In This Article
This article will give you five helpful ways to make traps and snares that you can do for your survival in the woods.
Knowing how to create a snare trap can be a terrific way to impress and survive the next time you get lost hiking, want to wow your friends, or maybe even get picked for the Hunger Games.
But seriously, when it comes to survival, finding a means to feed yourself and your family is critical. According to Science, going without meals for up to three weeks is possible, but it is neither pleasant nor the healthiest option.
You need your body and mind to fully function even if you are in the most challenging situations like living off-grid. The human body cannot perform well without enough food. Comfort and energy from meat can give you the nutrition you need, not feel weak.
If you don’t know how to make snares and traps, then you are in the right article to start.
Let’s look at a few various methods for capturing tiny animals so you can make it through another day at the campsite.
Simple Snare
A snare is the most basic animal trap to construct, making it ideal for a beginner trapper. But you have to know that it won’t be as valuable if you don’t make a catch.
With that in mind, before you set up your trap, make sure to scope the site and look for nests, holes on trees, an indication of trails, and highways that squirrels or rabbits or raccoons or any similar small target animals could’ve made.
Finding a good spot may take about 15 to 20 minutes. So, you have to pack a good amount of patience with you when you go to the mountains.
Now, to build a simple snare, knot a tiny loop and run the end of the wire or rope through it to form a noose loop. If you wish to use string, you can, but certain target animals can break through it.
The simple snare works by entangling the animal’s neck in the rope as it tries to exit the lair. It will tighten around its neck as it fights.
With this, if you come with your friends and family, make sure everyone knows that you have set up a snare so they will not get caught up in it. And if you hike with pets, look out for them too.
Twitch-Up Snare
The twitch-up snare trap is reasonably simple to set, although rookie trappers may struggle with its snare because they don’t know which side of the peg to tie the rope. I can help you with that, but first, let’s go over the items you need to make this snare trap.
You need to look for a spring pole and prepare a stick to be pushed into the ground, a snare line with the noose, and a trigger stick. You can also use some bait if you want.
To set up a twitch-up snare, you can start by carving a hook towards the top of your peg and burying it 2 to 4 inches deep.
And then, you need to find and cut off the top of a sapling. The job of cutting a sapling will be much easier if you have a compact saw. This step is essential as the vast root structure of this woody plant will serve as an excellent anchor for your trap in sandy soils, where stakes and pegs are often ripped out of the earth by the spring pole.
Next, you can carve a similar hook in your trigger stick after you’ve established your ground stick, which will grip onto the hook in your ground stick.
You need to make sure to secure the trigger stick into the snare line and tie it safely to the spring pole. Also, ensure you’ve connected the trigger stick’s knot on the other side of the peg from where you cut the hook.
If you tie the line somewhere else on the stick, it will pull the trigger at an awkward angle and never trigger the trap.
Finally, you have the option to turn this twitch-up snare into a lure-activated trap by putting bait on the trigger stick as the noose dangles around the baited section. Alternatively, you may leave a trail near the peg trigger with the noose.
Deadfall Trap
If you set up this Native American trap correctly, it will work fast and serve you right. It’s also pretty straightforward to build, but it needs a bit of physics, unlike the simple snare.
To make a Deadfall trap, you’ll need a “Y” shape stick that is at least eight inches long. Then a straight tree branch sticks a little thicker than a pencil, a two-inch-long stick that’s a little thinner than a pencil.
You would also need a slim bait stick that’s about half the size of a pencil, about 12-inch long, some bait, about 8 inches of string, a flat, heavy rock that’s about five to ten pounds, and some rope.
You can start by grabbing the rope. Make sure the string you’ll use isn’t easily breakable. Take your nine-inch straight stick, which will serve as the lever, and tie one end of the rope to it.
It’s best to connect the other end of the string to the two-inch stick, the toggle. You can use square knots at both ends of the line. Then wipe or skewer the bait on one end of the 12-inch bait stick and put it there.
Now, you can set everything up starting by stacking the “Y” stick on the heavy rock’s edge. Be careful, though. You don’t want to be the first one to get smashed. It’s best to have a partner while doing this step so someone else can hold the flat, heavy rock.
It’s still ok to do it alone. Just make sure to put the weight of the stone on one knee where you can steadily and carefully carry the weight while you set up the sticks, rope, and bait below.
Next, put the end of the lever, the one without a string, in the forked post. The distance should be about 1 inch from the heavy rock. The lever needs to be on the ground with a rock on top.
