I typically do not use pan covers or anything under the pans of my predator traps unless I know we have some rain coming. Getting in abunch of sets then coming back after a rain and seeing the exposed washed out traps gets frustrating. I have never liked the screen covers don't know why just don't. Have tried wax paper but didn't like how noisy it was. I have found coffee filters work well for me. Yes it takes time to cut out afew hundred but they are cheap. I have found when making them what works best for me is setting the trap and putting it upside down on the filter and tracing the outside of the jaws and cutting it out. Then I cut a straight slit for the dog. Cut that way the filter just barely tucks under each jaw. What works for you?

…. Looks good

… a polyfill/ peat combo is also good when trapping in rain

I just use polyfill--like Mark June taught me.

That coffee filter looks good though.

Coffee filters work good, until they get wet and then freeze. I am typically using bigger traps so when I ran them I just used the whole filter and ripped a spot for the dog if I was using a dog on trap. But I went to all wax paper in the interests of simplicity several years ago.

Thinking about it, the way you have those set up they should work even if froze hard, that frozen filter should work as just a bigger pan, but I switched anyways. And yes, wax paper can have water pool on it and freeze also, you just do the best you can.

Cupcake / Muffin pan liners for me. Probably similar construction other then the size difference.

Good point bearcat2. I didn't mention it and probably should have but where I am trapping in middle Georgia I typically do not have to deal with hard freezing conditions. Upper 20s or low 30s are about as cold as I have to deal with but usually in the 30s and 40s at night in the winter.

Yeah, I didn't look where you were located or I could have probably figured that out on my own. Lol

Been poly-fil for me for 40 plus years. A big wad of it packed in a dedicated pocket on the trapping bag....pull out a wad and put under pan. I've always like the speed and ease of it. No messing around with cutting/slitting. Up until the last few years, its mostly been a speed thing for me. Not so much now....lol

Yep that is my combo when it gets wet here.When dry I use polyfill and wax paper which ever come out the bucket first. Was hesitant about the wax paper noise but had no issues with it.

Polyfil and wax dirt for me. Once in a while wax paper under trap if needed.

Pollyfill is the way to go

Good old nylon screens for me firm yet breathable they drape nicely over the pans. I buy a roll at the home improvement store cut pieces off the roll the width I want then staple several lengths on the edge several layers thick. I make a cardboard pattern for the trap size I need the knock out a few years worth while I’m watching TV.


Wash and air out before the season starts.

My trapping for fox was back in the 50',60's, and 70's .
Long before a lot of the fillers and other covers came along.
I cut out wax paper covers, a little bigger than the trap.
Cut a bunch at a time by folding the paper many times.
When setting the trap, would grab a cover and crush it in my hands until soft, then put under the dog jaw, set the trap down, flip the loose jaw up and lay out the cover.
Push down to stabilize the trap, and cover with the sifted dirt.
Coffee filters weren't around back then either. At least to my knowledge .
Fur boom happened and I couldn't keep a trap in the ground with all the trap thieves and catch thieves running around at night.

Blue shop paper towels work great also! Costco or harbor freight

Coffee filters for me. I have a pattern and cut a bunch at a time with kitchen shears. I add a slot for the dog.

Unscented TP

Hand full of dry peat moss

Wax paper.

x2

I can't keep pollyfill working for very long in the sand I trap in. It migrates into it like sand through an hourglass.
So are the days of our lives, as they say...
Coffee filters for me.

I crumple up wax paper & then lay it flat. I don't feel it is noisy.

Same here, never had an issue with peat under the pan preventing firing. All my land traps are night-latched so that probably helps.

I always felt the crumpled wax paper lost its body when it got wet in the seems. I like a course dirt and screen for drainage but that’s just my take on why. I’ve seen fine dirt hold moisture on top of the pans like flour and water in the early mornings I try to avoid that. Tom Miranda was big on hamburger papers so they must work and probably less prone to contamination if kept in a jar or container. Screens need a good cleaning and hung out before using them. I like the way screen drapes over a MJ pan like a cupcake cup minus the wrinkles.

Tied buckwheat hulls but you can’t cover them before they blow away here most days. LOL

coffee filters pack easy - never trimmed them, ripped slit for dog and likely not needed. Crumpled up wax paper and just carried roll and ripped piece on site - with it and filters liked bigger piece than trap and sifting always covered excess. Large piece always prevented soil migration from under the pan like I have seen with rain and polyfill.

Poly fill does ok in thicker soils with no freezing moisture. tried the metal screen also before and liked it the least

Cute Wade, lol. I just put them in a book or what not so they get flat, then lay the whole thing over the top of the trap, if your trap is worth a flip it can jump through a coffee filter to make the catch.

Have others of you experienced issues using wax paper?

x3 and their waterproof

I use these when setting footholds.

Nothing is perfect. Pack rats find polyfill and pull it out. I could go on. They all work. Seems like I use a lot of wax paper now.

I use them put go ovah the jaws also. I never had a problem doing so just set the trap firm in dirt and cover it with filter.

I like poly fill. Here’s what I’ve been using for covers if I need or want one
. 1000/box. I keep a few dozen in a ziplock bag.

That will work.

I just take a roll of wax paper and mash it flat with a hammer. Cut it in half. Tear off a piece as I need it. I wad it up and unwad it. Polyfill is cheap. Works pretty good when there are no pack rats around. I think a good pack rat population means a good cat location. Kinda like cedar thickets holding little roosting birds too. I keep meaning to try that nylon screen. Its cheap. I dont watch TV. Wonder how much my grandson would charge me to cut a few hundred?

I’ve been using 1/2” pipe insulation cut into squares to fit under my pan. Any reason you guys see this being ineffective? So far in my long two years of trapping it’s been effective.

I was trapping in beach sand once, wax paper worked fine, I cut the roll down to about trap width and just tore off a chunk as needed...