Snares and baking soda

So I boiled some new snares with baking soda...now they're kind of powdery, white, and not smooth at all. I feel like if something walked into one, it wouldn't fire at all...Did I just use too much baking soda? I didn't use much at all. Do I just keep boiling them over and over to get rid of it all?

For boiling snares, it should be less than a 1/4 cup of soda per gallon of water. The more concentration of soda the more caustic it is.

Personally I would not boil the snares as I treat them the same as dealing with oil on traps, in just put them outside in the grass or hay, and let nature render things, or in snares dull them enough.

In my experience, the only problem you have with anything shining on a snare is from thieves, not animals, and I have never had a problem with a thief spotting a snare. One of the trappers I have always respected for his genuine knowledge was Tom Krause, and he spray painted his snares. If you observe animals, they are always coming across wire and never flinch from it, unless it is electric fencing. A canine sees very little color and does not run bolting away from aluminum cans.
i would air my snares out and then set them, to let nature age them more. The odds are that 95 out of a hundred animals are not going to have a natural aversion to what you are doing. In your location it would be 100 out of 100 in averages as there are not enough people to educate them.

The next part is conjecture as I have never had pitted snares which is what it sounds like you have. I would try graphite as it would be functional at below freezing temperatures , it lubricates and would have less scent than Tom Krause painting.

I hope things turn out for you, but in real experience, my uncle snared coyotes with a passion and he took the wire off the roll, pounded the aluminum stops on them and set them without any problems. I never had any problems setting snares out of the box.

When trappers buy galvanized aircraft cable for snares or cable restraints, does it have any oil residue on it?

Depending on the manufacturer of gac, some cable is very oily due to the process. A good soak of white gas and air drying usually takes care of it.

Looks like too much baking soda and boil too long.

Is there a way to fix it?

I would recommend not boiling snares predators do not care the least if its shiny or oil on them.

Agree 100%. Am an off the roll guy. I don’t even think of it, and to me when I do, it is a hassle and unneeded step. Refusals? I have seen one in four years. I don’t even know if it was a r fiscal or not in the first place.

Just rinse or soak it off, it's a good treatment for snares

I boil my cable In baking soda. The snares I buy will leave black marks on your hands when handling them. I'm not going to hang them Out In some coyote trail like that.

I boil for about 10 min then flush with cold water. I don't pull the cable out of the pot.

When I used 7x7 cable I never washed or treated the snares and didn’t have a problem with refusals. Then I switched to 1x19 cable and started getting refusals like crazy. The 1x19 is shinier than the 7x7.
So now I give the snares a spray of brown spray paint and no longer get refusals.
I also set snares as soon as the paint dries and still make catches, so the paint smell hasn’t been an issue yet.

Open and close them a few times and see if they preform like the should a lot of time the 1st "run" on a new snare is not as good as the next few will be.

You more than likely had some refusals with the 7x7, it's sorta surprising how many do, tracks in snow show it

Here's an update. Still rather gritty after a full rinse and a few hours in the oven at 170. I just tossed one in some boiling water to see what that'll do.

I had a coyote back out of a snare that I did not boil like I had in the past. The snow on the ground show me what happened.it is the first time I try snares with out boil like I have in the past. The ones I did boil I keep getting the coyotes like I normal do. When I boil my snares I do not boil long and they are not like in the photo.

Star flakes,
Good post.

TintedSnow,
Submerge your snares in mineral oil overnight then let them drip dry outside for a couple days. It will relube the snares and has no odor, just like the mineral oil and graphite lube that is on good cable.

You selling inferior cable to beav Rally? LOL He thinks he has to boil your snares. You just can't please everyone. haha.

I just use warm tap water and baking soda. Let them sit overnight and they are fine.

Jayme,
Old habits die hard!

No teaching an old dog new tricks either, stubborn old dogs.

This should help