Waxed Dirt Making for Cold Weather Canine Trapping: Solar Method

This article tells you how to make waxed dirt for weatherproofing your canine sets in cold states where the ground freezes using the solar method in the summer months.

You can order flake wax here: https://www.southernsnares.com/products/flaked-wax

Summer waxed dirt making is ideal on any day over 85 degrees with no rain in the forecast and low humidity.

Sift dirt into your heating container, this can be a black planter like I have pictured, your own wooden cradle, or a tarp on some plywood. 

Stir your sifted dirt every hour until it is completely dry.  This is the most important step.  There cannot be any moisture in your dirt prior to waxing, or you will be sealing in moisture, which will result in mildew and freezing.  You can tell your dirt is dried when you stir it around and there is no color change.

Once dry, add a thin layer of flake wax to the top, slightly covering the dirt.  Do not mix.

Allow this layer to melt and seep into the dirt.  Once melted, it will appear wet.


Stir this first round of “wet” dirt around real good.

Even out and add a second layer of flake wax to the top.

A good rule of thumb is to use 2 cups of wax for every 1 gallon of sifted, dry dirt.

Once the second layer of wax is completely melted, you can stir that around real good.

You’ll know you are done when your container of dirt entirely appears “wet”.

Allow to cool before storing or you will end up with a solid brick of waxed dirt.  Be sure not to “seal” your storage container, so that moisture and heat can escape, or you will get mildew and then all your waxed dirt will smell like a wet towel that sat on the floor for a week.

I also recommend drying a batch of regular peat moss while you do this process.  Once your waxed dirt is complete and cooled down for storage, I add equal parts waxed dirt with dry peat moss and stir together.  For example, I’ll put a 5 gallon bucket of waxed dirt into my storage container followed by a 5 gallon bucket of dry peat moss and stir it like I’m churning butter.  The peat will act as a filler to help stretch out your precious waxed dirt gold throughout the season but will also help wick away rain or water at your set.


If you are wondering how much waxed dirt you should make, a good guideline is 1 gallon of waxed dirt per trap.  So if you run 50 traps per season, make 50 gallons of waxed dirt.  Also, I like to tell people to double that number that they come up with.  Then you might have enough to last.  You never know if deer will set your trap off 5 times, or you’ll catch 19 skunks before that first coyote, so you want to have extra on hand.

If you did not do this process ahead of time and it’s mid-January and you are wondering what you should do now, please read my waxed dirt article for procrastinators: http://skyegoode.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-to-make-waxed-dirt-for-winter.html

Trapping Season 2016-2017

It has been a pretty slow season for me here in Wisconsin, as I just had a baby two months ago, and started my trapping season just two weeks later.  So having a little one made trapping a bit more difficult but I did manage to get some sets out, 12 in total, and as usual, only targeting coyotes.

Here are some of the highlights of my season thus far and I'll keep adding more as the season progresses:

Caught my first beaver in an otter set!

I also had an unusual number of nuisance skunk calls this late in the season; I think the warm weather kept the skunks more active than on a usual year when they would already be hibernating.

I dispatch skunks using the recommended method by the American Veterinary Association: 12 cc of Acetone injected into the heart with a surgical syringe.  Due to the fine sharpness of the syringe, the skunk cannot feel the injection, and when the acetone is pushed into the heart, the skunk's heart immediately stops.  The skunk feels no pain, proven by it never spraying, and it allows me to also harvest the essence from the glands.

Male Red Fox caught in a Bridger 2 dogless on a drag.

"Smiley :)"

If you've been following my blog from last season, you might remember that I caught and released 5 bobcats.  So far this season, I've only caught and released this one, a huge male.  The population is still VERY high but I haven't been catching them because I am purposely avoiding trapping anywhere that I have found bobcat sign.  It dramatically reduces the areas where I can coyote trap, but catching and releasing bobcats is very time consuming and a waste of your time since you cannot harvest the fur.

Caught in a Bridger 2 Dogless on a drag, released unharmed.  I use very expensive traps that come with modifications such as offset jaws and laminations, shock springs, and extra swivels so that I can ensure that the welfare of the animal is never compromised, that blood circulation is never cut off, and that there is no paw damage whatsoever.

Here is the highlight of my season thus far: I caught a 150 pound black bear.  Usually, bears are hibernating this time of year, but due to the strange warm weather we have had (70 degrees in November), bears are still out and about.  I caught this little male in a coyote set, Bridger 2 dogless on a drag.  Of course he was released unharmed due to Wisconsin not having a bear trapping season but also because he is little.  There is no paw damage whatsoever due to my choice to use traps that I can put my own hand in.  Bridger 2 dogless traps come with laminations and offset jaws so circulation is never compromised, the shock springs ensure that he cannot "yank" and hurt himself, the laminations and offset jaws ensure that the trap never cuts into his fur or toes.  Upon opening the trap, the bear ran off unharmed.

Released this female badger unharmed because Wisconsin doesn't allow trapping them since it's the state animal.  Caught in a Bridger 2 dogless coyote set on Southern Snares and Supply's CAPITAL PUNISHMENT predator bait and BOBCAT JELLY URINE.