new traps, I do another dip as per the instructions on the container. After a day or two of thorough drying it’s into open tubs and boxes for storage.

This IS NOT Rocket science. You can also buy a quart of the dips. Mix according to the instructions. Dip and dry between now and the season.

Or spray paint. Or just clean and wax. You can be as complicated or simple as you want to be.

Yep I spray paint all. Foot holds and body grippers. After a catch the get power washed in the spring and get a new coat.

Do you find the paint begins to build up after years of repainting each season ?

Not really as spray paint is not like old house paint. And with a few catches you'll see some of the paint gets knocked off. A simple touch up if you feel it necessary but I usually wait to do that in between seasons.

it seems like if you catch a coon, they can effortlessly make paint go away.

With my little experience matte finish paint comes off WAY easier than satin finish!