I am looking at buying some duke dog proofs for coon and was wondering if i need to do something to the traps or can i just use them they way they come out of the package?

greasy out of box. i wash mine with Dawn and water, dry, than hit with dollar store spray paint. after a catch or two, will probably need repainted.

Dishwasher if ya got one will degrease em good. Dye them REAL good. Wont last all season but it works good. I use logwood an dye till they are black. Add a swivel in the center of the chain, coons twist an turn like crazy.

Ok, how about the ones already painted? I have a dozen brand new white ones, will they work after degreasing even though they are white? I've never used these so this will be an interesting trap set. I have several farms that need numbers reduced and there are dogs around so this is my go to trap, ( I hope), but should I be buying the gray or black instead of white? Opinions greatly appreciated.

I paint all my dogproofs white. Makes good eye apeal.

You can use the DPs right out of the box like they are. The first time I used DPs, I literally pulled up to a spot, grabbed them out of the box, slapped my trap tag on, and staked them down. The grease isn't going to hurt at all.

trapnIowa, you must have some of the new Ztraps. Personally, I wouldn't do anything with them. You mentioned that you trap farms...private land. White is actually the best option, IMO. Like Knine said, white makes very good eye appeal, keep them like that. I dye (dip) mine brown because I trap public lands a lot and I need to conceal them.

Let it rain and knine. Thanks for the input. I do have some farms to use them on and it's nice to know thay white was the way to go. I only have private ground farms, and farmland, but no one else is trapping there and not many should be hunting there. I say should because everyone knows that some people just have to trespass. There is a couple public areas I'm thinking of but I think you have to have a permit here, not completely sure so I will have to ask the game warden about that. Don't you have trouble on public ground once they see an animal in the trap? I would think that could be a peta nightmare and that is my biggest hangup on public ground.

Formula 1 for me...


~ADC~

I paint mine (white, orange and pink). Why? My kids are more invested in going if they have their "own" equipment and it is pretty easy to sort it if it is color coded. The other thing is eye appeal. Everyone will tell you to set on sign and if you do that you will catch coons. However, sometimes they might not be scat or footprints but it looks like a place where they should be. I think this is where eye appeal comes in. The coon might not be exactly where you set the trap but if it can see something which stands out it may come over to investigate. I also figure if I catch one coon it easily paid for the paint and I added some extra animals which I might not have if they weren't so visible. Good luck.

I done the same last year, pulled out of the box,soaked in dawn deteregent for a day,rinsed off and out they went.

One gallon of Rustoleum(your choice of colors) mixed with one gallon of Acetone in a five gallon bucket.I dip my traps once,let dry and dip again,making sure to get a good coating on the inside,both times.Even though,I like to use marshmallows,most times,I think the paint will help prevent rust from using the salty,preserved types of baits,jack mackerel or commercial type baits.Save the remaining mixture to redip your traps after the season is over.Good luck,you will probably use the remaining mixture to paint more new traps,you will purchase during the season,after you see how successful the Duke dog proofs truly are.

andy stowes speed dip
lasts a very log time

I have never had an issue. Where I do trap public land, is not a place that many antis are going to be out and about at...not the most convenient places for dog walks. Also, if they were to touch my legally set trap (or animal), I would pursue them to the full extent of the law.

Oh, I hear you on that. I would also make sure they paid for touching my traps as well. And not so much peta itself but people who are like minded tree huggers. There are always a few who think their rights supercede ours. My personal favorite was a lawyer who bought a house by some public land we hunt. First time out shooting he flew down there mad as all get out, and tried to make a stink about it. I just informed him that it was public ground and I would do as I saw fit. Now I'm sure if he was anti trapping we would have had issues with him messing with them. Those types just suck!
N_R trapper, thanks for the tip! I'm sure to be adding more traps before the season starts and quite possibly after as well. I had fun last year and want to step it up. Seemed like to short of a run last year, so gotta make it last this year.