Animal Trapping and Snaring

[TimSuggs]

PROBABLY against most state hunting regulations, but in a true survival situation, I always choose to be tried by 12 rather than carried by 6!

Here goes...














Probably intended for fish, but will work on small game too.












Not one of mine, but well done nevertheless.

Tim Suggs
Birmingham, AL. USA!

[quietmike]

A great way to cheat whle making lots of those traps:

http://www.survival-gear.com/yo-yo-fishingreel.htm

[TimSuggs]

A great way to cheat whle making lots of those traps:

http://www.survival-gear.com/yo-yo-fishingreel.htm

And they work too!  I've used these and depending on the fish on the end of the line, they work pretty darn good.  Have to be careful about your bait and baiting technique/trigger set so they do not nibble your bait away.  I had problems with the rewind mechanism on a few, but most worked out of the package just fine.  Paddle into a deep little cove, set about ten of these around your boat hanging from the tree limbs, and you'll be busy hauling the fish in if you set them right.

Tim Suggs
Birmingham, AL. USA!

[Louisiana Suvivor]

found a guy from the BBC that has some pretty cool ideas. squirrel trap. basically a dead fall. but his hobo fishing lure is funny but easy to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvRR5MTBBQI

[Ultio1]

I was just out putting out some millet for the birds and I had this idea about using a mousetrap to harvest small doves and quail. a few seeds here and there and a small pile over the end of the trap. If a bird pecks at the seed on the trap the trap will definitely kill it.  I know there are better ways but in a serious pinch you might be able to score some meat without compromising your position. I mean they are cheap and light. I have a couple in my BOB. At the local dollar store you have your choice of one large rat trap or four regular size mousetraps for a buck.
I have a box trap with a spring door that works much easier but it doesn't fit in my BOB much less in my shirt pocket. Plus the victim is still alive and probably isnt going to cooperate. Getting a live bird thats in a panic out of a cage without it getting away is easier said then done. I dont think snares will work for small birds but I have no experience in that. Its just a guess.

[ColdHaven]

Test it out and let us know! 

[DeltaEchoVictor]

Test it out and let us know! 

Yeah, that.

It would be a handy way to do it, that's for sure.  A mouse trap or 6 takes very little room to store.

[creuzerm]

A +1 for a novel view of a day to day item.

[partisan15]

i dont see how you would make the squirrel pole, could someone please elaborate?

[partisan15]

does anyone know anything about trapping in arkansas?
Im new to hunting in general and only own a BB gun (thats embarrassing) so shooting game isnt an option at the moment.

So back to the point, trapping anyone? any info is helpful.

[BigDanInTX]

I found a great resource on YouTube.  I don't know about the legalities in your state, so you'll have to check them, but he shows how to make the trap, set the trap, even skin the game.

http://www.youtube.com/user/northernpike56

[sludgy_nixer]

nothing state specific, but dave at wilderness outfitters archery recently posted a 4 part series on trapping

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=wildernessoutfitters&p=r

tons of other great vids too

[Debo]

The treadle and twitch up are especially good.  The payute is a much better deadfall trigger than the figure four.  You can pre-make the trigger parts and trek with them as they don't take up much space.

The squirrel pole is just a series of snares tied around the circumference of a log and then the log leaned up against a squirrel tree.  You can catch more than one as other squirrels think they are playing.  Beware in the burbs though.  From what I have been told, the caught squirrels make LOTS of noise and could upset your touchy neighbors (squirrel poles are often if not always against the law to build).


D.

[JPH]

Now this is a subject I would like to learn a lot about... Although I will check my local laws before practicing this art, I would like to build a knowledge base of the best ways to trap game regardless of laws, because if I ever NEED to trap game, those types of laws won't really matter.

[JPH]

Thanks for the great info, I made a post requesting this kind of information in another thread before I found this post.  Any passive means to gather protein is a GREAT tool to have in the old toolbox.

[JPH]

Test it out and let us know! 

Yeah, that.

It would be a handy way to do it, that's for sure.  A mouse trap or 6 takes very little room to store.

+10 and i will test it out myself as well.

[Debo]

Thanks for the great info, I made a post requesting this kind of information in another thread before I found this post.  Any passive means to gather protein is a GREAT tool to have in the old toolbox.

Hell yes!  It frees you up to do some of the other thousands of tasks that need to be done.


D.

[Tyrannosaurus]

Awesome diagrams!

I went dove hunting in Abasolo, Mexico last year. While driving down the barbed-wire fence lines, we saw several animal carcasses, including coyote and javelinas, that had been trapped in some crudely-fashioned snares that were tied into the barbed wire. I thought it was a shame that the animals weren't picked up by their trappers, but I could certainly understand why folks would trap them, since they are not allowed to own guns and food was scarce due to poverty. I wanted to keep some of the skulls, but I didn't want to even try to get them by US Customs.

I'm curious to how the traps were baited, and even more curious to how they got the critter to stick their head through that snare in the first place. Maybe there's something I don't understand about the way their snares worked.

[DeltaEchoVictor]

I'm curious to how the traps were baited, and even more curious to how they got the critter to stick their head through that snare in the first place. Maybe there's something I don't understand about the way their snares worked.

