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.