To wrap the two-inch toggle around the post, you’ll need to warp it about a third of the way around. It’s like a 180-degree turn.
At this point, please do not drop the heavy rock just yet. Ensure that the toggle is securely in place by letting it down slowly. To finish, place the baited end of the 12-inch bait stick. It should be between a rough spot under the stone and the tip of the toggle.
Finally, observe the gap and toggle. You’ll be sure that you did the right thing when you let go of the trigger stick, and the rock doesn’t fall to the ground.
Squirrel Pole Snare
Squirrels love to make shortcuts, and this squirrel pole snare trap is a hack that’ll help you still catch them. Don’t worry. There’s no physics involved here, but strategic thinking can come in handy. To do that, you need some items to set it up.
You’ll need a four- to a six-foot pole, and that’s about the size of your arm. Then, you would need to wrap some small wire trap loops around it. You can also carve all the bark off the stick to make it look smooth and clean.
Another way to do this snare trap is by using a fork on one end of the pole to keep it from twisting out of place. You can stick it in the ground or pin it to a tree to keep it in place.
Now, when making wire snare loops, you can begin by cutting 2-foot long, 22- or 24-gauge wire pieces. Then, start making the noose loops about three inches in diameter to give you some wiggle room.
After that, position the wires in a zig-zag pattern between the pole and the snare. And then, twist the stick and put them all over the squirrel pole to make the traps.
Make sure to set up two or three snare traps in different spots to get more chances of catching a squirrel. It’s also good to make at least 12 or more snares on the pole. You can put some on top and some on the sides.
It will also help if you pin the squirrel pole to a tree with indications that squirrels were around it or a tree where there’s a squirrel nest in its branches.
Bottle Fish Trap
Besides hunting and catching tiny target animals in the woods, let’s not forget that you can also catch fish for food. If you are near a river or a pond, or any body of water, this bottle fish trap could be helpful for you for survival.
To make an effective trap to catch some fish, you need three main items: a plastic bottle with a lid cover, bait, and rope. The size of the bottle that you’ll use will determine the size of the fish you’ll catch. So, the bigger, the better.
Also, it’s best to choose one with a big opening and is easy to cut open. For the bait, it doesn’t have to be fancy. You can use as simple as rock salt as bait. But for the rope, you have to make sure it doesn’t get brittle when submerged in water for some time.
To build this trap, you can start by grabbing the plastic bottle. Remove the lid cover first and start making cuts on one side of the bottle’s body. The cuts should look like sun rays. The purpose of this pattern is so that the fish can swim, but it won’t be easy to get out of the bottle.
Next, put the bait inside the bottle, then put the lid cover back on. Find your rope and wrap and tie it safely around the bottle’s opening. You can connect the other end on a long stick that can hold and serve as the bottle’s anchor on the ground.
You can also plant the stick on the ground underwater. Just make sure you can still get back to it after some time to get your catch.
Finally, you can submerge the bottle fish trap underwater and leave it in there for about an hour or two. The timing could be quicker depending on the amount of fish on the location where you choose to set up your trap.
Last Words
Setting up a good snare and trap isn’t measured by how you built it alone, but where you place it certainly plays a significant role. Make sure you research the area where you’re going to camp and what types of animals exist there.
In this way, you can be better prepared on what tools to bring and what snares and traps to set up. And also for you to know whether to put them as protection from wild animals or hunt for food.
You can go over some other articles here that can help you get ready for the next time you go to the campground:
- How to Hunt with a Slingshot (Best Practices)
- 10 Weird Fishing Tips and Tricks For Your Next Trip
- 8 Homemade Weapons You Can Build To Defend Yourself
I hope you liked this article. We want to help you more. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, and Instagram. Also, consider sharing this content and subscribing to get 255 free ebooks.
English
简体中文
Español
Français
हिन्दी
Deutsch
Русский
العربية
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
বাংলা
This blog is helpful for beginners, but I think a little mention of how to properly place or bait some snares and traps for different game species would’ve been nice. Neither mechanical/steel traps such as conibears or footholds nor what to deal with trapped creatures were discussed here. Kids who want to catch a squirrel or the neighbor’s cat are probably the intended audience. Some relevant materials on snares and traps and simple YouTube videos were a great bonus. I’ll send this blog to some of my beginner friends or use it as a guide to teaching basic skills to my daughter.