Wow...thanks for that awesome introduction Runningboar. I've certainly caught a fair few animals in snares, but there is still so much I don't know.
The key to success is persistence. If you want to catch animals in snares, then you need to have snares set. I've had maybe forty or fifty percent catches in some of my more successful snare lines, but 5 to 25 percent is more typical. So if you want to be likely to catch one animal, then really it is a good idea to set maybe 20 snares. And even then you might miss out.
If you have a trail that you know for sure your target animals are using regularly, then a single snare set on that trail is likely to be successful. Maybe not on the first night, but eventually.
The neck is generally the area that folks try to snare. So you need to have a good idea of how the animal holds it head as it moves along. If there is a strange scent, or even an interesting scent, nearby...then the animal may have its head to the ground or up in the air rather than in its usual place...thus it may not get caught.
If you are going to use bait in conjunction with snares, then you need to be aware that the smell of the bait may cause the animal to have its head where you might not imagine it to be. You have to visualize how the animal is likely to move around your snare.
I get many, many snares knocked without catching a thing. But it is a great challenge.
The snare noose needs to be set to the optimum size, and at the best height from the ground. There is no 'best' one snare size. You have to consider the target animal an its habits. I believe that a high snare anchor is better than a low one in many cases, but sometimes the only practical alternative is to use a low anchor.
I did quite a big post here a while back on trapping/snaring. Maybe you will find it if you do a normal search, or maybe if you look for all my posts. Still, the thing that will teach you most is your own experience and desire.
America is the home of the steel wire cable snare. And boy have they been successful. But most of my animals have been caught in snares made from synthetic cord or rope. I would urge everybody to stay within the law, but if there is a question of maybe some anti-hunting folk giving you a hard time for snaring...then I suggest simple cord snares are a good tool. It would be very hard to prove that the cord was going to be a snare, whereas a wire cable snare with a lock and a swivel is fairly damning evidence. And cord has a multitude of other uses in the outdoors.
Cord suits me because it seems that it will be gentler to the animal...and is a heck of a lot easier to cut free from a non-target species. I generally don't use a locking eye on the snare. I figure if the snare breaks, the free-running eye should allow the snare to fall free from the animal within a short time, whereas a locked snare could hinder the animal and cause it pain and distress.
I always try to keep my snaring operations out of sight, and I only discuss what I do with great discretion. No point in upsetting the anti-hunter types. I also try to treat all animals humanely and with maximum respect. I'm much happier that way.
Recently I've made up some snare cord by unravelling a short bit of expensive, extremely strong, rope. I twisted enough fibres together to make some thin, tough snares designed for hogs. This hog was caught neatly around the neck. The snare was anchored high, and the hog strangled itself:
Mostly I've been trying to snare Australian brushtailed possums. I can sell the fur and eat the meat. Most possum hunters would use poison or steel traps and get much better tallies than me, but I enjoy the challenge of using my own simple snares. Maybe one day I will develop a system good enough to be used widely as a great possum-catching alternative. Properly set snares are not nearly as dangerous as steel traps or poisons, and they can be set a bit more selectively than traps:
There is a concern, somewhat justified, that animals may chew their way out of a snare unless it is made of wire. Indeed I've found some of my snares chewed off when I've checked them the next day. Monofilament nylon got chewed off regularly, as did some of my thinner braided snares. But these were the exceptions, I've caught dozens of animals which did not chew the snare off. Thicker braid may get chewed a bit occasionally, but not enough for it to cut right through.
All snares should be checked regularly. I think our law states that traps like these have to be checked by sunset the next day...but of course first thing the next morning is much more ethical. And it is a good idea to keep notes or do something so that you don't 'lose' any of your snares (which is easy to do if you set a lot in unfamiliar territory).
Here is a rabbit caught in a simple cord snare. It didn't seem to make any attempt to chew the snare:
Good topic.
