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#18935 - 07/24/06 03:53 PM Natural Trap Dyes
littleguns Offline
Member

Registered: 06/20/05
Posts: 279
Loc: Jay, Maine
When I was a lad we used Sumac tassels after they turn deep red to dye our traps with. We took the tassels and put about a 4inch layer in the bottom of the boiler then the traps went in and when it started to boil we racked the fire back so they would simmer about 10min. pulled them traps out and hung them up to dry and then waxed them.
We used this or Hemloc bows. We didn't have the money to spend on logwood crystles.
It is the tatonic acid that is in these that does the trick.
I hope this helps some one. Especialy the new trappers that are just starting and finding that after buying traps and lure and wire etc, they find themselves short of cash.
Well, I still use it on the ones I don't speed dip. Never had a problem with it.
Good Luck &
Fair Weather
smile

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#18936 - 07/24/06 05:57 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
45/70 Offline
Member

Registered: 04/10/01
Posts: 832
Loc: South Georgia, usA
It takes a fair sized dye pot to use sumac and some of the other natural dyes, because of the amount of space they take up in your pot.
If you go to the fabrics section of W-Mart, they have a stiff, net-like fabric. It's inexpensive, a buck or so a yard.
If you have someone who can sew, sew this fabric up into large pouches with draw string closures that will fit in you pot.
Fill the pouches with the sumac seed heads, and dye away.
If the color begins to fade, pull a couple of pouches out, and add a couple of new ones.
This way you keep your pot from packing full of sumac.
You can use this method with other natural dyes, such as walnut hulls, cracked pecans, hickory nuts,inner bark from white or post oak, hemlock needle clusters.
Another good feature with doing it this way, is that your traps come out a lot cleaner, with less trash sticking to them.
Adios,
45/70,
RKBA !!!

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#18937 - 07/24/06 08:05 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
Hal Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 07/17/00
Posts: 10227
Loc: Blue Creek, Ohio, USA
Way back when -- I used walnut hulls and later sumac berries to dye traps, but it just left too much residue.

I ended up using primarily sumac bark for trap dye, because there was a lot less residue. I would strip the bark in the summertime and dry it. There was less residue, but still pieces of bark would cling to the traps. Finally I used a modified version of what Bill suggested.

I would save “onion” bags, those very open mesh sacks. I would stuff a sack full of bark, tie it shut, and throw it in the kettle. The sack kept the bark from getting all over the kettle yet allowed the water to leach the tannin out of the bark easily. If the mixture got weak, I’d pull out the old sack and throw in a new one.

smile -- Hal
_________________________
Endeavor to persevere.

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#18938 - 07/25/06 03:42 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3002
Loc: WV
I never have used sumac bark/tops, i know of a few patches, but not many locally. lately, i've used walnut hulls. i like to get about 10 gallons of water boiling and dump in a half-bushel of hulls, and really boil them hard, for a while. gives me a chance to go over my equipment, and check tags, swivels, etc. the water is black in a minute or so, and then add my traps and just keep adding water till my traps are covered. (i boil in a 55 gal drum) I treat my traps in mid-October, so while they are simmering, i'll squirrel hunt for a while and add more wood to the fire. and hunt around the next ridge, and kindle the fire again. i'll leave the traps in the dye overnight, and hook them out the next day (or the first chance i get) and use the garden hose to blast away all of the chunks, etc. i spread them on a piece of roofing tin, let em dry, and wax them. sometimes it turns into a "weinie-roast", seems i always have company. smile

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#18939 - 07/29/06 04:31 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
Art Stone Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 12/30/05
Posts: 16
Loc: dawson springs, ky
Can I add the the sumac berries and bark to logwood crystals that I am already using without ruining the lot? I try to continously add extra crystals to what I used the year before.

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#18940 - 07/29/06 11:13 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
45/70 Offline
Member

Registered: 04/10/01
Posts: 832
Loc: South Georgia, usA
Yes, they will mix.
These days I use more pecan leavings from the cracking sheds than anything else. A couple of years back, I found myself out of pecan leavings (I'm not talking about pecan hulls, though you could use them, if you had a couple of days or so to hull out the nuts), and I mixed up some logwood that I did have on hand. Later into the fall, when I replenished my pecan supply, I added more water, and threw the pecans to it. It worked ok, w/o any problems.
Adios,
45/70,
RKBA !!!

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#18941 - 07/30/06 01:07 AM Re: Natural Trap Dyes
ThumbStateTrapper Offline
Member

Registered: 12/07/05
Posts: 84
Loc: Michigan's Thumb
Another little thing I found worked good to keep traps debris free was old nylons or pantie hose. I used walnut hulls last season and they came out pretty clean with no "junk" on them. I get a steady supply of hulls from my neighbor who has a black walnut tree. If you can find someone near your home who has one they usually will let you have them if you offer to pick them all up. This helps you and them out. You get free trap dye and he gets a clean yard he won't have to rake to mow the lawn.

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#25385 - 10/17/17 05:28 PM Re: Natural Trap Dyes [Re: littleguns]
Archive Offline


Registered: 03/12/03
Posts: 1486
Dated for search.

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