HOW TO SET UP SNARES AND DEADFALL TRAPS

In a survival situation, you’ll need a lot of protein to stay alive. You also need a method of collecting it that does not consume all of your time and effort. With trapping, you can set up multiple traps and then check them once or twice a day. You can spend the rest of the day doing whatever else needs to be done to survive.

However, primitive trapping requires a lot of work. While it is feasible to succeed in the wild using basic traps, you must first discover what works and what doesn’t. Otherwise, it’s your life at stake.

This article will help you learn the basics of getting the different kinds of primitive traps you might need correct.

• Factors to consider when making traps
  • Bait
  • Location
  • Scent
  • Path Making
• Snares
  • How it works
  • How to make a snare
  • Tips to optimize your trap
  • Effective ways to use basic snares
• Deadfalls
  • How it works
  • How to make a deadfall
  • How to set a deadfall

TRAPS

Bait

For any form of trap, there are a few standard guidelines to follow. One thing to remember is that bait is always a good idea. Also, adding an incentive for the animal to come to your trap is an excellent idea no matter what species you’re catching.

Baits you can use to lure land animals–choose any of these and adjust accordingly:

• Large animals
  • Fish
  • Fowl

• Small animals
  • Peanut butter
  • Cheese
  • Fruit

But don’t get too hung up on what to use. A baited trap is always preferable to one that isn’t.

Location

When you don’t have any bait, the position of your trap becomes even more critical. It’s crucial to find a game trail or other indicator of activity.

These are the best places to put your trap, bait, or no bait.

• Game trails — These are animal tracks etched into the floor vegetation, indicating that they are used regularly.
  
• Home — You can also look for that particular animal’s place of rest.
  
• Tracks and scat — These can inform you what kinds of animals are in the area and where they prefer to walk.

Scent

It’s critical to make your trap seem and smell as realistic as possible when setting it up. You should mask your scent before going out to set or inspect a trap line.

Keep a close eye on your hands, as they may leave a scent on the trap.

Use these materials to cover up your human scent:

• Oils from evergreen trees
• Soot from your fire
• Moist foliage

Additionally, disguise the appearance of your trap with leaves and twigs. This will prevent your prey from becoming frightened.

Path Making

It’s also critical that you direct the animal in the appropriate direction when approaching the trap. In many cases, your trap is only designed to detain or kill an animal if it comes from a specific location in a particular direction.

You can block other paths with sticks and leaves, forcing the animal to approach in that direction. This guarantees that your chances of trapping an animal are as good as possible.

SNARES

When it comes to building primitive traps, a few basic designs cover the majority of your options. One of these is a snare trap. Unfortunately, this is also one of the easiest traps to set.

How It Works

A snare is a drum that uses a slipknot to tighten a loop around an animal’s neck or limb. You can make this trap out of cordage, wire, or natural materials.

We recommend using wire because it:

• Allows you to mold the shape and position of the loop for optimum performance
• More challenging for the animal to wriggle free or chew its way lose

How to Make a Basic Snare

1. To begin, make a slipknot in your line.
2. Fold over two to three inches on one end of the line.
3. To make a loop, tie an overhand knot.
4. To make a slipknot, feed the opposite end of the thread through the loop.
5. You can then secure the free end to a rock, tree, post, or other structure.

Tips to Optimize Your Snare

• Get the size right — It’s critical to get the loop size of these snares just correct. Because this trap style is designed to target your animal’s head, the loop should be slightly larger than the animal’s head.
  
• Place at the proper position — For your target animal, you want to place the snare at head height and perpendicular to the ground. You may need to prop it up with sticks to obtain this position.

Effective Ways to Use Basic Snares

• Build a squirrel pole

Building a squirrel pole is an effective technique to use basic snares. You will need a huge tree, preferably near a squirrel nest, for this trap.

How to Build A Squirrel Pole

1. Find a four-foot-long pole with a few inches of thickness.
2. Wire multiple snares to the pole and lean the pole 45 degrees against the tree.
3. After that, position your snare loops vertically on top of the poles.

How It Works

Small game, like squirrels, are prone to taking the shortest route, so they will frequently prefer to run up your pole when climbing a tree. The snare will capture its head as they do so. When it falls off the pole, it will hang itself, preventing it from escaping.

• Add a spring pole

By adding a spring pole to a trap, you can make it more aggressive. When the snare drum is moved, this sets off a trigger mechanism. The animal is jerked up into the air by the spring pole, which tightens the loop and prevents the animal from escaping.

How to Make A Spring Pole

1. Find a springy sapling and either:
   1. Set it next to the trap next to it
   2. Cut and drive it into the ground near your spot
      
2. Cut ‘7′ shaped notches on the sides of two sticks of moderate thickness.
3. One of the sticks should be sharpened and driven into the earth.
4. Connect the other stick to the spring pole’s end with cordage. It should:
   1. Hold everything in place if you draw down the spring pole
   2. Fit the two shafts together at their notches.
5. Attach a normal snare drum to the spring pole’s end.
6. Place it in the best possible location on your trail.

DEADFALLS

Deadfalls are designed to hurt or kill an animal until you reach it, whereas snares snag and hold it in place. The rock then breaks free and smashes the animal when the trap is tripped.

How It Works

Bait is typically used in deadfalls to entice an animal beneath a huge, flat rock. When the prop stick comes loose, the trap will fall, crushing the animal when it goes for the bait and the bait stick is moved.

Check it out a few times to ensure the sticks don’t get stuck in the trap and prevent it from dropping.

How to Make A Deadfall

1. Obtain a rock with a diameter of two feet and a thickness of a few inches.
2. Take two sticks, one of which has a small curve.
3. Use a knife to make these adjustments:
   1. The straight stick — one round end
   2. The curved stick — one sharp end, one flat end

How to Set Deadfalls

1. Place your bait on the curved stick’s pointed end.
2. Raise the rock and press the flat end of the curved stick on the underside of the stone to place the bait towards the trap’s back.
3. By pressing the rounded end of the second stick against the flat part of the bait stick, you can push the rock up.