quick kill trap

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

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Mar 22, 2006
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Ok guilty I'm watching the survivorman marathon...It's the Papau New Guinea episode where he sets a trip wire based spear trap in an attempt to catch a feral pig....I'm familiar with this trap and have built it several times in practice, the conclusion I personally came to is that it is a great way to injure an animal and have it run away. unless the spear hits precisely the right area it seems like chances of a quick kill using this method are slim...I think for an antipersonal device it would be great as it seems it would inflict a nasty and painful injury... But I think as a sure fire game getter that there are definitely better choices.. any thoughts?
 
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RescueRiley said:
Ok guilty I'm watching the survivorman marathon...It's the Papau New Guinea episode where he sets a trip wire based spear trap in an attempt to catch a feral pig....I'm familiar with this trap and have built it several times in practice, the conclusion I personally came to is that it is a great way to injure an animal and have it run away. unless the spear hits precisely the right area it seems like chances of a quick kill using this method are slim...I think for an antipersonal device it would be great as it seems it would inflict a nasty and painful injury... But I think as a sure fire game getter that there are definitely better choices.. any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I've never tried this method, Rescue you should make a youtube video a how to. Always love watching your videos.
 
I saw that episode. It looked like a feeble trap. I think it was irresponsible of Les to set that trap and leave it.

My $0.02.
 
IMO unless it hit precisely in the vitals, it would just injure the animal. Depending on whether there was a blood trail or not and the severity of the injury, you might be able to track the animal and kill it. In a survival situation, I have no problem using anything which might help you stay alive. My own thought is that Les tripped the trap before he left. He doesn't seem the type to just leave it set.
 
go2ndAmend said:
IMO unless it hit precisely in the vitals, it would just injure the animal. Depending on whether there was a blood trail or not and the severity of the injury, you might be able to track the animal and kill it. In a survival situation, I have no problem using anything which might help you stay alive. My own thought is that Les tripped the trap before he left. He doesn't seem the type to just leave it set.
Click to expand...

That could work if you get a deer, but would you really want to go toe to toe against a wounded Boar with a 6" Knife?

Fixing more than one pointy stick to the trap will improve your chances a lot
 
I think getting a good blood trail with a sharpened stick is optimistic at best...It can be hard to folow a blood trail made by an animal that has had an artery cut but a metal broadhead arrow....

Hannibal, I'm glad you like the videos, I'll probably make one of this type of trap in the not to distant future. A pit with spikes... while probably way too labor intensicve to make in a survival sit would probably be a more reliable "killer" than the trap he demonstrated, which was a type of trip wire based spring trap. Personally I might have tried a tripwire based Toggle, style deadfall, (provided I had the cordage

The one les Made was similar to this, except the spear was propelled horizontally rather than vertically

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSRDQKb9xiw&feature=related

The one I think might have been more effective perhaps..(although I don not have the resume, or knowledge base of les) is similar to this, except maybe with a heavier wieght, and maybe trip wire based rather than baited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19dQmykRmSw&NR=1
 
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What if he used multiple spears in that trap? I would think if he affixed a few more spears to the swinging arm he would have had a better chance of killing an animal.
 
"Multiple spears"

Yes and No. I once stepped on a nail and it punctured my sandal and foot. Owchie.

On the other hand, I have lain on a bed of nails with no problem. By adding additional spikes, the force per square inch would be reduced and the chance of making a deep (lethal) injury would likewise be reduced. A row of spike might have increased his chances of getting a 'hit' though.

Still think it was a bad trap.
 
a spike would have to hit a vital organ in order to produce an effective kill...or a spike tih some type of cutting edge cold be employed to sever an artery thusly producing a trackable blood trail... but I think in general this trap like the "tracker knife" is more cool than it is functional in a real world scenario.
 
Wow, Tony. That looks like it would work pretty well. That was a pretty elaborate set up they had there to get force the pig/whatever to that path.

I agree about Les's that spear looked like it would fall right off as soon as the trap was triggered.
 
Another concern I have about such a contraption is the possibilty that it would injure a human who happened into the area. I wouldn't want to take that risk myself. As much as I respect Les I think he should of at least made mention of the safety concerns like this. In most areas in the USA you just don't know for certain when/if there will be other people in the area. -DT
 
You have all brought up valid points, but my original post still stands. The wild hogs in the Survivorman video were all feral hogs, not true russian wild boars. Neither of the hogs weighed over 125 lbs. One was a belted hog which was at one point a Hampshire cross and the other appeared to be a Yorkshire cross. Having grown up raising hundreds of domestic hogs and having hunted and killed dozens of wild hogs, both feral (escaped domesticated hogs a couple of generations removed) and true russian boars (much more aggressive, leaner and meaner) I personally would have no problem going after one of the wounded hogs I saw on the show, even with only a 6" knife. I also agree that more spear points on the arm would have been better. Depending on how far from your camp the trap was, I guarantee you would hear that pig squeel once it was stuck so you could respond to the area of the trap quickly, assess the type of injury based on the blodd trail, if any, and decide on whether to immediately follow up or wait for the animal to bleed out.
 
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