Trap treating question

Cleaning traps and getting things ready for the upcoming season.

So you can dye traps, dip them in thin paint (or similar) or coat them with something like FMJ

So my question is what is the combo?

If you paint do you wax or FMJ or just the paint?

If you dye I know most wax but do people use FMJ over dye?

I will mostly be targeting coyotes on my property with dirt holes, flat sets and possibly walk throughs.

I was all set to paint and then dip in FMJ but then I read that if you make something like the "pipe dream" that the coyotes can possibly smell the trap

I don't want to shoot myself in the foot, I need to put a dent in the coyotes. I know of 4 that have died this year and I am still getting pictures of 2 and possibly more. They eat chickens and probably some deer and in the past one of the goats.

Its up to you. It's personal preference. It's like saying Ford or Chevy. I use walnut hulls to dye and then I wax traps. One year I bought new traps and never even hosed them off and used them right out of the box. It worked fine. I always wax my canine traps if I do nothing else because it makes them work well. Paint can do that. Just do what you like and try it out. All of the things you mentioned will work fine. You will get several opinions. There is no combo to this.

Dye and or paint protects the trap from rusting
Wax makes them fast but also protects them

For me it is all about making my traps last and making it work and the wax works good here in illinois

Thanks, I knew it was about protecting them and wax making them faster makes sense.
I just did not want to mix things and end up with a goopy mess and have to start over plus the work to get the goop off

It makes no sense to put one coating over another. You either wax or use some other type of dip no reason to put one coating over another. Except when your dyeing then you should wax over that dye. Since for the most part dye gives you no protection. Then of coarse there's no sense In dying. LOL
The bottom line Is this after a few catches your coating will be gone and your trap won't have any protection.

BT, the linked post gives some explanation of why folks dye and wax. It is not about the color, it is about the chemical change that takes place.

Rust Protection

Do you guys have any coatings that last for a whole season? I got some KO traps that Kendall put some kind of powder coat on and they looked pretty good even after three seasons.

Thanks, learned a little bit from that link ;)b

have you considered looking here too? https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/13/1/trap-preparation-archives
our Archives are the best

Yes sir, have been through the archives from start to finish and read everything that I thought applied to what I was doing or anything that caught my interest

You are right, lots of useful info in the archives

Most of the trappers I know use a single product BT.

I’ve used FMJ for four years and found that it works extremely well.

In that time I've seen no evidence whatsoever that a coyote can detect cured FMJ in any situation.


Here are a few MB 550’s that were dipped six times in FMJ.

This photo was taken after two seasons of use & multiple coyote catches in each.

Are those traps covered In rust? If so I wouldn't be using FMJ.

You Betcha Beav!

Rust never sleeps when you’re catching a bunch of coyotes that use your traps for a chew toy!

So In other words FMJ doesn't really protect the trap all that well. It just looks good while they are hanging In the shed. LOL

I guess I'm old school. I dye using walnut hulls and then wax. More work but I like the decades old tradition of dyeing and waxing on a cool October morning.

And in all that sand any trap treatment gets taken off..

I'm with you kyron4 except I use sumac bark and wax. I like the old school ways too, and it works fine for me

I dye and wax also. One thing I do that may be a little different is I have two different wax pots. One gets a marble size chunk of pine rosin to make the wax less brittle and a small pine bough simmered in the hot wax for a few minutes presto pine scented wax for the traps I use in the mountains pine forests. For the traps I use in the sage brush yep a little bees wax for the brittleness and a sprig or two of natural sage in the pot for a few minutes. I know they can smell my traps but I want the traps to smell like the vegetation around them.