I haven't noticed anyone posting about trapping so I thought I would start a thread concerning it. I want to begin with admitting I know little about it and just started the learning process myself. grew up hunting and fishing, but never trapped. My uncle is a trapper from way back, so I plan to glean from him all I can. A legal proviso-Some of what I will post here IS NOT legal trapping but poaching/snaring so only use it in a real survival situation or you may have a nice government-funded vacation!
1. Metal spring traps, ie conibear type. Very effective for rabbits and similar size game, larger ones are available. Mine cost about 6$ apiece at the local feed store. Watch yourself, they WILL mangle a finger!
2. Commercial "live-trap" cages. Work well and you can release animals you don't want unharmed. The cost is quite high per unit. Available in sizes from squirrel to bear.
3. Homemade wood live-trap boxes. Plans are available from many sites, the MO Conservation site has a nice simple plan. The trap-door type can freeze up in winter, while the swing door type is harder to make. The cost is basically free if you have scrap lumber and a few basic hardware items.
4. Wire snares- Great for larger animals such as deer and coyotes/dogs. Make sure it is attatched to something big enough to hold the target animal once caught. Once again, Google it and many diagrams/plans are available. Cost is fairly cheap.
5. Improvised traps. Here's where it gets really illegal. Take a box spring mattress and burn it. Lay the coils in the woods and scatter corn. Large birds (turkeys) get feet tangled in the springs.
Take heavy fishing line and make numerous small hangman's nooses, stake to ground with small sticks and scatter corn/bread crumbs, etc. Small birds land to eat bait and entangle themselves.
Pig Trap. take 3-4 sections of heavy wire fence panels and make oval pen. fashion a funnel with two fence sections and bait inside pen. Wild pigs and deer enter and can't find their way out.
I didn't cover deadfalls, Burmese tiger traps, spring snares and pitfalls because they aren't very "real world" useful from what I've gathered. YMMV
One good thing about trapping is that it's equally useful in urban and rural areas. Cities are full of cats, dogs, rats, and other small game and traps are quiet and unobtrusive, plus they never run out of ammo and will work while you sleep.
I hope that some of this will be useful to someone out there and feel free to post any ideas, suggestions, or corrections. I'm not claiming to be the "end-all" expert.
__________________ I'm here for a good time, to h*ll with the red wine, pour me some moonshine!
box traps are nice it keeps food fresh untill you need it. i ve read that snareing deer is quite ez i would like to try it some time, i keep coniebaers 110 220 things dont go to far with them have.
There is a great book about wilderness living and trapping written in the 1890s that is back in print again.
Forgive me for not remembering the title. I searched for it for years and finally got a copy last month.
They have an article about it in a recent issue of The Backwoodsman too.
My step father and my neighbor who I hunt with a lot trapped. I've helped put them out and ran them.
I found it's something I Don't ever want to do again. But I don't care if anyone else wants to do it.
My feeling are it is one of the most un-human things to do. The animal suffers until it is displaced by the trapper.
I've seen where coons have fought to get free and they tare up the ground trien to get free.
Like I said I don't care if any of you trap and No offense intended.
To me it's the ultiment UN-Sportsman thing to do...A.H
^ I agree with you to a certain extent AH, trapping is quite ugly. However, nature itself is uglier then what we humans do! I don't trap now, I will do some "trial" work, but if I ever need to I will to feed my family. If a choice arises where a 'coon suffers or my nephews/nieces suffer, I think you can surmise which one it will be!
I find it interesting that this forum is full of threads about killing humans and how prepared we are to do it and no one raises any moral qualms, but mention trapping and the moral righteousness of cruelety and death arises.
__________________ I'm here for a good time, to h*ll with the red wine, pour me some moonshine!
My thoughts exactly thrillbilly. Trapping is always getting a bad rap...... Well I'll just let it go at that, everyone has the right to their own opinion.
I'll scare up some links to some trapping supply websites when I get a little more time. You can buy equipment alot cheaper thru them than you can at the farm store or places like Gander Mountain.
Also these places will have real snares, not the homemade contraptions I read about so often. They also have the cable, locks, stops ect to make your own snares. It's not hard to do.
Odds are that you have a State trapping association. During the summer months they will have at least one get together where you can talk to trappers, watch set making demonstrations and buy equipment.
You know as a survival point, trapping would be the most economical thing, no bullets and then they is the no noise thing. I do admit that it isn't the most humane thing but when SHTF where is the line for humane?
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Gun control is putting 2 bullets in the same hole.
You know as a survival point, trapping would be the most economical thing, no bullets and then they is the no noise thing. I do admit that it isn't the most humane thing but when SHTF where is the line for humane?
Forget humane, forget sportsmanship, forget cruelty. You'll be surprised at how quickly that crap will go out the window when you have a six year old crying " Daddy, my tummy hurts 'cuz I'm hungry".
do take a class most help full, get some books, try it on a small bases you might be surprised what you get in a box trap. all so it is a good idea to keep up a licecnse [as i do with fishing and small game even when i do not hunt small game] thay may be hard to get if shtf for there may be some law in forsement still wondering a round .
I admit I am completely ignorant of traps and trapping; short of those antique looking bear traps, commercial mousetraps and the old reliable box-stick-string setup.
Actually, I wonder if you could use the larger 'rat traps' for squirrels and the like, they would be an excelleny quarry and they get awful fat around here.
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I take my coffee how I take my women: bitter and overbearing.
Actually, I wonder if you could use the larger 'rat traps' for squirrels and the like, they would be an excelleny quarry and they get awful fat around here.
yes you can any thing squirrel or smaller thay work well.
+1 on the trapping class. In some States a trappers education class is required in order to get a trapping license. In Indiana it is not a requirement, but classes are held several times a year at various locations throughout the State, conducted by the Indiana State Trappers Association and the DNR.
There are many books and videos (vhs and dvd) available. Many will be geared towards the longline/high production trapping, but the basics are the same.
I've never trapped squirrells so have zero firsthand experiance there. I have read accounts of using small snares on a small log or limb, set at an angle from the ground and leaning against a tree. I should work with that and see what it takes. I would think that a half an ear of corn wired to the log between some snares would do the trick.
Raccoon, like many animals, are not hard to trap or snare. As with any animal it boils down to knowing your area, knowing their habits, and being on location with good sets made with good equipment. Solid anchoring of a trap or snare is very critical and often what some people consider solid is not good enough. It's no place to skimp.
Snares are very effective and versitle, also lightweight, compact and economical. Proper snare support, that is holding it fairly solidly in position while set, is very important.
Reading sign and knowing the habits of the animals is a must. A person needs to get out and look. Find tracks, wade creeks, see for yourself how coon, muskrat and mink for example are attracted to such things as field tiles, undercut banks and old muskrat or beaver dens.
Beaver can be very hard for the novice trapper to catch in a foothold trap. Your best bet would be to use a 280 or 330 size bodygripper (conibear) or snares. Again, beaver are very strong and solid anchoring is a must. Beaver are actually pretty good to eat and they are fairly big (30 to 70 lb.) so that would put quite a bit of meat on the table.
There's a lot to trapping, but like so many other things it's not rocket science either. Buy some books and videos then spend some time in the field putting things together in your mind as you make your observations.
There are some trapping forums. The best is coyotesrus. You have to register to read any of the post. The upside is that it is a pretty much no nonsense forum with some of the very best trappers in the world who contribute daily.
Thrillbilly, thanks for starting this thread!!! Because of this forum I've been making a bug out kit and trapping is something that I've recently been looking and studying on for food procurement. One thing though, I think that the figure 4 deadfall trap is worthy of mention for squirrels or rabbits.
