Is it too soon to die and wax traps

Hey guys so my question is it to soon to die and wax my traps? As I’m sure you can tell I’m new to trapping. I’m out of work for 14 days because I COVID close contact and don’t have much to do. Was thinking about dying and waxing my traps but season doesn’t start until November 1 here and North Carolina. My plan is to store them in a plastic Tupperware container outside once their died and waxed to continue to keep any set off of them?

Good idea or should I wait till I’m closer to season?

not at all....ive had traps dyed all yr. Some i didnt set and just treated more. Why wait?

Dye em wax em. Mine are done. Might buy some more at a rendezvous this week and have more to do though

I will share my experience with you for what it is worth. Want to say right up front that I am not a big canine guy but do trap for them.
Years ago I decided to dye and wax my traps way ahead of the season. During that time frame i had always stored my traps in galvanized garbage cans. For some reason, back in the 70s it was the trend around here. I believe people saw Alvin Yates and Neil Olson, both long line fox guys using them to keep traps in and just about everybody jumped on the band wagon.
The cans were bought new, thoroughly cleaned and made rugged containers.

I did up several dozen traps as I ran decent fox lines then. About a week before the season I check one of the cans and each and every trap was covered with mold. Talk about being upset! I was extremely Paranoid about any kind of scent or human odor or contamination in those days. For all I know, thinking back, those traps might have worked fine. At $65.00 a piece for red fox, I did not want to chance it, so it was back to square one.

Three or four years ago I had an extremely different experience. This experience taught me something.
I dyed traps ones day, and let them sit on plywood or boards to dry all day. The before nightfall I covered them with a tarp. The next day I waxed the traps, let them sit and dry and air out all day.
Then before dark I placed the traps in five gallon pails fitted with those gizmo covers.

That fall do to multiple reasons, I did very little trapping. The next fall I had found my self in a bind with too many things to do, I admire those that always have time to boil traps in dye, wax them and enjoy it. The older I get, the busier I seem to be. I looked around the trap shed and found several pails of clean traps. They had been stored in the 5 gallon pails with tight screw on lids.
I used those traps to catch a hand full of coyotes.

The difference i believe is that the second scenario allowed the traps to be really cooled off and that made a huge difference.

Hope that story helps.

Mac

Awesome thanks for all the feedback. Also is 5 pounds of wax enough to do 18 traps? I have mb 550’s

yes,,depends on container size and how many at a time u wanna do. you can do it!

Thanks again everyone!!

Its way better to wait til the night before you need them. At least that's what I tell myself, lol.

Biggest thing is make sure you're traps are cleaned up. If you put em away wet and muddy, you might have a rust issue that needs to be addressed.

Not to early but way to hot here. Going to be in the 90's the next few days here.

Dyed and waxed mine couples weeks ago thru them in totes. One less thing to have to deal with before season.

Is it ok to use either a stainless steel or aluminum turkey fryer pot

Its hard to wax traps after you die.

Yes

X2.

I agree with the comments above. Get them done now!

Die vs Dye…

Get after it. If it makes you feel better put a layer of grass or leaves (something natural) in the bottom of the container. Good luck and let us know how you do

I understand the storage in buckets and that is just fine especially if you use a big amount of traps. I like to hang mine outside after they are dyed and waxed let them hang till I need them. The fresh air dilutes all the smells. Its kinda old school but then so am I.

Don't wait

Dye/wax are fine, but if you want to use a trap cleaner like Battleborn or lye or other high pH cleaners, it will destroy aluminum.

If you can store the traps in a secure odor free place then go for it if not I’d wait until just before the season started to avoid contamination that might happen. It only takes 1 mouse nest to ruin a pile of clean traps why risk it could ruin the whole season.

We dont know that for sure.

I'd dye them though.

Did that many years here in Iowa, dying and waxing the night before the opener. Generally I have done it about a month ahead and left them hanging dyed and waxed on the drying frame till a few days before the season. Put in totes that were lined with dry field grass, worked great for me and mine.

Couldn't help this!