I am really new, my first set of traps(conibears) I was asking the owner of the store about prepping the traps, he said for coons it wasnt that important. I caught a few pretty easily. I ordered some more traps(getting the bug!). my question is it really necessary to degrease/dye/paint/wax them?

thanks!

Degreasing them yes, waxing, no some of us just use Full Medal Jacket on them, it's to keep the air and water from rusting the steel

I still do all of the work because it is fun to do and in my opinion necessary to have a successful season.

If you don't want to do it you don't have to but your success rate may suffer. If you choose to skip any of the steps, Degreasing is the one I wouldn't skip. Get any smells off your traps.

first year traps that are new all I have done is degrease them and set them did this with some bridger #3 dogless last year then clean and use whatever trap prep you want some paint them some dye and wax I actually send mine to a plating company and have them plated with a hard zinc plating perks of working where I do.

Would love to see some pics of the zinc playing. Any idea what it would cost the average Joe to have it done? Thanks

Just like any other metal tool ,treating them is only gonna be beer off in the long run, some paint or dye will give you more life out of your trap due to rust protection

Never wax. Dyeing absolutely

I remove factory grease and wax new traps. After a few seasons of use they will have a nice coat of rust and then they can be dyed if you feel so inclined. I’ve considered going to speed deep recently though

Just to confirm, no waxing was ment for coni traps only. Footholds i dye & wax.

New traps (if during trapping season) get cleaned and set. At the end of season if they’re rusty I’ll dip in vinegar/water to make them “new” again and then dip/paint (Formula 1) and let dry then put up until time to trap again.

I’ve come full circle on this. For foot holds, I wash in warm water and Dawn, followed by a rinse and drip dry. Then, they get dark spray paint, dry and dip in Full Metal Jacket. For bodygrips, I just wash, dry and dark spray paint. Snares get dipped in Formula One

My trapping partner washes, rinses and dries. Then everything is waxed and he’s good to go. Dogproofs are used right out of the box and most of what we use are powder coated (Ztraps).

I don't like waxed conibears. They are a little too spooky for me.

I take it you haven't looked here? https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/13/1/trap-preparation-archives
our Archives are awesome
personally I only clean and wax footholds and find dying a waste of time/money
body grips get the acetone-rustoleum treatment THEN a lil spraying to break up the outline as Russ Carman teaches.

^^^^^^^^^^^^So they blend in dappled light and when you lay some grass/vines/twigs over them they nearly disappear

turtledale check this thread out.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/6652888/re-full-metal-jacket#Post6652888

thanks I never thought of that