Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Bow and Arrow, Atlatl, Spears, Weirs, Snares, Deadfalls, etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:
Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:14 pm

Being able to get food in a survival situation is pretty damn important. Sure you can go without, but do you really want to? You can forage for plants but it takes a lot of wild onions to equal a squirrel in nutritional content.

I’m going to cover some traps in this thread. Once a trap is set, it will work for you while you concentrate on other tasks. Once a trap is made it is generally re-useable/re-settable. Most importantly, a trap will get you meat.

There are many traps out there. A lot of the ones shown in outdoor books are overly complicated and/or don’t work well. I won’t say that the traps I use are the only ones that work, but I will say they work well. And the majority of them are very simple.

I’m going to go over three deadfall traps first and I’ll add to this thread as I have occasion to make different traps. Deadfalls are very simple to make and work exceptionally well on the small animals that you would likely have around you in most any wooded location. Another advantage to deadfalls are they kill your animal quickly. More humane sure, but consider this, if you have a rabbit hanging in a snare, it could bite free of the noose. Or with all the noise it would be making, you could easily lose your meal to a passing coyote or other predator. Deadfalls also often times cover your animal providing even more protection from predators.

First up is a modified Paiute deadfall. The modifications are (1) the vertical stick has a natural fork to hold the horizontal stick and (2) the vertical stick is pushed into the ground. This makes the trigger much more stable. Be sure that your rock doesn’t hit the vertical stick on the way down.

Image

The baited area is shown in red. This end of the stick touches the rock, the other end simply keeps the cord from flipping around the vertical stick. The bait sick can be very thin here, even a thicker grass stem will work as there is very little pressure exerted on this piece.

Here is a close-up of the trigger. I have used natural cordage but anything will work fine. The Gerber is just for scale.

Image

See it in action, click the pic.

Image

Next up is a very simple trigger. Here you are relying on pressure to keep two round pieces of wood against each other. The slightest movement makes them slip and sets off the trap. On this trigger, you can set the trigger before you place the rock as separate pieces of cordage are used for the bait and rock.

A limb or stick under tension is held by the baited part of the trigger. In this case I am using a dead cedar branch still connected to the tree. You always want to use dead wood for your spring sticks as green wood will bend and lose it’s springiness. The stick holding the rock up is tied to the spring stick with a different piece of cordage. When the trap is set off, this cordage pulls the stick out and releases the rock. This trigger works well horizontally also. Bait placed where the red circle is.

Image

A close-up of the trigger

Image

And action, click the pic.

Image

Now I said most were easy. This trigger is a bit more complicated to build but damn it’s slick. It also is well suited for areas where the rock cannot drive the trigger parts into the ground when it falls. The trigger is released by movement an any direction. A good trap for birds as well as they will perch on the stick to eat the bait.

Basically the downward pressure of the rock makes the two larger sticks want to spread apart at the bottom. The bait stick is notched and holds them together until tripped. Hard to explain, easier to see. Bait placed where the red circle is. The baited stick does not touch the rock in this trap.

Image

Close-up of the trigger.

Image

And the action shot, click the pic.

Image

So there’s three that are easy to learn, easy to set and damned effective. Any questions, lemme know.
Image ..... Image

User avatar
Trekker Outdoors
Posts:25
Joined:Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:06 pm
Location:Olathe, KS
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Trekker Outdoors » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:42 pm

I like these deadfalls much better than the ones I have learned. I need to come take your class!

User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:33 pm

The snare course is a lot of fun, one of my favorites. I too like these deadfalls as they are easy, don’t require much cordage and work well. The cordage thing is important because that’s something that is often in short supply and making your own takes time. Time that could be better used for other things if you are reduced to setting traps for food.

I’ll be updating this thread periodically with some more good ones as well as some actual snares. In fact I just ordered today a bunch of material to make snares and plan to have some at the upcoming Expo.
Image ..... Image

DrumminAngoleiro
Posts:7
Joined:Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:34 pm

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by DrumminAngoleiro » Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:56 pm

yeah, awesome post. i'm looking forward to the trapping course as well!

