Year of Change

[Wright Brothers]

My hand is in a cast and hurts and typing is a real beech.
Whaaa lol.

Maybe later when it gets too hot for outdoor chores.

[stickbowhntr]

so outdoor chores it don't hurt but indoor chores it does ???Hmmmmm did I get that right Jeff?

[Wright Brothers]

Climb back under your rock StinkbowBill lol.
if anyone needs a rider this Fall I "might" be it.
Show up at D2 thing in E Butler.

Back to wax. There is a guy posts here that knows more about the trapper industry of wax than I, perhaps this will flush him out and spill some beans.

You guys be shocked if you knew where some of the "trapper wax" came from.
Ever heard of "prill"?
Oh and hows come some flake wax does not melt into a solid blob in the summer heat?

I have a cement mixer and a torch, but find it much easier to make wd with the sun.
And I do not shred the wax,
have used chunks bigger than 40 lbs.

It aint Betty Crocker science as some claim. You melt wax into the soil until it's right.

[Wright Brothers]

And here is an edited copy and pasted piece I wrote earlier this year. May give someone something to chew on.


I make mine in the hot sun. My wax comes in 20 to 50 lb chunks. Could you imagine grating that? lol

The dirt does need to be warm to absorb the wax.

Got a friend that catches a boat load and he makes his in old microwave ovens.

In my family there are going on three decades of working in the candle industry. I read so much bunk on here it makes it hard to sift the experienced.

I smack the chunks with a splitting maul, throw em in the jerry rigged solar oven, and stir whenever I get time. I start it with more wax than needed and add dirt or sand as needed. If I get busy, or if cool weather sets in, no big deal, it wont implode lol.

Those candle makers guard their formulas and I don't blame them. I also learned some from an engineer that used to post here. BIG suppliers are buying beaded prill, and selling as "trappers wax".
Hobby lobby wax is fine for what we do.

Stay away from soy, or high oil, or other fancy take offs.
Bees wax can be great but the cost to refine it enough to get the smell of honey removed makes it too expensive.

All wax has odor. The place my family works, they get a hot truck load once a month of refined candle wax. I can smell it a quarter mile away.

Hope I answered your question, if not try again lol. Wright.
_________________________

[trappnman]

I have no doubt wax smells. And I have even less doubt, that wax in my waxing pot does even more so.

but it doesn't seem to repel coyotes.

you would think it would, and I used to worry about the sediment in the pot, and would cut off the bottom part- or change wax every so often

but it doesn't.

why is something to ponder. Is it a neutral smell? or a scent that invokes no digging response, no curiosity?

yet- dips do. Peat does. And on my tombstone you can write "rusting traps spook coyotes!"

is it that peat, for me and this is a prime example of what literally boggles my mind and I cannot wrap around it, gets dug up when isolated because because its an odor that invokes digging or suspicion ( and a lot of digging is curiosity)-

if not universal, at least in areas?

[Deleted]

The 139 degree wax worked beautifully solar WB!

[Deleted]

Jul 20, 2016 12:38:57 GMT -6 trappnman said:

is it that peat, for me and this is a prime example of what literally boggles my mind and I cannot wrap around it, gets dug up when isolated because because its an odor that invokes digging or suspicion ( and a lot of digging is curiosity)-

if not universal, at least in areas?

I have absolutely no idea why our experiences are completely opposite and the peat I use is confined just to under and over and maybe a scant 1/2" outside the jaws my traps.  Then in that video, here's a guy who makes an entire bed/pattern/apron of peat and only covers with grass and he catches coyotes.

[Wright Brothers]

the difference,
one guy is broadcasting the odd material,
thhe other is being scrimpy.

it gets even better after freezing.

[Deleted]

Steve broadcasts his peat after bedding
The fella in the video covers the entire pattern beyond the bedding with peat but keeps it localized within a defined area
I use just enough peat to bed and cover to keep the trap from freezing

And the common denominator is---- We ALL catch coyotes!

