snares...

[no guns here]

okay... if I wanted to be able to snare big game, not just rabbits etc, what type of wire/cable would you suggest?  Keep in mind that this is just theoretical.  I've never snared anything in my life but was just wondering...

ngh

[Badnews Bob]

How big NGH? If your talking deer size, I think a dead fall or pit type trap would be better than a snare. I don't think I would want to mess with a snared deer. On dog size game I think you would be good with just about anything 50lb test or above, Such as 550 cord or spiderwire type fishing line I don't know if mono would work as well, Lot of options on smaller game.

[Graybeard]

I think snares are more appropriately made from wire and trapping supply places sell them. If you think you might need them then have them on hand in advance.

[Siskiyou]

In the area I lived in Northern Canada bear snares were made out of cable.  I believe it was 1/4-inch diameter. (6.35mm) The ones that I saw were made from bulk cable. 

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/09/24/bear-snares-20050924.html

http://www.longcreektrappingsupplies.com/popup_image.php?pID=38&osCsid=fb0f9ff5e89b17649f853449dd706470

[tn_junk]

A little word of experience:

PRACTICE-

In the last six months I have set approximately 100 snares. From the Florida Gulf Coast to Washington State and back. In the desert. In the mountains. In the forests. In the swamps.
I have caught exactly one rabbit and one rat-like rodent.
My baited dead falls were 4 for 6. All rodents of some type.
Don't expect to feed yourself with snares unless you do a lot of practicing and learning.

alan

p.s. Check the laws in your area. May be heavy $ fines for setting snares illegaly.

[mannyrock]

  While you guys are all out setting hundreds of snares, I will put two or three pair of of domestic rabbits in a chicken wire cage, add some salt, some water, and some alfalfa hay every day, let simmer for about 6 months, and then have a hundred or more ready to eat! :-)

   Guys, there's a good reason why the agricultural revolution occurred.  It's alot dang easier and produces ten times more food, than hunter-gathering.  :-)

Mannyrock

[45-70.gov]

i  used to practice on my dogs
it works  with practice
the faster  they run  the easyer  to hook them up

[no guns here]

My thought was in a "survival" type situation where I might not want to advertise my location with a gunshot.  It would be used to "supplement" as possible the existing food supplies.  Deer and hogs...


ngh

[Siskiyou]

I checked a fellows snares in bear country for a few months and he never caught a thing.  At the sametime I was sapping Snow Shoe rabbits with the .22 for meat.  It was the Year of the Rabbit and they were plentiful.  I did not consider snaring them, but I believe it would have been productive.

[Almtnman]

My thought was in a "survival" type situation where I might not want to advertise my location with a gunshot.  It would be used to "supplement" as possible the existing food supplies.  Deer and hogs...


ngh

I have been on squirrels hunts using a slingshot or flip as some call them. With practice, you can hunt squirrels rather efficiently with one. A bow and arrow can also be used without making any sounds. If you use a slingshot, I would suggest using 1/2 inch diameter ball bearings as the 1/4 inch balls that you buy from Wally-World for slingshot use is just a tad too small.

But my choice is a 20 inch barrel .22 caliber rifle using Aquilla no powder ammo which is so quiet that your next door neighbor wouldn't hear it. It sounds about like a pellet gun would. The Aquilla ammo is made for pistol use, but I have found that it works out great in a 20 inch barrel rifle, but will not make it out the barrel of a longer barrel. It's very efficient and deadly out to about 35 to 40 yards.

[SHOOTALL]

22 cb longs work better in my rifle .
I hunt with an old trapper so i ask him . To trap a larger critter you need to find a tight place they travel thru. say a fence covered with weeds etc  . They may have a hole they use , set the snare there . make sure the snare has been boiled , dyed and coated AND NOT TOUCHED WITH ANYTHING THAT WOULD LEAVE A SENT ON IT . wear rubber boots and gloves to the area when setting the trap . He said he had been told by a guy that traps song dogs to use a 3/32 cable as they will cut their own throat and not draw attention . He said the song dog guy got a deer or two each year by mistake . As a side - an old welder I worked with told me when he was a kid he caught turkeys with a small fish hook and canned corn . In my state both of these pratices are illegal so i have never tried either .
Foot hold traps work alot better as my son has got 2 fox , 2 bobcats , 8 opposum , 5 racoons and 1 skunk in about 3 weeks of trapping .
Not bad for his first season .

