1. Wash all traps thoroughly with soapy water to
remove factory grease or odors from a previous
season. Rinse Well. For extremely rusty traps,
take a steel wire brush to them lightly, or let
them sit in vinegar overnight.
2. Leave them exposed outside for a week to
allow a light coating of rust to return.
3. Add one pound of Logwood Dye to three to five
gallons of water. One pound of logwood dye will
easily dye a couple dozen traps. I tend to buy
it by five pounds and add it to ten gallons of
water. This makes the dye a little thick, but it
lasts longer and does more traps. Dye can be
kept and used again over the course of a week or
so if you can't do all of your traps in one day,
and can be used as long as it doesn't mold.
Bring to a rolling boil.
4. Turn down the heat to a low simmer. Make sure
that you have a 'heat brick' on the bottom of
your pot to prevent traps from resting directly
on the bottom. Direct contact with heat can
weaken metal springs. Lower your traps into the
dye, and allow to simmer for one hour.
5. Remove and hang to dry. Allow to completely
dry before proceeding to the waxing step.
NOTE: You can also allow your logwood dye to
cool and "cold dye" your traps. This consists of
letting your traps sit in the dye overnight
before removing them the next morning. The
benefit is you do not have to monitor the dyeing
process (no fire to observe), but it takes
longer. Keep in mind that just like when you
sand a piece of wood prior to painting, you have
to rust your traps before you dye them.
Otherwise, the dye won't stick.
Waxing is important for a number of reasons. The
first reason is that your trap will operate
smoother. DO NOT WAX TRAPS THAT WILL BE USED FOR
WATER SETS. Another benefit is odor control.
You'll notice that the logwood dye has a very
distinct salty-wood odor. That's fine for
trapping, but too much of a good thing can still
tip off the most wary of animals. The wax helps
deaden the smell to a dull roar, so it blends
easily with loamy forest floors, or dry dusty
fields. The third reason is that it helps
protect your trap from salt, and other
anti-freeze additives that attack and cause
quicker corrosion of metal.
1. In a fry-daddy or small pot, melt five to ten
pounds of odorless trap wax. Some companies
carry refined trapping beeswax, to which it is
recommended that you add an equal amount of
paraffin. Some people buy the paraffin at the
grocery store (such as toilet bowl wax rings)
and use that to wax their traps. Others say that
beeswax smells like honey and that your traps
will be dug up. I've used all of the mentioned
techniques with no discernable difference in
catch ratio or dig-outs. Wax is very flammable,
and if a fire does take place, SMOTHER the fire
with a lid. Do not throw water on the fire as
you are asking for injury and trouble.
Fry-daddy's are nice to use because the
temperature is easy to control, you don't need a
lot of wax to fill one, and they come with a
perfect lid for smothering in case of an
accident. A small pot on a turkey-fryer does the
trick as well though, just be sure to monitor
your temperature to prevent a wax-fire.
2. Slowly dip your traps into the pot. Having a
thin piece of rebar to slip your chain on that
is long enough to go across the top of the pot
and rest on the edges is helpful. The traps
should be completely submerged in the wax, but
not touching the bottom of the pot. Allow the
traps to stay in the wax for a few minutes to
allow the metal to heat up again.
3. Slowly remove the traps from the wax allowing
them to drip and then hang them to dry. If your
traps are hot enough, and the wax is properly
applied, it should look like water running off
the traps. Just a light coating of wax, not
chunky. If your wax dries and it's chunky and
chips, then chances are A: you used straight
beeswax which is brittle. The paraffin, or
resin, gives it added laxity. Or B: you did not
allow the traps to get hot enough before
removing them from the wax.
4. Be sure to handle your traps with gloves from
this point on, and store them in Rubbermaid
containers with a layer of leaves.
Treating Conibears
When painting or dipping conibears, its a good
idea to put a piece of tape around the jaw where
the dog will connect when set, then remove the
tape after the dip or paint is dry. Also remove
any dip or paint from the notch in the dog. This
will prevent the conibear from being too
sensitive.
