In the event of a survival situation it is essential to gather your own food and one of the simplest and easiest methods is trapping or in our case snaring. A snare is a trap that ensnares the target animal, preferably by the neck, as the animal comes into contact with it. Spring snares are often shown in movies as carrying a her
o by the leg into a tree, like in Pirates of the Caribbean #2. This style of trap is used when you only have basic cordage or wish to lift your prey into the trees away from potential predators. There are countless styles of these spring snares but the spring snare that I will focus on is the "platform snare" from “The SAS Survival Handbook" by John Wiseman. On page 195 "When the platform is depressed the trigger bar is released and the game is held firmly by the leg." This trap can be used to send rabbits into a tree of hold larger animals firmly in place. The second kind of snare is a simple snare. The simple snare is much like the spring snare except there is no spring action, it is simply a loop made from, preferably cables or wire, that is placed over a game trail (a worn path in the ground were game moves on regularly). This is the simplest and perhaps the most efficient way to catch smaller game like rabbits, because as the snare tightens on their neck they bolt, securing the snare in place providing a swift death. When choosing the size of loop to make your simple snare pg. 194 "Make is about a fist wide" Wiseman SAS and three inches above the ground, when hunting rabbits. For the spring snare, a fist and a half to increase the chances of a catch. I have found that I had more luck with the simple snare than the platform snare. Over the course of four days I caught two rabbits in the simple snare and none in the platform snare. The reason snares are an important survival tool is that they require very little material and do not require much physical exertion were as stalking prey can prove to be exhausting. Remember when setting the snare make sure to not disturb the trails to much. If you ever go hiking or camping would you consider learning there traps because you never know what will happen.Wiseman, John. SAS Survival Handbook: the Ultimate Survival Guide. William Collins, 2014.
Thor, great work! Your post was very knowledgeable and you definitely know what you are talking about. I like the reference to Pirates of the Caribbean, it gives a good reference point to what you are describing. Is there a way you can make a snare bigger for larger scale game? Or is this kind of snare meant for smaller creatures such as the rabbits you caught?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment and yes you can made these traps as large as needed. You could theoretically catch a bear with these traps although it is very difficult and not the most effective way of catching larger game. There are however different kinds of traps, from "dead falls" that crush your prey or spring spear traps which skewer them.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post Thor, as Joey said there was a great amount of knowledge and experience behind your post. As I have attempted setting up both of these kinds of snare and defiantly agree that the simple snare is overall more efficient and can allow more snares to be set up in a shorter period of time which in a survival situation would be useful. I definitely think that if you'll be spending time in the wilderness having a way to supply food for yourself is definitely a skill that I would like to explore more, and get more proficient at.
ReplyDeleteI agree especially when it comes to trapping rabbits which are the easiest to trap. And yes trapping is a valuable skill in any scene whether its for survival or pest control.
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