Baited Modified Figure 4 Snare Set-Up

It is possible, depending upon where you happen to be, to find or scrounge items that can be extremely useful in a desperate situation … like that piece of discarded extension cord turned snare and used with a simple peg-style trigger as an unbaited trail set. It is very doable. It will catch. One set on a trail overnight gives you a slim chance. A dozen well placed sets increases the chances of meat to eat come morning.

One problem with that find is that it may take time to stumble upon it. Another problem with it is that the situation may deem it urgent to keep your attention focused on where you are going and the conditions that surround the going. There’s a third problem. It takes time and careful effort to get the wire out of the outer sheathing. That old hard plastic is not easily cut with a knife. The work is close to the fingers. One slip with a sharp blade and there’s a serious bleeding problem to deal with.

I’ve heard people make the statement that the more you know the less you need.

There is truth in the statement. It doesn’t, in my opinion, have enough weight to it to make me want to be negligent in carrying items that make the job of surviving some desperate situation a lot easier. The saying sounds good. It’s got some glitter to it. It’s not, in my opinion, worth depending on as an everyday practice. My preference is to have at hand what I need to get the job done if the job needs doing. The job of survival is going to be hard enough without me adding the element that I call bushcraft bravado.

A few unbaited snares were set on trails and one of them caught.

What now?

You have a hot cooked meal if you have the means and the skills to get a fire going.

You have something else, too. BAIT.

Baited Modified Figure 4

Making the set-up is fairly simple ... a 7 notch and a square notch on the upright and the bait stick and tapered ends on the trigger.

Exact lengths can vary. It's a snare set-up and not a computer operated piece of machinery. The important thing is for the pieces to fit together nicely.

The upright needs to be tall enough to set firmly in the ground so it doesn't pull loose when tension from a sapling is applied to the trigger stick. The bait stick needs to reach a couple inches back behind the upright. The trigger pictured here is around 6 inches in length. I cut a groove mid way in the trigger to ensure no slippage. 

I sharpen a point on the bait end of the bait stick. I also create barbs on the bait stick to make it more difficult for an animal to snatch the bait and run with it. Wrap or impale some animal entrails onto the bait stick.

Fishing Leaders

I carry a dozen 100 pound test fishing leaders rolled inside a snuff can. They are inexpensive. These are 18 inch. 24 inch will work but the 18 inch is about perfect for rabbits, possums, and small to medium sized raccoons.

Remove the snap from the swivel but leave the swivel. It's ability to swivel is a bonus. Especially when an animal is fighting to get free.

One of the perks of these is that the braided stainless wire lessens the potential of a chewing animal from chewing its way loose. It doesn't eliminate the possibility but it greatly reduces it. A rabbit or possum will be there in the morning. Raccoons get real mad about nooses and traps.

Side View

I am using #18 tarred bank line as cordage. The #18 is plenty strong enough to hold a small animal.

Front View

The snare is set forward of the point of the bait stick and elevated enough so the animal has to stick its head into the noose to get the bait.

Use sticks and debris to help conceal the works and help complicate getting to the bait from the sides or rear of the set-up.

One tug or jiggle of the bait and the trigger let's loose. The inch (at the tip) sized sapling snaps upward closing the noose and holding it snug.

Setting this set-up takes some patience. It pretty sensitive. The notches and the upward tension on the trigger stick is what holds it together. Keep your face away from the sapling. That's a lesson I learned the hard way when I first started playing with these. 

Tip - I anchor the sapling under my armpit so I can use both hands to assemble the pieces. I hold upward tension on the trigger stick and gradually let the sapling up to apply the needed tension to hold it all together.

This could just as easily be meat to cook for a hot meal.

Be mindful of the game laws. Here, in Alabama, snares are not a legal means to trap fur bearing animals during the lawful trapping season.

This information is being provided strictly for educational purposes and no animals were harmed. The set-up was disassembled post exercise.