Just wondering if anybody uses both Peat moss & waxed sand.
I'm thinking Peat under the trap and waxed sand for cover.
Or should it be the same bedding for the entire set.

After bedding in waxed dirt/sand i sometimes use peat over the top to blend in the set

I don’t understand WHY you want to use both except for cheapness but I highly disagree with the concept. When I started trapping coyotes in the late-90’s I only used peat in the trap bed/covering and I believe I did very well at the time by blending my sets with a whiskbroom. Those sets could still freeze with a hard rain and cold snap though. Peat is NOT bulletproof-proof by any means as I've had entire trap beds fill with water like a swimming pool!! I also made sure that my sets was constructed so that all I wanted or needed was one step! I did NOT want the coyote prancing
/shuffling around on the peat before stepping on the pan. That in my opinion is a very poor set method to trap coyotes.

In later years after listening to all the hype of waxed sand & waxed dirt I switched to waxed sand. If a trapper uses quality waxed sand and applies it correctly(encapsulates the trap) they can have as close to a bullet-proof set as possible IMHO but the trapper cannot be 1/2-arsed about the amount used Again, the whiskbroom is your friend for blending over the waxed sand with a thin layer of ground duff. I have always been a “blended set” trapper and never saw the legitimacy of trying to match the finished set soil naturally with a waxed product or peat. Dirt, frozen dirt, clay, snow, etc your whiskbroom is your best friend! IMHO!

I don’t use peat.

But I do use coal shale.

Both need to be blended in my country or they’ll stick out like a sore thumb, or blow away.

Enter waxed sand to match the surroundings. One pint of waxed sand can top dress a lot of sets.

When you start running a lot of sets over many months, waxed whatever starts to get cost and time prohibitive for exclusive usage.

I've never used Peat moss just always used waxed dirt/sand. This last winter with the freeze thaw every other day, nothing I did helped my sets not freeze. I even made an extra wax added batch to see if that would of helped a little. Just wondering if I would throw Peat I to the mix if that would help me in any way.
The areas I trap in are in the mountains with pine trees, alot of duff and needles.
Just trying to be more successful either way possible.

I've had better luck with waxed sand than waxed dirt. I have never used peat or coal shale. We don't have natural coal shale around and I would have to buy it, or collect it when I was in Wyoming. Peat will soak up water and freeze if there is enough moisture. You need to completely encase your trap in waxed sand to be effective. And if it gets a crust of ice and snow over your trap no type of bedding will help.

I do use peat a fair amount. However peat moss does not pack as well in my opinion. I prefer to bed the trap in natural materials and fill the center in with peat and then dress the top naturally. I use sheets of poly fill cut 2.5x2.5 inches under the pan also. My coyote sets are Duke 650’s, so a fairly large hole.

wws

The trick and key to taking advantage of using good dry peat for me is how you create your trap bed. If you practice digging your bed so when you begin to compress your trap into the dirt/peat bed it will form a mold cavity and hold its configuration needing no maintenance.

Most I have instructed don't do this very well and can't get a quick, tight trap bed established. To much wasted time and effort. Ask Smasho she knows.

I layer my pre - formed dug bed first with salt, add a generous amount of dry sifted peat over the entire trap contact area. Press and wiggle the trap into the peat coating. Once this is done I firmly brace / hold the trap jaws with my one hand and gently tap each trap frame with my hammer where the jaws meet the frame.

Do it too hard and you will fire the trap. A little finesse is required to do this, but it can be done easily with practice.

This will further compress your trap into the bed and peat lining.The peat will insulate the trap from the soil at any point of contact if done well. The peat covers the salt and prevents trap contact and keeps the bed from freezing and crusting.

Once that is complete I then fill / compress the bedded trap ( inside the jaws and outside ) with dry sifted peat. I then complete the final trap cover with waxed dirt/peat that I make. If site blending is needed I do that when completed.

Once I am done the set looks like it belongs where it is placed. No stand out features. Just takes a little experience to establish good set blending technique without over doing it and wasteing to much time.

