I have seen videos of guys out in a terrain or in tress and making mention they need to find dry dirt. And went somewhere nearby to collect. I have always brought my own from horse arenas. But where exactly can you collect it when on line. The top surface of soil?

Lots of options. Hit them after a really hot dry stretch like we just had.
The powdery dry stuff on minimum maintenance dirt roads is good.
Sides of any south-facing bank of dirt...and start with the pile at bottom of that where it crumbles off. Need a good sifter and buckets that you can fill and transfer into a barrel or just fill up a lot of buckets in the truck.
There is usually some nice fine dry dirt at bottom of washout and drainage areas.
I harvest my bedding dirt from those places for many years.
I get mine these days from a local landscaping company. Dry, pulverized, and its only a few bucks for about 40 to 50 gallons with minimal waste after sifting. They usually have it pulverized very fine. I think earlier this summer I paid $12 for almost 50 gallons. I had two 30 gallon trash cans in back of my truck and they were about 3/4 or so full sifted. They charged by weight so weight the truck empty then full and he said $12 and I said that's a deal.
Jim

I carry a small amount of dry dirt with me always. Easier than searching for it while making sets. I also carry dried gras, dried peat and waxed sand.

Under bridges while on the line. Best dirt I ever found was at the bottom of a pond we drained about 6 months after draining. Medium fine particulars that pack super solid. Wish I had gotten more before it grew up in vegetation.

Different makeups of dirt some dirt is better then other stuff I pass on topsoil if it’s powder like because it packs easy and holds water that cannot drain through it. I have fields that have good dirt in one place and poor dirt 100 yards away.

Sift your dirt on windy days and allow the baby powder dirt to blow away the higher you hold the sifter the less powder you end up with.

Undercut banks and holes in side hills produce dry dirt in a pinch also.

I've had my best luck off of pocket gopher mounds. May take a few to fill a bucket or two but it's easy to get when you have gophers.

Side of a creek bed or wash.

While on the line ant hills are an excellent source of dried dirt

After many years on different lines in different states finding and having easy access to real dry dirt can be challenging. The temperature friendly states that isnt such of a big problem. When in doubt I haul dry dirt/peat blended material with me as well as many containers of dry sifted peat.

Anyone who has been with me or visited my camp will vouch to that. You have to be prepared or there may be frustration ahead for you. For local trapping it is just a matter of being prepared before you loose your window of finding dirt that may need sifted, dried and stored.

Guys that put these pre season tasks aside pay the price every year. I have a couple of local young fellas that do this almost yearly.

They call me begging for dry dirt,waxed dirt and peat. I helped out the first couple of times that they called. Then after I saw the lazy pattern of them not taking the time to do what I do every summer and early fall there are no more give aways from my inventory.

It is near impossible finding true dry dirt anywhere except in or under a roofed buidling out of the weather. Any place else it will still have moisture content. Been there done that. Not to mention the time you waste in finding it. Really ???

Guys kill me when they say they find dry dirt everywhere they need it. It you don't prepare or buy what you need chances are you will pay the price along the way and just not have it.

Hobby trappers running a handful of sets can get by without much pre season effort. You won't get away with that system running several dozen sets with rebuilds daily.

I have an endless supply right under my house. 2 large crawlspaces on either end. Just climb through hole and start digging!

Don't get dry dirt from a fire ant hill.

I get mine along the side of seldom used dirt roads. I take a flat square shovel and scrape off the top layer and into a bucket. Usually no need to even have to sift the dirt.

Most of the spots mentioned are great when it hasn't rained in a while. But when you really need it, after a rain, dirt roads and gopher mounds are wet to. Spent a couple of weeks trapping coyote in Missouri and it rained every other day. I excavated so much dry dirt under the one bridge that had some I was concerned I might undermine the abutments.