I'd bet they placed the snares in travel corridors.  Animals are like humans in the way they travel often, that is they'll take a known, easy to negotiate path as opposed to busting brush while traveling.

Well used paths are easy to spot, leaves worn down, grass pushed down, paths worn into the hard packed dirt.  There will be some sign that the animals frequently use a travel corridor or path.  Spend enough time in the woods & you'll recognize them right away.  That's one of the things we look for first when deciding where to set stands, or where we want to hunt.

[PaCoTx]

I've done a little trapping growing up, but don't know much about Arkansas trapping other that talking to a guy from Arkansas once while I was hunting in CO.  There should be lots of muskrat and nutria.  A body gripping trap can take them easily.  Check out a magazine called Fur Fish and Game for hints and specifics.  You should also be able to catch raccoon, possum, and a few other furbearers.  You can get money for fur now, and the skills you learn would be useful in a survival situation for more edible game.

[bj]

Have been trapping since I have been a kid.  Made some extra money back in the 70's trapping.  Found a good supplier for traps of all types (Duke traps, MB traps, Snares, wire pelting stretchers, and a few books.  Take a look.  I think it is a good idea to have a few of these if the SHTF!

http://mountainmantraps.com/main.htm

[PaCoTx]

Nice site.  +1  Brings back a lot of memories. 

Do they still make Victor and Blake & Lamb traps?
 
While on the subject, here's a good source for books on trapping.

http://www.furfishgame.com/shop_online/index.php

I bought the little book "The Trapper's Companion" in the 70's and still keep it at my cabin in CO, but may pick up another to carry in my BOB.

http://furfishgame.com/store/product110.html  It's a good source of old school trail craft.

[NickyTheHeel]

What about trapping crayfish?  I found the website below to be pretty inspirational.  I could do that.  I guess I need to check into how many crayfish my local lakes have.

http://www.terrybullard.com/crawfishing_pictures.html

[ColdSoul]

I would like to recommend everyone not use the figure 4 as shown, the upright pole CAN'T be under the rock or it will stop the rock from falling to often.

So if/when your making that trap make sure the upright stick is out of the range of the falling lock. I have seen many times Les Stroud aka Survivorman have this happen to him on at least 2-3 occasions.

[TimSuggs]

I would like to recommend everyone not use the figure 4 as shown, the upright pole CAN'T be under the rock or it will stop the rock from falling to often.

So if/when your making that trap make sure the upright stick is out of the range of the falling lock. I have seen many times Les Stroud aka Survivorman have this happen to him on at least 2-3 occasions.

Oh definitely!  I think the picture just doesn't show the "offset" placement of the upright stick in relation to the heavy falling log.  If anything impedes the falling of the "deadfall", then you've defeated yourself, fed a furry little aminal, and go to bed hungray another night.  Good observation ColdSoul!  And WELCOME to the group!

Tim.

[ColdSoul]

I would like to recommend everyone not use the figure 4 as shown, the upright pole CAN'T be under the rock or it will stop the rock from falling to often.

So if/when your making that trap make sure the upright stick is out of the range of the falling lock. I have seen many times Les Stroud aka Survivorman have this happen to him on at least 2-3 occasions.

Oh definitely!  I think the picture just doesn't show the "offset" placement of the upright stick in relation to the heavy falling log.  If anything impedes the falling of the "deadfall", then you've defeated yourself, fed a furry little aminal, and go to bed hungray another night.  Good observation ColdSoul!  And WELCOME to the group!

Tim.

No problem, thanks for the welcome

[sphincter]

I used to trap crayfish(crawdads) when I was a kid....I used a minnow seine ans worked it around and under creek banks. I never ate one of the little bugs, but I caught a ton. We just pitched them at each other and turned them loose in the yard. It never crossed my mind to even fish with them until I was in high school.

Sphincter

[homeshow]

Nicky the heel +1 from a southern crayfish and turtle lover.  i should send you northern boys a good gumbo recipe.  do you purge them before eating? it's the best way i have found.  great now i'm hungry.

[NickyTheHeel]

Nicky the heel +1 from a southern crayfish and turtle lover.  i should send you northern boys a good gumbo recipe.  do you purge them before eating? it's the best way i have found.  great now i'm hungry.

I'm an Italian-American and basically use them either in seafood pasta, seafood risotto or cioppino.  I learned to purge them from family I have in a place called French Settlement, Louisiana but I have never done it for my own personal use.

And on the subject of trapping them in Oregon.  I bought a crawfish trap at WalMart and I have gotten some out of a beaver pond on one edge of my dad's property (I live in an RV and spend a lot of time at his place) and in the Coquille River about 300 feet from his front door and in a wetland area behind a lady friend's house in Newport, Oregon.  Lakeside, Oregon recently had their big crawfish fest so I assume that those lakes have a lot of them.

[khristopher23]

CRAWFISH, IT'S CRAWFISH, not crayfish, not crawdads, but CRAWFISH.

Go to Louisiana and order crayfish, see what kind of looks you get.

Hold on, where's Sneauxball, maybe she can help me out.