Soak in white vinegar. That will get the rust off. But to keep them from rusting you need to wax them. Buy some wax for trapping melt it in a pot of boiling water. Dip the traps for 4 to 5 minutes and lift the traps slowly out of the pot and hang to dry.
Mark
I dyed and waxed 10 traps yesterday evening. I forgot how satisfying it is to have the wax at just the right temperature where it runs off like water and doesn't leave any thick spots!
Simple things in life, right?
Logwood crystals normally. They are dyed a brown or black color. No real reason for it, but something trappers have been doing for a long time, so they still do. If a land crit can see your trap, you're prolly not gonna catch it. Grey fox and ***** are pretty stupid tho, so you could catch them in a bright and shiny trap.
And I would trust your judgement more than mine, bigjohn. I'm still a newbie at it I guess..plus I'm self taught (you tube ) so I'm bound to get some things wrong, correct?
If I may ask, we had a guy on here say that he waxes but doesn't dye, I dye and wax, and you dye and don't wax.
Can you tell us what you use the dye for? Oh and why no wax?
For me, it is how I learned but also for scent control, the gloves too.
Most dyes such as logwood, sumac, walnut hulls, oak or maple leaves are high in tannic acid. They react with the steel like bluing a gun. I do dip my water traps in an acetone/rustoleum mix to protect them.
When I land trap if a trap has set there until rust forms, well I'm not on location. As far as scent control a waxed trap is more likely to hold odor than just a dyed one. K-9s know you've been there, you can't fool them. Proper bedding is far more important.
I don’t dye or wax. I just run em thru the dishwasher with just a few drops of Dawn. I gave some a SpeedDip once, but after a coyote chews on it for a while, they get shiny again pretty quick. You may need to replace the springs every 10yrs or so, but you would have to leave them out year round for a LONG time before you’re gonna rust out the jaws or frame. I think if you bed them deeply and use some kind of loud lure or bait, they aren’t gonna smell a clean trap, and after a catch, the whole circle and trap all smell pretty critterific and it all blends together.
I guess a little bit of everything works, I'm sure I could catch more if I really put my mind to it but for me it's just a hobby to help manage the farm.
That 6' off the ground also has to be in a building. Every state that lost the rights of bodygrips on land was due to catching dogs. You could be held civilly liable if you caught someone's dog.
That's what leash laws are for. I'm not liable for foot damage if someone's dog is on my land and gets his toes broke. No different if he gets his neck broken! It's just a bunch of PC nonsense from MDC trying to avoid the kickback from some idiot losing a dog that shoulda been pent up. Screw a free ranging dog!!
Lot easier to get a bobcat to stick his head in a 220 tho! Caught a young yote by the leg in a 160 bucket set once. Been 3 days since the last check. He sure looked thirsty. Solved that problem for him tho.
fellas be sure to read the regs on dry land conis!!! a lot of work went into getting this law passed
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Missouri Whitetails - Your Missouri Hunting Resource
3.9M posts
11.8K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Missouri Hunting enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about safety, gear, tackle, tips, tricks, optics, hunting, gunsmithing, reviews, reports, accessories, classifieds, and more!