What's your favorite coyote snare?

[nube]

I am reading a ton and learning about all the types of locks on the snares one could use. I know I have just used cam locks in the past but might switchit up a bit. I like the new smaller black colored cam locks with teeth. I think with a small 25# or 50# spring on them they would be deadly. I like the 1x19 1/16" cable or the 1x19 5/64 cable as well over the normal 3/32.
What do the rest of you like for snares? What is your favorite lock and why?

[steve]

1x19 5/64" with a land shark

[nube]

Never seen a land shark lol Where do you get them?

[steve]

Halford there a modified camlock with dull teeth filed in. The lightning locks looks pretty slick but I talked to Marty and he said they are doing some redesigning on there locks before they will be recommended to be used without a kill spring.

[nube]

Basically a cam lock with teeth by the looks of it. That is pretty much what I am thinking of getting. I don't think I want anything less than 5/64 cable either.

[KegRiver]

I went back to 3/32 with haywire locks.

I wasn't all that happy with the camlocks. I think they hold too tight.

It seemed to me that they were causing some Coyote to panic and fight the snare much harder then they did with the haywire locks.

After loosing several Coyote to wring off I went back to the wire.

[caver77]

Check out Marty Senneker, the lightning locks are real slick

[TRAPPER92]

Right now I use 3/32-7x7 cable with a camlock. I want to try using a 1/16-1x19 cable with a kill spring (without trigger) - the senneker snare without the trigger. I have been told that this is the way to go! I will put it to the test next season and see.

I was told the coyote will die faster without making a mess of the snare site so you can set up in the same spot and sometimes re-use the same snare.

We will see.....

[philintheblank]

Power snares! Then Use what ever wire you want to, Replacement snares are about a buck, no need for snare locks, and there is almost no disturbance to the trials. Used lightnig locks this season, lost 1 coyote and the other 3 dogs I did catch did not die, nor did the kill spring even deploy. All 3 were neck catches.

[Marty S]

Ya, we had a a manufacturing glitch with one run of the 1/16" Lightning Locks... My apologies. The specialty steel was not cured properly and some locks broke, and they did not lock up nearly as well as other runs. Fresh locks coming with very hard steel shortly.

Do not use Lightning Locks on wolves.

So I personally could be considered biased, but I will try to be objective with this post...

With a common neck snare, I have never in my life witnessed such fast and humane quick kills as with the properly made 1/16" Lightning Locks plus Stinger plus trigger combo in 1/16". Properly made locks do not hardly wear as the steel is so hard.

[coyote_man]

Good to see Marty speak up as he is a true pro trapper with large numbers of coyotes to his credit annually .He knows what he is talking about when it comes to snaring and equipment to use.

[Dr Death]

I did have some lightning locks break this year. It's reassuring to hear it wasn't just me and that they will be fixed soon. Though only my first year trapping in many I managed 57 coyotes. All with 1/16 cable, lightning locks, kill springs and triggers. They do kill incredibly fast. I caught 6 coyotes in one set and 5 in another. Because they kill so fast there is very little disturbance of the site. Just loop another snare at the location and catch another one! Can't wait for next season.

[philintheblank]

For sure, definitely would give lightning locks another try if the issues are resolved for next season. Power snares are nice but they are expensive, bulky and heavy.

[nube]

I might try some of your Snares Marty. I plan on setting some baits up on some small ponds and putting snares around the openings in the cat tails. I think this would work well. The only problem is that I need to find a system to kill them fast becuase there isn't much to tie the snares to. Power snares might be best for this but I don't fell like shelling out that kind of money.

Has anyone snares small ponds with cattails? What do you anchor to?

[braggadoe]

Originally Posted by Marty S

Do not use Lightning Locks on wolves.

any plans on coming up with something for wolves??

[Bushmaster]

I made myself some stakes....drove them into FROZEN ground....and used a 10 or 12 foot snare.

[nube]

Originally Posted by Bushmaster

I made myself some stakes....drove them into FROZEN ground....and used a 10 or 12 foot snare.

How long of a stake does a guy need? Probably 18" min?
How do you get it back out after?
Good call on the long snare as well. That way they can sinch it up tight. The springs will work well that way

[Bushmaster]

Longer would be better but mine are only 12".....so you need to let them set a day or two until they are frozen in. Anyway, because of the snare length I never had a pull out. And I used the long snares with Marty's original spring...Stinger, I think.

[COYDOG]

What should I with the 100 lightning locks that I got last fall. If they are junk, can i get them exchanged for good ones Marty?

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by nube

I might try some of your Snares Marty. I plan on setting some baits up on some small ponds and putting snares around the openings in the cat tails. I think this would work well. The only problem is that I need to find a system to kill them fast becuase there isn't much to tie the snares to. Power snares might be best for this but I don't fell like shelling out that kind of money.

Has anyone snares small ponds with cattails? What do you anchor to?

I never use anchors. I've found that with the way I was taught to snare, drags work far better.

What I prefer to use is a 6 or 8 foot sound, dry willow or Spruce stem about 1 1/2" to 2" diameter.

I tie the snare as close to the centre as I can, that way the drag will catch on brush a lot better.

With the proper snare the animal will drag it a ways before it gets tangled up. By then it is somewhat played out and can't fight the snare nearly as hard as if it had just been caught. Thus less chance of an animal twisting off or breaking the snare.

We use exactly the same setup, only with heavier cable and drag, for catching Wolves.

