Trapping

Winston Smith - October 27, 2020

Skills

I didn’t see anything on trapping, but it’s smart to have some on hand in a SHTF situation.  Trapping is a silent way to hunt and much easier than trying to find and shoot game.  I have 5 small game traps and 5 fish traps.  As a test, I put one out last week (I live in a small suburb in S.C.).  Within a few days, I caught a possum, two squirrels, and a feral cat.  Released them all, but I know it works.  

A few on my garage wall.

Below is my next trap. A hog trap from Tractor Supply.  I checked it out; it’s very well made.  I hope to get one sometime in the near future.  

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Nice.  I’ve got lots of traps but no skill in using them yet.  Snares, foot traps and ‘conibear’ traps I think they are called.  Considered getting a couple live catch traps like yours and would also love to get a hog trap here in northeast texas… saw packs of feral pigs on my property before I fenced it, they love the wild plums.  Also have a few fish traps.

 

The conibears and snares are your best bet for getting game. In South Carolina conibears are for water sets, but in a survival situation anything goes….🤫

 

Thanks for bringing up this topic. Trapping suits me better than learning to shoot at my stage of life. I have access to acreage where deer congregate. If I don’t want to learn to shoot or use archery on a moving target at my age, are there ways to trap deer? Not being able to test for Chronic Wasting Disease in deer in a SHTF scenario makes me reluctant to eat untested meat, but I suppose taking a chance is better than not eating, if it really came down to that.

 

Yeah that c.w.d. is pretty scary stuff and often no symptoms for years.  100% fatal and can hangout in the environment from any exposure to bodily fluids for a decade or longer.  Of greater concern is that it’s probably now spreading thru other animal populations as well, from raccoons, foxes, rodents, etc.

As far as trapping deer go I would guess that your best bet would be a large spring snare positioned at an appropriate (head or shoulder) height situated on a deer trail or natural or man-made funnel.

 

TSC has a Black Friday sale on live traps every year. I got a pair for $20 a few years ago they turned out to be a good investment. I’ve used them for trapping cats that crawled under the house and garden varmints. Definitely good things to have around.

 

I’ve caught plenty of coons in live traps.  Problem is, I just can’t bring myself to kill an animal trapped in a cage… especially the young ones that don’t act nasty.  So we take a ride, and I release them in the next county over.

 

So that’s why i’ve seen an influx of coons in my yard… Thanks Redneck. haha 

I agree with you though. That would be hard to kill an animal trapped in a cage, unless we were really desperate. 

 

I agree, but it’s only because we’re not hungry.  If we were hungry enough, I’d put my wife in a hog trap and let her kill it by hand.  Seriously, killing a trapped animal is just not in our nature.  

 

Agree.  Speaking of hog traps, we have large numbers of feral hogs around here.  I think maybe they are all over the country too.  I have some friends that shoot them year round.  My plan, post SHTF, would be to trap some and try to domesticate the little ones.  Yes, my neighbors have cattle herds but no large meat animal reproduces as well as a pig. 

With a cow, you get one baby a year and the momma needs to be over a year old before being bred. With hogs, a female can have her first litter at 7-months old and she can have around 12 to a litter. Fifty percent of those would normally be female and these hogs can have up to three litters a year.  So look at the numbers.  1+1=12, 6+6=72, 36+36=232  That translates into 232 animals in less than 2 years… just from the original 2 animals.

To capture feral hogs, you would use fencing, which I have plenty of.  Couple of years ago I was driving down our lane before sunrise, headed to work.  All of a sudden, I was surrounded by feral hogs.  Must have been 30 or more.  I called my neighbor and he shot a few.  To control them, the farmers put up large wire pens & bait with corn.  Then they start shooting.

 

In Texas (and likely many other places) they are considered an invasive species and can be killed by any means year round… even helicopter hunts.  Depends on who you ask, but several say there’s nothing wrong with eating them. Probably be good to clean it out by feeding it some grain or corn for a couple weeks first though.  So you know it wasn’t just eating a dead animal.  Forget exactly how it goes… but the saying about feral hogs is something like “out of a litter of 12… only 14 will survive” as they have no natural predator for the most part after reaching a certain size.

 

I’ve been trapping most of my life and I’ve found over the years that live traps are mostly used to remove pests and not for getting food. When using a live trap you have to deal with a lot of teeth and claws and that can be dangerous. I would suggest looking into getting some conibear traps. Just a thought….🤔

 

Assuming a SHTF situation, here are a couple compact, BOB-friendly kits (each is ≈ the size of an Altoids can or slightly larger):

Mini Survival Snare Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JQYRB9Q

Compact Fishing Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HPQ72E

But, having kits is one thing. Having them and knowing how to use them is another.

It’s important to learn how to use them.

SAS Survival Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere https://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Third-Surviving/dp/0062378074

Best survival and prepper books https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/reviews/best-prepper-survival-books/

PrimalSurvivor: 5 Ridiculously Simple Animal Traps and Snares for Outdoor Survival https://www.primalsurvivor.net/simple-animal-traps-snares/

Know Prepare Survive: How to Make and Set Snare Traps https://knowpreparesurvive.com/survival/skills/snare-traps/