A Snare or Two For a Survival Kit, Post Your Ideas.

[trappermike]

Well, since I've been trapping rabbits for years, I do know how to use snares, and I have and I have caught lots of rabbits with them, on purpose and on accident. You don't have to worry about your rabbits being eaten if you set your snaresto catch the rabbit then lift them off the ground, but that takes skill and intelligence, almost forgot who I was talking to. To answer your next query, the chances of breaking down where there are rabbits in Alaska, hmm, pretty good from my experience. You are correct about the lack of calories in rabbit meat, but you forgot to mention that there are a lot more calories in the organs and brains, not appetizing, but surviving aint supposed to be a gourmet buffet. See, not a net loss.

Lets get off of the rabbits for a minute. You just said you don't intend to be lost more than 24 hours, then why the list of everything but the kitchen sink. Your list was more stuff than I bring on a 10 day moose hunt, someone always knows where I'm going, knows when I will return, and my fanny pack will keep me happy for days if it has to, which it won't.

If snares are useless to you, don't bring them, anddon't criticize people who do know how to use them. I can have a raging fire in minutes, and I sure am not going to sit around it and feel sorry for myself if I get in a jam. I'll just turn it into a trapping campout, and eat well! Next time I teach a Winter survival class, I'll PM you and your invited.

[MacGyver]

There you go insulting me again. I never said I was the one who was snaring, but you don’t care all you want to do is to insult a person who disagrees with you.

“You don't have to worry about your rabbits being eaten if you set your snaresto catch the rabbit then lift them off the ground, but that takes skill and intelligence”

As I said before I did not set out any snares. But, I would like to hear how you would lift a rabbit off the ground high enough for a fox not to eat it. When you consider a rabbit is 2 feet long, a fox can jump 5 or 6 feet. The rabbit legs need to be a minim of 6 feet off the ground. How does a person of your skill and intelligent do this?

I pity anybody who would take a survival course from you, assuming that’s true.
From what you have said so far you don’t impress me a as a person who knows what he is talking about. You make statements like, “my fanny pack will keep me happy for days” and “I can have a raging fire in minutes”. Those are not statements of a person who knows what he in talking about.

“If snares are useless to you, don't bring them, and don't criticize people who do know how to use them.”

You are really pissed at me for criticizing you for using snares for getting food in a survival situation and I don’t understand why. I think my reasons are logical and makes sense in a winter time survival situation. It’s not personal.

[foamsfollower]

Trappermike,

I'm fascinated by your skill with snares and the abundance of rabbits that you encounter. I just have a couple of questions and I'm not at all doubting you skill, I just want to learn. First, do the bunnies in your area of Alaska ever go through cycles of abundance or do the populations stay pretty high all of the time?. Also, could you please give the details of how you set snares to lift rabbits high enough to avoid having them eaten by predators.

[trappermike]

Yes, of course they cycle, but I have never seen them cycle to extinct. To answer your question about lifting them off the ground. (see picture, sorry, but I am no artist) You bend over a tall willow or alder (usually plentiful where rabbits live) and attach a wedge stick to the end with a short length of rope or wire, attach your snare to the wedge stick. Of course make sure to pick a willow that will bend over in the very close vicinity of the trail you intend to set. Notch the wedge stick in a willow on one side of the trail about 18 inches above the trail and the other end about ground level. The wedge actually becomes part of the fencing on your trail. Fence off to guide the rabbit through the snare. When the rabbit gets caught, he will fight enough to dislodge the wedge stick and up he goes. Rabbits do not need to be 6 feet off the ground, and I rarely use this lift, since it's usually not necessary. One note, rabbits get eaten when their snared if they are caught somewhere other than the neck. When they are properly caught they don't scream and attract every predator around. This does not mean a properly caught rabbit wont get eaten by some passing predator, but it is less likely than if they are alive and making a racket. I have caugh lots of rabbits in snares, and only 1 of every 15 have been eaten. When the rabbit is lifted of the groung, gravity will keep the snare tight and assist with getting tighter. You can also use a lift pole set up like a teeter totter, same wedge ides, just find a large horizontal fulcrum,and a heavy enough stick to do the job. This type is alittle harder in a thicket, due to the clearance you need for the lift tree to properly function. This has now gotten way off topic, and I am growing tired of explaining myself. Bring snares or don't, whether you live or die in a survival situation is up to you, I've done this stuff for years, and I will share with anyone who wants info, but I will not continue this thread any further. Good luck to you all.

[mainer_in_ak]

Hello again gents,
Thanks for the varying opinions and various experiences of all of you. Rutting Moose: Where my remote property is located there are rabbits, spruce hens, beaver and other small game every where. Rabbits are exremely plentiful too. I'm going purchase 20 small locking snares and a couple of books from the northwest trapper supply company. They will be a good asset in conjuction with the little 22 mag pistol and the various other items in my surival kit. Little hint about this self contained kit........all of it will fit in the handle of my hatchet and the hatchet sheath that will be attached to my belt, even the little pistol and 50 rounds. :cool:

[akdube]

Trapper Mike is a skilled rat trapper as well

[MacGyver]

More information on eating rabbits.

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/...568#post458568

[Anton74]

I myself would ditch the fishing gear and snares and get an ELB. If you go out on a snowmachine and die, it will be from Hypothermia, an avalanche, a crash, or drowning.