User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Tue May 21, 2013 10:55 pm

Thought I’d add a couple more extremely simple deadfalls to this thread. These two require no cordage, are easy to set and so simple to build you need no instruction other than seeing the pictures.

This one is similar to the Paiute but requires no cordage. You do need a solid base to keep the stick from sinking into the ground from the weight of the rock. Bait goes where the red X is.

Image

And video (click pic)

Image

The second trigger just balances a pointed end against a round stick holding the bait against the rock. Baited at the red X.

Image

And video (click pic)

Image
Image ..... Image

User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:29 pm

Had a little time today so I put a log deadfall together. I chopped off a 6’ long section of dead oak for the main log and found a couple appropriately spaced trees along the bank of a small creek. I’m using a simple treadle trigger on this one and set it up first and left it set throughout building the rest of the trap for clarities sake. Generally you would “set” the trigger after everything else was built.

In this pic you can see the main log and the front of the treadle along with a stake to keep the log from rolling forward when it trips.

Image

Here you can see the trigger. Basically just a stick held in tension by the weight of the log until the treadle is moved down.

Image

Here’s a view of the trigger from behind the trap. You can see as the animal enters the trap and steps on the treadle it moves down (1) and the trigger (2) releases and flys up as the main log drops.

Image

So that’s the trigger. Pretty simple right? All you need to do now is box in the back somehow so that the animal has to enter the front to get to the bait. You can use rocks, logs, a culvert under the road even. Anything to direct their path. I chose to use cedar branches today.

Image

And here it is woven tight and covered to blend in a bit.

Image

And the finished deadfall. The log on the ground in front is the anvil. Many people put this directly under the main log to smash the animal and keep it from just being pressed into the dirt and being able to escape. I like to set mine just in front of the main log so that the animal gets “broken” over the log. The bait would be placed inside the enclosed area to entice the animal to enter the trap.

Image

And see it in action, click pic.

Image
Image ..... Image

User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Sat Jun 08, 2013 2:32 pm

Here’s an example of one style of cable snare I carry. These are 1/16 SS cable with non relaxing micro locks. For the pic I have used a shiny new one to be able to see it better. You can dull the finish of new snares by boiling in 5 Tbs of baking soda in a gallon of water, or just leave them outside for a few weeks. An animal can sometimes spot a shiny thing.

This snare is just placed on a trail and secured to a small tree on the side. There’s no twitch up stick on this set. These snares slide so easily they will choke out an animal very quickly not giving it much time to fight and tear up your snare. You do lose the advantage of having your animal off the ground in regard to other predators taking it though.

This snare is placed on a well traveled trail at a narrow point. Additional brush and sticks have been placed on the sides to funnel the animals path of travel into the snare. Animals will take the path of least resistance. Here the bottom of the snare is about 2 inches above the ground and the snare opening is just larger around than my fist. It’s supported by the smallest stick that will hold its weight.

I did not leave this snare set as it is for survival use only. In order to legally use these for trapping in your area you will need a license and probably need to tag the snares and possibly add deer stops. So if you want to use snares now check the requirements in your area.

Image

Image
Image ..... Image

Gleedaniel13
Posts:18
Joined:Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:16 am
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Gleedaniel13 » Thu Jul 04, 2013 5:59 am

I have really enjoy watching these different kinds of traps. I have learn a lot from these especially in survival mode.

User avatar
Blackthorn-USA
Posts:167
Joined:Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:23 pm
Location:Northeast Kansas
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Blackthorn-USA » Thu Jul 04, 2013 3:25 pm

Gleedaniel13 wrote:I have really enjoy watching these different kinds of traps. I have learn a lot from these especially in survival mode.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post :D
Image ..... Image

Gleedaniel13
Posts:18
Joined:Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:16 am
Contact:

Re: Snares, Traps and Deadfalls w/pics!

Post by Gleedaniel13 » Tue Oct 08, 2013 6:32 am

You are always welcome and hope to see more tricks and pictures from it here. Hopefully you will not get tired of postings.

Post Reply