More often than not the reason it was dug up was do to something else not wax. I see guys do demos and put the lure cap on the dirt when they look for a stick to apply it. Shame on you. Also no gloves or the same gloves when handling bait and traps. Again shame on you. Oh and did I mention smoking too? It’s not the wax. If put up correctly in dirt or on traps and kept clean your good.

I think if you investigate you will find all flaked wax is soy wax- paraffin can be granulated or shaved but it don't flake. When my daughter was going to become a millionaire making candles she used a lot of soy wax and it was all flakes.

Then there are those that use waxed dirt over wax paper over a waxed trap setting on waxed dirt and bring home fur.

Exactly like that.

I saw McGowan's method in The Trapper in the 80's or 90's. It was a good sized add. I used dry dirt only at first then tried calcium chloride and salt. They all work. Things come and go. Next year it will be silicon treated dirt or something else.

I have found that if the trap is dug up it's because of the trap not being bedded good. If there is an odor problem the canines just shy away. You will never make a set that doesn't have human scent at it. Every breath you take sends millions of molecules of human scent over the area you are setting. If you do your best to keep odors to a minimum, then let the attractants you use (lure, bait,urine) do the job of bringing the predator to your trap. Setting a lure cap down is not a bad thing, as long as you don't set it on your trap bed. Set it behind the trap and it's just another location of scent. The more the animal moves around your set the better your chance of making a catch.

With waxed dirt I definitely think the pros outweight the cons, for me anyways. With constant freezing and thawing that we deal with in the north east I think its a no brainer. Once you get used to bedding the trap and have results when you otherwise wouldn't because of conditions you will be sold..if you get into a place with critters to catch and deal with constant bad conditions and see how it performs its the best alternative. Sets last a lot longer and require less (if any unless a catch) remaking because of conditions. I know last year I had a coyote remake that sat 24 days until the next one came by, a male was caught Dec 14 and a female was Jan 8. Over those 24 days we had numerous rain freeze thaw, I was honestly ready to remake the set because I was starting to wonder but I never went any closer then 200 yds to the set to check and just trusted the dirt from previous experience..just my .02, also never had an issue with anything I would blame on odor from my waxed dirt