[tjm]

im not a trapper but couldn't a snare be useful or other things other than trapping bunnies?...like duct tape or wire?...might be a good way to secure something or fix something...heck, beyond my shovel, pistol, and snicker bars i'm without any survival stuff....i'd better get packing....lol

[arrowslinger]

Rutting Moose,
I am down for the survival trip, except no snow machine hauling the house behind you. After all this was about survival. And one night is crap. Distance doesn't matter either. Just stay put like your lost. Pick a spot and let's stay out long enough to get hungry at least. After you lose your way from your machine or drop it through the ice or some of that gear gets lost now we are in survival mode. Surviving off of rabbits and squirrels while waiting for rescue is possible. To avoid the problems with too much protein and no fat the brains are a good start. Survival right? I always carry some stainless wire with me to make snares. My kids and I don't even use pre-made snares for rabbits and squirrels. Good old stainless safety wire in the 1lb roll lasts a couple years. One night isn't survival either so that was no challenge. As far as knowledge to use snares, if you are in the woods you better have some basic survival skills anyway and one of the first things taught is snares and other food gathering techniques. My Daughter was 5 and making stainless wire snares and setting them. Don't go in the woods if you don't have the basics for survival. You won't always have your mobile home behind you. As for the original question stainless wire in the 1lb roll can work for many things especially small critters, not to mention repairs, lashing, etc. I have a few rolls around and even use it around the house.

[MacGyver]

Arrowslinger:

I do have a good reason for the 20 rule. When I came back to Alaska I did winter camp out and had no problems. When I was in my 50’s I decided to do some long distance snowmobile trips by myself. It took four or five campouts to figure out why I was freezing.

{When you get older your body does not produce heat like it use too. I used to wear wool underwear and I started using polypropylene underwear because I could not find any wool. We are told that polypropylene underwear wicks away moisture, what I did not know is when I stop producing heat, the moisture would return to the skin and I would get cold.
Around 2 am I would awake in a panic because I was freezing; a deep bone chilling cold. I also had problems with my sleeping pad and sleeping bag; the amount of food and type of food I ate}

The only way a person would realize he has a problem with polypropylene is to get sweaty. That is one reason for the rule, the other is you do not pick a friendly camping spot.

“I am down for the survival trip, except no snow machine hauling the house behind you.”

You really put a smile on my face, around 1990 the Mat-Sue Motor Mushers had a survival snowmobile campout. At the mandatory meeting before the trip the ride leader told us you will only bring items that you normally carry on your snowmachine. “If you take a Wall Tent when you go snowmobiling you can bring it, if not leave it home”.

As we built our snow shelter we would see how XXXX was making his shelter and copy that he was doing. Until he pulled out a sleeping bag to our surprise.
I asked, you brought a sleeping bag?
His reply didn’t you?
You said not to bring anything you would not normally take snowmobiling!!!!

That night two of us spent a cold night with out a sleeping bag, because we did what we were told.

If we go, I promise “no house”. ,

[fishnngrinn]

Anthony Hopkins in "The Edge" killed a brown bear with a sharp stick. Some days you eat the bear
http://www.mediacircus.net/edge.html

On serious note, does anyone carry maktak. I read that it warms you like no other food.

[bshaw]

Sound advice

Rutting Moose,
You carry some good, usable items in your suvival gear. You had some good pointers but I do disagree with much of what you wrote and here is why:
Snares are what I consider to be one of the most energy efficient ways to gather food. You simply set them and check them daily. You must eat food if you are lost and nothing to do with setting snares could be considered impractical due to their light weight. This tiny little kit has tools that make it compact and readily attached to your body, not under a snowmachine seat that you could possibly loose if you dunked the sled in some over flow or broke through ice in a river. What would you do then? No where in your survival kit did you mention first aid, a tournaquet and some bandages/ and infection aid. Those are the bare minimum that should be on you, not in the snow machine, boat or atv. The extra stuff is a definite according to the season to be stowed in the snow machine, atv, or boat. What if you sliced your wrist open because your knife slipped while you were dressing your game? As for shelters, nothing beats digging all the way to the ground (constant temp), triangulating some spruce logs, piling spruce bows over the tiny little structure, and piling three or more feet of snow over the structure. I know because I've slept for about two weeks in one (total time) through blizzards and below zero weather. I blanketed the bottom with small spruce bows and tall dead grasses. The energy it would take to keep a fire going would not be worth the the hassle when compared to the construction of a shelter to sleep through the night to conserve energy.

Mariner you clearly know what you are talking about here. Of course the first survival skill and most important is shelter building from whatever is around.

As for whether to carry wire for snares or not.... I can not think of a more usefull item to have than wire. It is basically cordage which can be usesd to make a bow for a bow drill fire, tie something together for shelter, or about a thousad other uses. In fact if there was only one item BESIDES a knife that I would want in a survival situation it would be segments of wire or some other strong cordage.

If you get caught out in a survival situation in the winter, you wont have to worry about whether or not you can snare a rabbit if you dont know how to build a solid, warm, functional shelter.

[Erik in AK]

22 gauge (stainless) aircraft safety wire.

A spool of 600 feet runs about $40. Invest in a pair of safetywire pliers (no idea on cost...$20ish?) Pull off 6 feet of wire, double it and twist it--8 to 10 twists per inch (this is where the pliers come in handy)

Question? How long you plan on being stuck out in the winter woods anyway? I mean if you're catching rabbits and squirrels to stay alive then something's gone horribly wrong over at Search & Rescue or...you're hiding

The wire comes in handy and is a useful thing to carry.

[Tombo]

Roaring fire at 25 below? I know of only one way to even keep a fire going at that temperature and it was far from roaring. As for snares I am all for them, a mix, 1/16 to 1/8. Everything is usefull in a survival situation. Lets see, they could secure the top of your tee-pee, splint your leg, stop you from bleeding to death, lash your foot to a snow shoe (broken binding or forest made.) and if you didn't have them you could bet their would be bunnys and others everywhere!