A Better Trap Pan Cover

I have a real love-hate relationship with trap pan covers.

- Brandon Mitchell

For years, I went completely without pan covers due to the downsides I'd experienced with some pan cover types. But after some work on the drawing board, I've settled on one pan cover that I use daily on my land-trapping sets.

Pan cover review Probably the most common pan cover used is wax paper. The idea is to cut it into squares, crumble it up to make it more workable and less noisy, and then pull it back into shape. You tear it where the trap dog sits, and place it on the trap pan. The wax on the paper helps shed water, and it tends to work well.

However, I find it tedious to cut out wax paper squares, and with gloved hands it's difficult to manipulate the paper back into shape. I never found a good way to carry them without them being in the way or getting lost in my bucket. In the end, I just left the wax paper in the kitchen drawer. Strike one.

Another common trap pan cover is wire screen. You can make these by cutting hardware cloth, but I would rather deal with wax paper than buy hardware cloth. Of course, they can be purchased ready-made, but with low-dollar coons, every dime counts.

There is also debate about the wire spreading out the pan and creating toe catches on hard-pulling coyotes. I never dealt with that, but more knowledgeable trappers have, so it's worth the mention.

One thing I don't like about wire screens is leaving wire around on a property if the pan cover gets lost after a catch. Often, I'm judged not by the good that trapping does so much as the mess the landowner sees when I'm gone. Granted, I think wire screen pan covers can be good under certain circumstances, and I plan to keep a few around, but for everyday use, they're not for me. Strike two.m