Building traps

[Skean Dhude]

I was at a car boot sale a few years ago and came across a set of old bear type traps that had been retired and kept as decoration. They still worked but are illegal to use. I bought two of them to see if I could fix them up and they both worked after a simple clean. I wish I had bought them all now but such is life.

The modern traps are meant to be humane. The emphasis on a quick dispatch or the loss of the animal rather than a trapped and injured animal. After an event our priorities will undoubtably shift so these traps will be used rather than risk an escape.

Obviously we would all like to catch our prey, kill it instantly whilst being humane. What are the best traps for that sort of thing? Remember we will be looking at rabbits, squirrels, moles and birds mainly. Where I am there are few other animals we could eat.

[bowdrill]

i take it they were gin traps ? have a look on the BASC site ot some of the shooting forums again not not a case of just sticking a trap out more to it than that


b/d

[Skean Dhude]

Yes they were gin traps I believe. That gin must have been a strange animal in the olden days. Now it is bred n captivity and sold in bottles.

Any idea why they were called Gin traps.

[bowdrill]

still got the same bite though lol

[Joe Poncho]

They are called "Gin Traps" because in antiquity, any mechanical device was called an "Engine". It is merely a shortened form of that word.
Hope that helps.
Joe.

[Mooski88]

I have used snares and traps. But if the SHTF I want to be able to capture and keep alive a few rabbits. Get them breeding and have a ready supply of meat.

[Highlander]

What are the best traps for that sort of thing? Remember we will be looking at rabbits, squirrels, moles and birds mainly. Where I am there are few other animals we could eat.

To go back to your original question, the best traps are those that work against the prey themselves,.. so anything that goes around the neck, either keeping it on the ground or lifts the animal off the ground, either way the animals body weight breaks its own neck

So snares are usually the best

Traps using heavy weights are usually fairly good if set up right, but there is always the chance that the animal is either a bit faster than you thought he would be, and gets his leg caught only,... or the animal that sets off the trap, is not what you hoped for, i.e. a trap set for a rabbit that is sprung by a Wildcat or stray dog

Trapping is certainly not a sure thing

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Moles are easy to catch, I used to get my pocket money when I was a kid doing... ` tanner a tail`,..i.e. sixpence for each mole I caught

I still have a couple of mole traps here, I must get some more

[Metroyeti]

Im going to be stocking up on traps and snares.

Moosk you can get humane capture traps for rabbits

[bigpaul]

get yourself some wire and make your own snares, there was a guy on youtube showing how to do it.

[Metroyeti]

Never made snares.
My biggest regrets selling my net making equipment and book, if you have pkenty of rabbits near by a good set of ferrets and nets will be a greathelp