This is the way I learned from my dad and although I haven't caught a lot of either Wolves or Coyote, maybe a hundred total over 30+ years of trapping. I did teach this way to a friend in High Level and he has had great success with it.
He caught more Wolves and Coyote in the first few years then I have in my life.

I guess dad's way work pretty good for him. It might work well for you too.

[TRAPPER92]

Keg - How many live ones do you get when you check them? Seems to me with the locks you use and the drag the coyote would not be able to choke itself off right away. Or is this the point of your set-up - not to be lethal?

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TRAPPER92

Keg - How many live ones do you get when you check them? Seems to me with the locks you use and the drag the coyote would not be able to choke itself off right away. Or is this the point of your set-up - not to be lethal?

I have never found a live Coyote in a snare.

Dad used to say that the snare doesn't choke the animal to death.
He claimed that they get sweated up fighting the snare and then lie down to rest and die of exposure because their energy is way down and their fur is too damp to insulate properly.

I don't know if that's true, but I do know that there is no signs of a lengthy struggle, swelling around the snare mark or rubbing.

But I'm not the best guy to ask. I didn't catch all that many Coyote in my life. My last student would be the guy to ask, unfortunately he isn't a member as far as I know.
But he's sure caught a ton of Song Dogs with this method.

I will be making a trip up to his neighbourhood this spring. If he isn't out trapping I'll look him up and ask him if he has had any and what he thinks.

[KegRiver]

It just occurred to me.

I have trapped a hundreds of Fisher and Marten using leg hold traps, and I didn't often find them live in the trap either.

Obviously the trap didn't kill them, but something did. Maybe that is where dad got the idea that his snares didn't choke the animal to death.

I find it interesting that I did use leg hold traps for Coyote, at the beginning of the season, and I caught a fair number that way.
With leg hold traps on Coyote I did find most of them live in the set.

Perhaps the warmer weather at the beginning of the season, had something to do with it.

Maybe my snare sets wouldn't work as well further south with the warmer weather. I really don't know.


Now I am really wondering what exactly goes on when an animal is caught in a set. I wish I knew.

[TRAPPER92]

I was told by an experienced trapper that the snare is not meant to choke an animal to suffocate it but if set right, it chokes off the arteries to the brain located pretty much on the upper neck. By stemming the blood flow, the animal becomes unconscious and dies.
If the snare catches them too low down the neck then they do suffocate and suffer too much before they die. That's when they get water head.

This is why I want to try out Marty's snare - If set properly it will tighten super quick (because of the spring) and render the coyote unconscious quicker and thus less messing up the snare area.

These are my thoughts.....

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TRAPPER92

I was told by an experienced trapper that the snare is not meant to choke an animal to suffocate it but if set right, it chokes off the arteries to the brain located pretty much on the upper neck. By stemming the blood flow, the animal becomes unconscious and dies.
If the snare catches them too low down the neck then they do suffocate and suffer too much before they die. That's when they get water head.

This is why I want to try out Marty's snare - If set properly it will tighten super quick (because of the spring) and render the coyote unconscious quicker and thus less messing up the snare area.

These are my thoughts.....

You may be right.

One thing I'm pretty sure of, the spring loaded snares do work a lot faster.

I often wondered about what caused water head. I didn't snare long fur a lot but I've snared thousands of Squirrel. Sometimes water head was a real problem when snaring squirrels but I never figured out how to avoid it.

Whatever, from my experinces I'd have to say I don't think snares choke off the catch very often.

Like I said, I went back to using hay wire locks on Coyote and Fox because the catch seemed to fight the Cam Locks a lot harder then the hay wire lock snares. I always believed it was cause the wire locks allowed them to catch their breath a bit and so they didn't totally freak out. And that the cam locks choked them off and thus the catch fought with everything it had.

I came to that conclusion after loosing a Coyote to a Cam Lock snare.
I tracked him and found him a few hundred yards away, stone dead with nothing to slow him down other then that loop. When I cut the snare loose and looked at that loop it was only about an inch and a half in diameter. Any tighter and it would have cut his head clean off.

[raven65lunatic]

Marty and Dr. Death, given light wire, best lock, and spring can you give an idea how long a coyote lives in a snare? Some are saying only a few minutes, and you can reuse the snare.

[Dr Death]

Marty is the expert. I am a novice. This year i hope to put up a trail cam with video mode to see how a coyote reacts to the snare. As previously mentioned I caught 5 in one location and 6 in another with very little disturbance. I suspect with a good high neck catch the coyote would be unconscious within 1-2 minute, maybe less. Once in this physiological state they would feel no pain and there be virtually no movement. Within a few more minutes the coyote would likley be dead. One of the big reasons i have gotten back into trapping is because methods are more humane than ever.

Martys videos are great and discuss all aspects of snaring coyotes. He shows the swelling/edema around a coyotes head reveals a lot about how long a coyote has fought a snare. Did not find much on mine using Martys' set ups last year.

[Dr Death]

Oh, you can not reuse the snare, however, most of the components are reusable (wammy, lock, killspring and trigger). Just build them into your next snare.

[raven65lunatic]

Thanks - sounds good if it's consistent, I guess that depends on the trapper a lot...much improved anyway.

[McLeod Valley]

I'm using Marty's system on everything I snare ,, 3/16 , 1X19 cable ,,,, wolves , coyote , fox and lynx ,,, most of the time there is not even a catch circle ,,,, a couple wraps around the tree or trees and it's nighty night !!