RustyOlRanger4x4

I bought a few leg hold traps to try out and ive never trapped nor messed with traps before so im curious as to what needs to be done to get them ready? Ive herd of dyeing them but dont know what that does, do they need to be oiled or what? Any info would be appriciated thanks, sean

missed_another

no oil. we used to just boil ours with pieces of tree bark. this gets rid of the shine, the smelland stains the trap to a more natural color.use rubber gloves and keep them outside.

RustyOlRanger4x4

wont they rust really bad in the weather? They are basiclly just raw looking steel...heres a picture of what I have. Thanks for the info.

missed_another

we just hung ours under the overhang of the skinning shed.if you have a car port the would be a great place to air them. i don't know if guys still use a littlewax in their water when they boil but we always did. helps to protect the trap and the wax will absorb the scent of the area you are trapping. helps the trap blend into the area.

7magshooter

Step 1-Boil them in lye let them dryStep2- Boil them in dye( logwood powder or walnut hulls) Step 3-Boil them in trap wax.When boiling them put a nail in the jaws so they are open alittle bit.There are alot of books written on trapping I would get several.Stanely Hawbaker& O.L.Butcher are a couple of my favorites,but there are many others.trapping is a great sport I hope you enjoy it.Most importantly dont get discouraged if you dont catch much at first.Keep at it you will get better,and learn from your mistakes.

Criggster

The best adviceI can give you is to go to this website: www.trapperman.com Go to the forum. This is where I learned most of my traping skills. Good Luck it's a lot of work and fun! Let us know of any sucess you have.

Pistol Pete 101

i agree with criggster, www.trapperman.com is the best site i think for anything trappin related. Pete

BrutalAttack

You need to dye and wax them. Pick up some commercial trap dye and just dip the dyed (dry) traps in parrafin wax. Then tune them up and they are good to go. If you need help tuning them just drop me a PM.

RUFNECK

im also thinking about traping and herd some people talking about smoking them after they have been waxed dont know much about it though maybe someone else here does

mez

There are a lot of different opinions on that topic. This is how I do mine. With new traps like you have run them through the dishwasher then hang them outside to dry. They will get a very light coat of rust which is what you want. Dye won't adhere to them with the oily coating from the factory, nor will it adhere to raw metal. The light rust is what holds the dye. I used to boil mine in walnut hulls, then in logwood dye and finally wax them. This is a lot of work and needs to be done outside. Now I just use the newer dips that you mix with gasoline. I prefer Stoes but they all work. They will dye the trap and there is no need to wax with these new dyes. You just dip them and hang them outside to dry, takes just a few seconds and works great. The traps won't rust even if you are salting the ground, which is a non issue in Florida. If you get a catch and the dye comes off the trap can be re-done and ready to go in a couple of days.