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

You've Trapped Fur, Now What?

As a new trapper, you are probably very excited to catch many different furbearers in your area and contribute to the conservation and well-being of the ecosystem in your woods.  But many non-trappers, such as bowhunters, upland bird hunters, etc., have no idea on what to do with their pelts after they have trapped an animal.  You can look back in the archives for other articles on fur handling, skinning, stretching, etc.  This post will explain to you the different avenues you can take for "getting rid" of your furs.

Let's begin by reminding ourselves the different terms used for fur so we are all on the same page:

• Carcass fur:  refers to the whole animal frozen unskinned.
• Green fur: refers to the pelt after it's been skinned off the animal/carcass.
• Raw fur: refers to the process after you take green fur and flesh, stretch, and dry it out.
• Tanned fur: refers to a raw pelt that has been sent to tannery & completed the tanning process.

Now let's look at your options on what to do with your fur:

• Keep it!:  You always have the option to keep your pelts.  I personally keep my "firsts" of every furbearer that I have trapped.  If I don't choose to mount the animal full body, then I will have the pelt tanned to hang on the wall.  If you choose to keep your pelts for personal use, you MUST get them tanned, whether you do it at home or send to a professional tannery.  Untanned furs will not last over time and are prone to shedding, bugs, stink, etc.

• Local Fur Buyers:  If you choose to sell your fur to a local buyer, you will need to look ahead of time at their pick-up schedule and when they will be in your area.  Sometimes during years where the price of fur is on the decline, buyers will schedule one or two pickups only throughout the season to save on fuel costs, therefore if you miss their pickup days, you may be out of luck for this option before you know it.  Several of the most well-known buyers are Groenewold Fur Company, NAFA, Windy Ridge, Moscow Hide and Fur, and many more.  You need to know going into a fur buyer that they will need to see your furs up close for inspection, and that you will be paid according to their own opinions.  You will also lose a bit of money because a fur buyer is considered a "middle man" in the world of fur.

• Sending to Auction:  The best "bang for your buck" is to ship your raw fur directly to a big auction house.  The biggest are NAFA and Fur Harvesters.  These two auction houses hold events for fur buyers from all over the world.  Fur garment makers from France, Italy, etc., send buyers to the auctions to buy the best of the best furs that you may have trapped right in your backyard.  These furs are then made into the luxurious coats and hats that you see celebrities wearing or models on the runway-how cool is that!

• Tanning/Internet Sales:  If you are a real go-getter and have the money up front, and enjoy figuring out profits, then you can choose the option of handling your own furs and selling them to others like you.  You can send your raw fur into a professional tannery, then when you get them back 4-6 months later, you can list them online to sell at a profit.  You will need to assess what you think the pelt is worth raw, then how much you have into tanning, then come up with a price that you think is fair but you also make money on.  Tanned pelts sell well on Facebook sales groups, Craigslist, Ebay, among others.  These are also a favorite at local flea markets and farmer's markets, and people enjoying hanging them on their fireplaces, in cabins, or sending them in to be made into hats.

My First Wisconsin Otter!

I've had to wait 3 years to finally draw a Central Zone Otter harvest tag here in Wisconsin.  I started setting on Nov. 10th, a few days after the season opened.  I had quite a few beaver plug up my sets, and started to get discouraged, but last night I was finally able to connect on this 26 pounds, 46 inch big male! I'm getting him mounted because it's the hardest I've ever worked to catch one specific animal.

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.

Red Foxes Digging Holes in a Lady's Yard-Nuisance Trapping

I got a call from a lady this summer who said she had red foxes digging up the sod in her lawn and destroying it so much that she couldn't even mow her lawn all summer, and that every morning she had to wake up early and re-roll the sod over the holes to fix it.  I chuckled a little and said, "Ma'am, I think it's probably skunks doing that, they dig up the grubs".  She said, nope, she knows they are foxes and that nobody else would believe her either.

So I went out to her residence and inspected her lawn.  I was dumbfounded.  I couldn't believe the huge areas that were ripped up; some were 8 feet in diameter and 6 inches deep.

So I set 6 traps in her lawn and baited them with various baits, urine, gland lure, etc.

The next morning, I came back to check my traps and caught THREE foxes!  I couldn't believe it.  I relocated them to my relocation spot, and kept trapping that week.  The next morning I caught another big male and relocated him as well.  I only had a few days to trap there, but I ended up relocating FOUR red foxes from her property.

I followed up with her a month later and she happily reported that she had NO MORE diggings and that the problem seemed to be solved; this year.

One of the diggings before I set traps...

The same digging after I placed 3 traps there

The first day I caught 3 foxes; these two right next to each other.

Three total on the first night!

Then this male on the second night, making 4 foxes total from this one lawn.

Wisconsin ADC Spring Coyote Nuisance Trapping

I trapped several different farms that were having problems with depredation from nuisance coyotes including a pheasant farm and a whitetail ranch.  I made a deal with landowners that if I could catch some coyotes during the spring, they would let me come back in the fall when the fur was worth my efforts.  I was successful on every farm I trapped and hopefully helped their livestock offspring.

The first coyote I caught was a nice big male off the whitetail ranch.  Coyotes were digging under the fence and picking off dozens of fawns every year.

This second coyote was a beautiful blonde female.  I caught the coon pictured above on a scat set the night before.  So I re-bedded the coon catch circle, then put in another trap just outside the circle.  The next night, I had this female that fully committed.  Her fur was surprisingly really nice, so I actually had her tanned, April 2015.

This next male was another nuisance job where the landowner hired me as an agent to trap coyotes that were devastating his fawns, turkey populations, and beef calves.  This was the 2nd trap night that this basic dirt hole set was there, and again, fully committed.

I used a predator bait called CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, made by Brian at Southern Snares and Supply.  Click here to buy from their website.  You can see in the photo above that I only used a dab, and you get a huge jar for just $12.00!

http://www.southernsnares.com/products/capital-punishment

Another male caught using Capital Punishment down a hole with Deep Creek mink lure on the lip.  

Juvenile red fox located from pheasant farm; caught on basic dirt hole.