Waxing Dirt To Weather Proof Winter Sets

Trappers are always trying to figure out better ways to keep going in freezing weather.

- Jason Houser

Warmer weather during the day followed by freezing weather at night plays particular havoc with dirt sets.

Trappers do various things to keep these sets functioning, such as applying liquid glycerin, propylene glycol, or a flake antifreeze that can be sprinkled in the trap bed and also over the trap before a final covering of dirt is applied. All of this works to some degree, but I find that waxed dirt works better.

Waxed dirt is exactly what it sounds like: dirt coated with wax. It pretty much looks like plain dirt, yet it sheds water, and when a trap is bedded in the stuff, it does not freeze in the ground.

I make my own waxed dirt by first collecting 5-gallon buckets of dirt similar to what I find out on my trap line. I dry this dirt on a clean, odorless tarp in direct sunlight. A sunny summer day with temperatures above 85 degrees is perfect.