Snaring small game
 

Has anyone here snared small game? I've been doing some reading on the subject, and I think it's somthing I am interested in trying out.
Based on the reseach I have done, I estimate I will need ot set about 10 to 15 snares for one animal.
Does that sound about right to you?

Share some stories, preparation tips, etc.
I know one thing about squirel: It can host a virus that is potentially deadly to humans, and it must be boiled before it is cooked/eaten to kill off the virus.

Anyone wanna share?

Re: Snaring small game
 

The only way to prepare squirel in my opinion is to boil the devil out of it....like 2 hours....pick all the meat off the bones and then use meat in your fav dish......I do rabbit and pheasant this way....then cook in crock pot with my veggies and gravy.....

It is done after the boiling in water....but tasty after the crock pot. Meat falls off the bone after the boiling.

Couple of cans of cream of mushroom....salt + pepper....possibly a packet of onion soup (use less salt if you do this)....wostershire (2-3 table spoons)......add meat and vegs....cook all day until vegies are done......

Super easy.

This works for every critter from rat to cat and all wild game....meat is meat!

Re: Snaring small game
 

15 snares for one animal?!
thats like 3 around each limb and 3 around the neck, right?
:wink:

Re: Snaring small game
 

HAHAHA!

Yeah, I guess if I put them all on one game-trail....

Re: Snaring small game
 

I've heard you need about 5 - 10 to be pretty sure of catching something....

Re: Snaring small game
 

yea. the more the merrier i guess....
like a trot line...

Re: Snaring small game
 

It would be far more efficient to snare just one large animal... like a gorilla or a mountain goat.
yummy!bancha

Re: Snaring small game
 

For sure. Deer, Moose, Bear, whatever. But I want to know that I know how to get small game in the case that I really need it.
Besides, without proper refrigeration, mass stocks of meat would spoil, so you need to ensure you can eat something "fresh".

I'm talking worst case senerio, of course, but it would be an invaluable skill.

Re: Snaring small game
 

You're going to have to do a little research on your intended targets. small animals tend to stay in small areas and reuse trails throught the trees and small brush. You can even move deadfall some to narrow their trail options. Once you take out a few of the critters, you have to rotate areas to allow new ones to move into the area you made available by taking out the original tenants.

I haven't done it since college (Natural Resource), but also did it while I was growing it up at home.
:beer:

Re: Snaring small game
 

some acquaintances of mine caught a moose by the leg in a snare once when they were trapping for furbearers...luckily it was a small moose and after it tired they tackled it and got it out of the snare okay and off it went...


one year i was riding my snowmachine down an old trail about 7 miles off the road system and i caught a snare right around my right ski someone had forgotten to pull sometime before...i was happy to be going slow that day cause i darn near went over the handlebars as it was with the sudden stop...

Re: Snaring small game
 

from personal experience, it's always good to set around a dozen snares per animal, however this is usually successful per day! In the name of conservation, I would use fewer snares and limit my harvest to a few animals per week.
Also I haven't researched this in years, but rabbits should never be harvested unless there's snow or frost on the ground. The host a bacteria that can cause Tuleremia. It's much more difficult to catch this during the cold months.

Finally, I used to set snares on a "whip" so that the animal would be suspended on a sapling or branch once the snare was tripped. There's nothing more heartbreaking than to see an animal that has struggled for hours and partially chewed it's paw off or wound itself hundreds of times in a death roll. The snap of the branch usually snaps the neck or asphyxiates the animal quickly instead of torture.

Lastly, it also keeps the harvest off the ground so foxes, coyotes, wolves, fishers, etc... won't eat your prey first.

Re: Snaring small game
 

Snaring small game is merely a hobby.

22LR are for survival.

Much like the old American Express saying

"Never leave home without it"

Re: Snaring small game
 

I use live traps at my BO place, then drown the trap in the lake. Kills the food, drives off any parasites like ticks or fleas. Pull them back up after ten minutes underwater, they are ready for paunching and eating.

Re: Snaring small game
 

Mmmmmm.....Moose roast...

Ouch!! That could have been bad, but I imagine the snare wire would have snapped if you were travelling fast.

I figured skinning the animal would do the same thing...
bancha

Re: Snaring small game
 

that why you put them in the water first so the ticks an fleas are gone before you skin them

Re: Snaring small game
 

I was just kidding around.

:)

Re: Snaring small game
 

I snared a small deer once. It is pretty easy. Find a choke point in a trail with a branch passing over it. Loop a flexible cord down from the branch so that it will put its head through but the chest will catch.

The tricky part is the switch. You need to fashion a catch that will hold the weight of a sapling bent over, or a weight that is suspended by your cord.

When the deer pulls on the tightening cord, the weight is released hooking the deer with the tightening cord. This can be a strangle snare or a hold snare. If you have a live deer on a cord, be careful of those hooves.

If you are living off the land, snares are extremely powerful tools.

Trying to snare a squirrel might be alot more challenging. I would prefer to use a deadfall on a small animal.

Re: Snaring small game
 

Meat can be preserved by means other than refrigeration.
The North American bison-hunting tribes mastered it.
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/10/buffalo.shtml

Re: Snaring small game
 

hear, hear

Trapping is used to collect furs, not food. Use a firearm to hunt game for consumption.

Re: Snaring small game
 

It for the point that I want to be able to trap food.

....and practice makes perfect!

Besides, I don't have any firearms. Remember? I'm Canadian! lol

Re: Snaring small game
 

Wild geese and ducks are simple and plentifull in alot of places year round and during migration seasons.
When I was young
someone could have a goose or duck in 15 minutes or less during the migration season.
Using floating fly fishing line and a standard pole set the snare in high traffic areas during the day and at night sneak down to where the pole was hid wait for, if there wasn't already a bird in the loop :ok: and pull the pole hard and fast, instant flying squawking honking fish reel them in twist the neck fresh bird ready to cook , and of coarse you got it during the day in normal hunting season and with a 12 gauge :9536::wink: Now I personaly have never done this but I heard it works

Squirrels are very Easy with simple Asian catch them live rat traps, I do that in my yard every year and release them somewhere else because I have pecan trees and the population gets out of control they are Cheap and reliable

Snares work but another simple method for trapping game is to dig a hole in a currently used run or trail and put spikes of any sort at the bottom cover the hole after you catch that animal and another will take it's place eventuely repeat . This method is especialy good with rabbits .

Re: Snaring small game
 

This just slays squirrels. The latest fave is dog food. Apples work.
Dispatch with projectile air unit.

Re: Snaring small game
 

That is the kind of trap my friend used for his last squirrel-fry. Like I said, I don't own a "projectile air unit". A knife would work, but it would be easier to set a whip-trap that killed it for me I think.

Re: Snaring small game
 

Snares not only increase the chance of obtaining food they will
also allow you to do other things like gather wild edibles or fish
while the snares set and wait.

Made a purchase in january from these folks
http://www.raymondthompson.com/Home.html

Nice people to deal with and sell a quality product.

Re: Snaring small game
 

Snares can be homemade for pennies using parts easily found at local hardware stores. I'd add some leg holds in with the snares, heavier but very effective.

Trapping is a skill that takes practice, patience and a little work.

When trapping pests, is usually best to kill them outright rather than relocate (unlawful in many areas) them, this just creates a new breed of "Homeing rat".

Re: Snaring small game