How to Set Up an Animal Trap
It is very important to understand how to catch food for yourself or hunt in the wild. Whether you are camping, stranded or trying to learn the art of hunting, if you know basic survival skills and simple traps to set up in high-traffic areas of animals, it will be the key difference between your eating or starving. One of the most simple traps to learn is the snare trap, and you can catch multiple types of animals with this trap using things that you can mostly find around in you in the wild.
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Things You'll Need
- Two to four sturdy sticks, at least 6 inches tall (for smaller game) or 3 feet tall (for larger game)
- Durable cord or wire
- Tree trunk
Instructions
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1
Understand what types of animals frequent the area you are hunting in. Common species to catch with a snare trap include rabbits, deer, and fox. First, you need to look for a large quantity of animal tracks. Start looking around areas where water is abundant, like streams, ponds or lakes, because animals need to come here often to drink. Then, look for small pathways where tracks lead in and out of, and that are cleared of lower brush from multiple trips back and forth. Next, figure out what type of tracks they are. This is important because the type of animal determines the height of the snare trap. Deer tracks are small oval-like tracks with a sharp crevice down the center and they walk lightly. Rabbit tracks are oblong and haphazardly scattered, because rabbits run by placing their back paws in front of their front paws. Foxes have similar tracks, but smaller.
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2
Decide where to set up the trap now. If you located a rabbit burrow where tracks lead in and out, this is the ideal spot to set up a snare trap so when the rabbit enters or exits the burrow they will become caught. If you are setting up the snare trap along a path of tracks, find a place along the path that is within 4 to 5 feet of a sturdy tree trunk.
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3
Obtain a durable rope or cord (such as a shoelace or sleeping bag cord). For smaller game, it needs to be at least 3 feet long. For larger game, it should be at least 7 feet long. This will be needed to create the snare, or "noose."
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Secure a carefully tied slipknot in the center of the rop to create the noose part of the snare trap. Now the snare should appear as a noose with a long loose end of rope or cord. It needs to be large enough for the head of the game you are hunting to slip through. For a rabbit's head, make sure it is about 4 inches in diameter, while a deer snare trap should be about 2 feet in diameter.
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Tie the loose end of the rope or cord around the tree trunk nearby the path. Lop it around once and make sure it is tied securely. If you are not using a tree trunk (like if you are setting the snare trap up outside a burrow), use a sturdy stick to secure the loose part of the cord or rope. Make sure it is at least six inches long. Tie the loose end of the string around this stick, and plant it in the ground deep enough so it doesn't move when the string is tugged on. Place it a few feet away from the entrance to the burrow.
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6
Find two to four sturdy sticks to hold up the snare trap. The size again depends on the type of game you are trying to catch. For smaller game like rabbits and foxes, the sticks need to be around 6 inches tall. For larger game such as deer, they need to be around three to four feet tall. If making the trap along a path, plant the sticks into the ground on either side of the path so that the animal tracks walk in between the sticks, creating a place the animal must walk through. Insert the sticks at an angle so that they are leaning inward toward the path. There should be about a 2 to 3 foot space between the tops of the sticks.
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Bring the cord or rope from where it is tied to the tree trunk, and bring the snare noose to the sticks planted in the ground. Carefully set each side of the snare on top of the sticks, wrapping them around the top of the sticks to make the circular opening a hole that an animal's head can slip through. Push out the sticks a little bit so the noose is tightened and stays set up. If necessary, use a third stick to anchor the noose from another point.
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Set up this snare trap in the same way outside of a burrow hole, but angle the sticks around the sides of the hole so the rabbit or animal must walk through the noose in order to proceed.
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Wait for an animal sighting. If you want to watch, you must be very quiet and still so you don't scare away the game. If you notice animals in a different area, move your trap to this place. Now just wait for an animal to walk out of a burrow hole or down a pathway, and become stuck in the noose; it will pull it tighter as it struggles, and then you have caught an animal for food.
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References
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