How to secure a trap

[Scythe13]

Just a quick note and quest for advice.

If you are hunting, using traps....oh wait.....urm......if you are trapping using traps.......wait....okay, you get what I mean. How do you think is best to secure your snares/traps etc?

So far I've figured it would need to be some kind of metal wire, like the kind used when fishing for pikes.

As for the 'securing point' I think it would have to be something much better than a tent peg (the first thought that came to mind, but then also the first that got shot down). A tree, or something similar should be ideal, but then I came across another idea.

When out in the snow, a friend that used to do ice climbing told me about snow anchors. Where you use the weight of the snow to anchor you in place. This principle then came to mind, you could (correct me if I'm wrong) attach the wire from the snare to a sturdy object (like a tent peg) then bury it into the ground, under rocks and dirt. This would then mean that the weight of all the ground above the peg (burried on it's side) would act as an anchor.

Other ideas of how to anchor traps would be appreciated.

You could always anchor upwards into trees or something like that. Using this system you could even run a line back to your 'base camp' and attach a small bell to the line. Once the trap has been sprung, the struggling animal would cause the line with the bell on to move, thus ringing the bell and alerting you that your trap has been successful.

[Grumpy Grandpa]

(5 September 2013, 11:35)Scythe13 Wrote: ...snow anchors...you could (correct me if I'm wrong) attach the wire from the snare to a sturdy object (like a tent peg) then bury it into the ground, under rocks and dirt. This would then mean that the weight of all the ground above the peg (burried on it's side) would act as an anchor.

Not so sure that would be effective Scythe. A snow anchor is inserted into compacted snow and relies on the undisturbed integrity of the snow above (depth, not further up the slope,) and around the anchor for it's strength. A peg buried in essentially loose earth/rocks I don't think would have that, unless it was really deep.

(5 September 2013, 11:35)Scythe13 Wrote: ...you could even run a line back to your 'base camp' and attach a small bell to the line. Once the trap has been sprung, the struggling animal would cause the line with the bell on to move, thus ringing the bell and alerting you that your trap has been successful.

Not sure about that one either, sorry. I can't imagine successful trapping within a distance you could cover with a line from your base camp. Just you being close would spook the 'locals'. I'd think you'd have to trap a good bit further out than would make this practical.

What would be wrong with a sturdy peg driven fully in? Or, with a fence line sometimes being a good location to identify a run, using a fence post?

[Scythe13]

Loving the fence post GG.

With the tent peg idea being driven into the ground, I think it would have to be one hell of a peg to stop an animal pulling it up. Which is why I thought about burying something a line was attached to.

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Feel like an idiot! Why not check my survival reference books?!?!

I'll message back with better answers to my own questions.

[BFG Central]

There are all sorts of methods for traps and snares.

What animal are you planning to catch?

The main thing for fixing in the soil is the surface area of the ground peg.
If your going for something bigger than a rabbit then look at using a dog tether http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORKSCREW-GROU..._Steamers_

Or they make a ground stake that opens up at the bottom once its driven into the ground. A short tug upwards opens the hook at the bottom of the metal rod.

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Regarding surface area think along the lines of a square pen.
Even better are the orange tent pegs you get from the £1 shops.
The spike is actually a cross so the surface area is massive.

[Skean Dhude]

Many traps are chained around trees or using those screw in pegs for dogs. Twisted into the ground 6 inches or more and they are difficult to pull out. Unless you are trapping grizzlies.

[Steve]

A related note.

If you need to winch a vehicle out and there are no suitable anchor points you can pass the winch rope through the centre of your spare wheel and tie it around a jack handle then bury the wheel in a vertical slot so that the pull of the winch is pulling the wheel into solid ground. You dig a slit for the cable.

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Exactly the same way the snow anchor works, by the way...

[Highlander]

For anything you could possibly trap in this country a small tree would be plenty strong enough,..and here I am thinking as big as we get,.. Red Deer
Anything else and a dog twist or a good steel peg is going to be good enough

try these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delta-Ground-A...257e435c45

or these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rock-Pegs-20-x...27d7949e6e

[Scythe13]

I was thinking of more natural ways to anchor the trap/snare, but the dog tether did come to mind.

[I-K-E]

I've got some of the delta ground anchors but for my tents (not sure if Scythe or SD noticed them but I think I used at the South Wales meet last April)

I've used them in some windy conditions and they worked great and on some of the camping forum you get people who swear by them