[Almtnman]

SHOOTALL, you might want to compare prices on what I use and what you use just in case you want to save about 5 bucks a box for something that does the same thing. 

[SHOOTALL]

I will , i got a new box of a 100 a few weeks ago they were $6.95 plus tax . I have seen the ones you suggested but knew nothing about them .
The ones i use will kill a squirrel out to 20 yards how do yours work ?
A good friend has a slinced 22 rifle and shoots sub sonic loads , very quiet . I tried the sub load in my gun but still loud . One day if work picks up i might get a slinced gun if we still can in a few years .

[Almtnman]

Last time I checked the Aquilla brand was around $2.95 per box. I had bought about 5 boxes or so at $1.95 per box before the gun shop there went out of business. They are capable of taking squirrels and rabbits at closer ranges like you mentioned. I found out about them from a gun shop that told me that some rabbit hunters were using them at night and not wanting people to hear the shots, which BTW is illegal in my area. When I shoot them in one of my old rifles, they sound about like a pellet guns sound. In my Ruger single six, they make some noise, but less than a regular 22 does.

[SHOOTALL]

thanks

[no guns here]

Wow this sort of went in different directions...  my original question was based on having my own land, some cattle, pigs and chickens.  In addition to that, I might want to supplement with venison.  I thought, well, there are stories of BIG game in Africa being snared by poachers so why couldn't I do it with deer?  If I created choke points with downed brush, fence etc I could funnel them into an specific trail and into a snare or trap.  Might be easier just to use a crossbow at that point instead.

ngh

[SHOOTALL]

The snare in an emg. would allow you to do other activities like stay warm while the snare did the waiting . Got to add trapping is far more productive than hunting in many cases . night before last my son added a fox , bobcat , racoon , beaver , opposum to his list . Like ant thing he is gaining skill . He is learning to watch the weather and know what nights are the best .

[Dixie Dude]

I've got a book on snaring, and will tell you what it says when I get home.  It used aircraft cable in a 30" loop about 1' off the ground on the bottom on a deer trail.  this is tied to a rope to a tree or heavy log.  When the deer runs through it, it tightens up around their neck or upper body snaring the deer.  You come back by to kill it later when you check your snares.  The book tells you how to make snares out of old extension cord wire.  Making loops of various sizes for various size animals.  Never tried it, but might next year.  It highly recommended connibur traps 110's for small animals 220's for Racoon and 330's for Beaver.  It kills them so you have to check them daily.  Legholds for foxes and coyotes.  One advantage of snares and traps is while you are checking them, you can also stalk hunt. 

[Sourdough]

In Canada they snare Black Bears.  Not a big problem.  In fact the Game Board approved snaring Black Bears in some areas here in Alaska for next year.

I got called out one night when two AF men attending survival training decided to snare a Moose.  They had used 3/8" rope and it worked well.  Now that got exciting because we needed to release it with out hurting it or letting it hurt us.

Every year Wolf Trappers catch Caribou in wolf snares and traps, and yes it holds them.

Last week one of the young men working for the army corps of engineers released a Moose that had been caught by the foot in a wolf snare.  Out in the Flood Control Project behind my house.

Two years ago one of the mines in the area was having problems with a bear coming in at night and trying to break into the walk-in freezer.  One of the young workers, up from the lower 48 and not knowing better set up a snare, using steel cable from a small winch.  He did not tell anyone, he wanted it to be a surprise.  it sure was when the cook went out the next morning and rounded the corner, right on top of an irate Grizzly.  Took an hour to talk the cook out of shooting both.  That young man was on the cooks short list the rest of the summer.

So yes it's possible, not legal but possible.