Covering traps after the snow gets hard

Hello good folks of the Bush,

I have been in and out for catching coyotes these past years...and as you guessed by the title, things come to a screeching halt when the snow thaws and freezes again.

I currently trap in freeze/thaw winter conditions with snowmobile only. All of my sets are placed just off my snowmobile trail and I use the urine post set. All traps are #3 and four coiled placed with drags. Been using paper towel on top and underneath to help with water drainage.

What would you recommend for covering traps when the snow is no longer in powder form?

Thaks for your time and hope you all have a great Christmas!

Jerry

Well it's just my opinion but I would not use paper towel. Try wax paper or super thin plastic veggie bags. It is still very difficult to deal with the freeze/thaw situation.

What you might try.........and this is something I try to do...........is make your sets just as it starts to snow. Hopefully the storm will be just enough to cover your traps........but not too much. It doesn't always work but then again it might

I struggle with this in my necks of the woods. First thing for me was discovering wax dirt for the trap bed itself. It is awesome and works perfectly for the dirt portion of the issue. Around here we don't get new snow as much as we get snow blown and drifted into your sets with each new wind. I currently just dig my sets out after when drifts them in. all of my set turn into step down sets as we have 12" of snow that has been here for a month. They just get snowed thrown about. Once you get to the wax dirt they are ready to catch anything. Buried for days and the traps fire everytime with the dirt setup. I currently have no answer for the drifting snow except set snares and stop leghold trapping which i am resisting.

I caught quite a few fox in footholds back in the day.
My favourite set was a pee post under a fairly good white spruce,All the pee i used was bladder pee from catches.First I pack down the snow for about 3 feet on one side of the tree,then make a bed for a #3 ls.I used spruce branch under and thru the springs to bed the trap,and just the very tips of spruce inside the jaws,then sift a very light snow over all,nature will take care of the rest.A couple squirts on the tree and your good to go.You can use wax paper on this set if you dont want to fiddle around with the spruce tips.
Two other good sets that produced fox was a mound(beaver house) set near a beaver carcass,or later in winter a buried bait set with trap set on top of bait.In late winter fox will dig down thru 3 feet of snow to find a tidbit.
But if you can use snares that is the way to go.

A lot of options out there but are all based on what your snow conditions are like and the temps.

Paper towels/tissue/paper are not a good option for sets during freeze thaw conditions, they all absorb moisture and will freeze.

Taking a piece of the frozen snow and shaving it down thin enough to break when the critter steps on top of it would be an option.

Wax paper, top and bottom and a thin layer of snow on top in a shady spot.

Peat moss bottom, screen cover and peat on top, allows the set to breath if there is a lot of condensation, if not wax paper works.

Cover Alls / wheat hulls, waxed dirt, waxed sand, same as peat.

white mentioned the baggies, they work if the temps are +10 or below, they shred and work pretty good.

And of course there is my favorite the hay set and it's many variations, they are pretty much bomb proof up to 4 inches of snow.

As white said the best set is one you can make right before a snow and with a hay set a 1/4 inch is all you need for it to all blend in perfect.

Hope this gives you a few ideas to try, and hope you connect!

Thankyou gentleman...I do appreciate the help. Sounds like I may be learning how to carve hard snow to be placed delicately over the trap so it will still fire.

Again...happy holidays!

A few years ago I started using thin white foam. I like the stuff that you put under that fake hardwood click flooring. The stuff Hardy board siding comes wrapped in works good too. I just cut out circles big enough to cover my traps and store them in a bag. I use one on bottom to keep the trap from freezing down, and one on top. Then I just cover with snow. Works better than anything I have tried. The foam is rigid enough to keep the snow from sagging down inside the trap. Ive had problems with that when I used baggies.

Yukon254, could you post a pic of that stuff?

This is the only picture I have on this computer. Hope it gives you an idea of the stuff Im talking about.

Ok so it is that real thin foam stuff, got it! I am going to try that at one point this year, Thank you!

GENIUS! You guys are great! Thanks again

For 50 years I've been using waxed paper. Never thought of the white foam. I gotta try this....! Thanks Dave!

Pete

Buddy uses a antifreeze jug with the bottom and one side cut out. Clean it good. Makes a great scooper up to and including a #9. Use it to blend if needed. Makes it easy to get a nice thin crusty piece.