Anybody got ideas? I uses oak and maple leaves before and dye does not stick as well. I will also read the archives to find some ideas.

walnut hulls or sumac(dont play with poison sumac) do better.

If you have walnut trees walnut hulls are good. I like to peel them off while green with a knife. Wear rubber gloves. They will stain your hands black.

I don't have walnut or sumac sadly. Used to at my old place, is there and kind of bark I can use

Ground or chopped into small pieces, oak bark works. You need enough that the water is almost black. It takes a lot.

Well if you find a creek that runs through the woods and it’s not rocky you can bury your trap in the deep super super black mud cause it is full of tannins

I use the sumac bark not the berries.

Is there an advantage to making your own? The stuff u buy is about 2.50 per dozen traps.

I know it's cheap, but I want to dye em like right now and free is better than cheap. Dyeing isn't even a necessity. I might even spray paint and hang to air out

Build dead fall traps then. They are free too.

If you aren’t going to dye them why ask what the best homemade dye is? Dying is a necessity if you want your traps to last a while, spray painting is what I do for stupid animals but dying lasts longer

Chopped up red oak bark works good. Bring it to a boil and let it boil for a half hour
Turn off the heat and let it cool with the traps still in the kettle
When it's cool, skim the crap off of the top of the water and then overflow the kettle with clean water
Reheat the kettle and boil for 10 minutes and remove your traps

I spray paint or dip paint almost all my traps. Doesn't matter if they're for muskrat or coyote. Color isn't really important, though I probably wouldn't spray body grips or snares blaze orange or other bright colors...spray paint dries fairly fast, within a few hours this time of year. And odorless not that much longer. Add FMJ on top of that of you're really concerned about scent, especially on coyote snares, not so much for traps under dirt.

I'm gonna try southern snares new thing after convention as it's supposed to do both dye and wax at the same time on some snares and body grips.

I think dyeing is better on traps that have developed some rust as the dye can neutralize it. There are rust neutralizing paints but they're pricey.

Just find somewhere that has a black walnut tree, I'm sure someone has one in their yard where they'd be glad for you to come pick them up Please don't go scraping bark off living trees.

Heck if you pick up a bunch then maybe they will let you trap on there property

I'm dyeing them rn. Oak and maple leaves working great

Is it fine if it's a rolling boil?

That was in the beginning now the water is so black u can't see any traps

Got any Black Sage in your area.

If the water is black let it boil an hour or so with the traps in it. Boiling water wont hurt traps. The temp of boiling water is to low to have any effect on the springs.