This sounds a bit wordy however this method is shown quite quickly in real time. I have been using it for many years all over the country and works as good as anything. With this method I use lots of peat and less waxed material which is the reason for its use.

Heavy rain, freezing rain, freeze - thaw and wind chill are the enemies of the trapper. Those conditions create challenges for most all trap bedding methods over time.

However, when that does happen it is just a matter of removing the crusted pancake over your trap bed and adding new surface dressing to your traps. No need to dig up your trap and redo the whole bed. Works for me.

I’m just gonna say it.

Peat moss is one of the WORST trap BEDDING materials out there.

It doesn’t settle/pack, it’s spongy, and it grows legs far too easily on the prairie.

As an anti-freeze medium it’s ok, but as a bedding material it’s awful.


Here we go!

Agreed

Since I've never used it, I can't say that from experience. But having handled peat, that is one reason I've never used it, it is spongy and springy and I didn't figure it would be easy to bed a trap solidly in. Plus I would have to buy it and dry it.

I understand everyone’s opinion but is it best to sift dry peat before using as to make it more powdery?

I have always sifted bulk peat from the bale and air dried it on a large tarp on a non windy day. I am not with the crowd that uses peat from a freshly cut open bag. There is always moisture in those bales.

That is how they get it to compress so well into that well formed square. If the peat was dry and you cut the bag open it would just bust out every where if it was dry.

They dont have to use as much peat to compress it due to the moisture. The added sticks and bark give it some substance during packing the bales.

I use the peat for a barrier in the bed. Not for bedding. The configuration of my trap bed is the dirt of the bed and thats what is actually supporting the trap to bed solid.

So for the use of sand.... which one is better to use?
Paver sand
Bedding sand
Play sand
Washed sand
Washed mason sand
Sandy backfill
Not trying to over complicate it but I also need sand for my road in the winter so I figured I would just get the same stuff for both.
I'm not in the desert anymore so I can't just take the tractor out & get some.

I always bought mine from Lowes and all the bags said was “All Purpose” sand. I also only bought the bags from inside the store AND not punctured or ripped. Being careful of what I bought, I never had to try and dry damp sand!!

Amen Boone!!!!!!!!! Everyone must never have wind except on the Great Plains. You need to be either GREAT or PLAIN CRAZY to live here. ...........the mike

It's the same with any light material. You don't bed the trap with it. You cut a trap bed to fit the trap and put the material over it. Cut grass or leaves is the same. The trap has to sit solid without any packing.

Pretty much any of it will work. A lot of people mention "Play sand", all I've ever bought is the All Purpose stuff from Home Depot that Seldom mentions. But I'm cheap, so I usually go down to the river in the summer and shovel 75 gallons or so. Its about a 50 mile trip for me to get to good pure river sand, sandbars. But where I shovel it up usually is only a mile or two from Home Depot so it isn't like I would be saving gas by buying it.

I tried peat moss but like Boone, found it made poor bedding material. And wind is a constant where I trap and came back to find traps blown clean of their peat moss covering. Rain, freeze and thaw are also a constant for me. I use waxed sand, either all purpose or play sand, whatever is available. And I try to have enough ahead to get through the season. When setting wolf traps it takes a lot more to bed and cover the trap.

I like my trap fully encapsulated in waxed sand. We can go from light frost to hard freezes and back to thaws overnight. The 24/25 season I broke my ankle on February 2. I had 43 wolf traps set and about the same number of cat sets. All foot traps and waxed sand. The day I broke my ankle it started lightly raining right about the time of the injury. This was after a week of bitter cold.

As it happened, it was the last set where I got injured. I had the X-ray the following day and they scheduled surgery two days later. I had to go out to spring all the traps the day between the X-ray and the surgery. In the time between the injury and springing the traps it rained lightly settling the snow then froze really hard. There was an inch crust over each trap but every trap fired. That sold me on waxed sand.