[Wright Brothers]

Well sorry guys if I shut the topic down lol.

From the fur forecast, it certainly seems an ok time to try different things.

I once came across a bulk amount of free perlite.
I mixed it with dry sand and peat. It worked better for trap bedding than the dry dirt I was using at the time.

Later in life I had thought to try the perlite or vermiculite straight in snow conditions and iced over creeks but have yet to try it.

Another frost resistant idea was told to me by an old trapper. I don't think I have mentioned it since I've not tried it myself.
Old guy said on the wet soil nights when you know the beds will freeze and the fox will move, to coat the beds with a good amount of mineral oil. At one time I could get bulk mineral oil from natural gas workers for a favor.

[trappnman]

nah, you didn't shut nothing down............

I wonder if the placement of the trap vis a vis the hole, makes a difference on how coyotes react to peat.

I've tried vermiculite st for winter- did catch coyotes but it was too light, and that led to both problems in the field with it blowing, and it being everywhere in in truck, etc when using it (hey, I get messy)

[bobbrennan1]

I believe that most of the digging into peat isn't k9s but coon,skunk, etc. I most times take a hand full and spread around the front of the trap to expose them to it to satisfy the curiosity.

[trappnman]

agree with coon digging at it, or even loose dirt-

but in my case, its definitely coyotes when I was not broadcasting

it could be the peat itself- but I'd think most would be the same, would it not? although many say they have to sift, and I never have

[Deleted]

Here are a couple of examples of why I screen my peat.  What you see in the video is 1/4" screen but now after the 1/4", I run it through 1/8" screen.  I've bought bags of the same kind of peat and had to throw fully 1/2 of the bales away because they contained so much fibrous organics.  Fibrous being different material then what you see on the video.

Click to play videos-

[Deleted]

I've been out searching Utube a little looking for noted and recognized(big boys)  trapper's videos and I see Clint Locklear uses peat just inside the jaws instead of a pan cover making for a very small and isolated spot of peat.  His trap coverings range from plain old dirt or waxed dirt/sand or just grass clippings over the peat.

[trappnman]

I just don't see the point, of using such a small amount- its not going to serve any anti freezing problems, so why bother?

I'll tell you honestly- it seems to me (and this is with zero information)that that comes (and similar) from those NOT using peat in any meaningful way but wanting to show a video on how to use it, if they used it-

ask 1080 his feelings on peat-

[Deleted]

I think Locklear was using it in place of a pan cover.  It's obvious that he catches coyotes but I wouldn't know if what is seen in his videos is only staging and he uses something else when actually trapping.

OK, I take it that 1080 doesn't/didn't use peat, what does/did he use in wet then freezing conditions?

[trappnman]

coal shale

[Deleted]

Jul 26, 2016 17:10:57 GMT -6 trappnman said:

coal shale

I would understand him using coal shale to the west from what I've read but I'm in Central MI where we can have rain & freeze within 24hrs before 11/1!  He and Andy started so early down in IN that they didn't even have a frost, let alone a "real" freeze-up!  So, coal shale doesn't compute here because I don't even know what it looks like.     Maybe coal shale is better then peat, maybe waxed dirt/sand is better then peat.  Maybe I'll be sknning og-bo more coyotes this season using waxed dirt & sand instead of peat,

I don't know but you can bet I'm going to form an opinion this year.

[braveheart]

If you use coal shale you will be spoiled.Those big wind blown areas of shale are all natural spots to catch fur.Once you start building your locations up the traps beds are full of shale.I have had my better luck with horse compost mixed with dirt and sand.Cheap and you can throw it all over,Used peat for a while mixed with treated dirt. When using all 4 long springs I used hog chaff that is when everyone raised hogs on dirt.That stuff work super.It was not coil spring friendly it would plug jaws if you packed it in tight over jaws.I bet with screen and a light layer it would work good.


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