The Foothold Snare

One day, you might find yourself lost in the woods while camping! One day, the stock market will crash and are YOU ready to survive? Traps and Snares are one of the most important things while surviving. Blake Alma, the founder of The Art of the Outdoorsman once said, "A trap is as someone else hunting for you when you can't, it is truly your best hunting buddy!" This is so true. Unlike fishing poles and firearms, traps and snares work when you are sleeping! Hence, learning how to make a simple snare indeed helpful and lifesaving for it is an art of an outdoorsman! Let's get started on this foothold snare.

You need:

A shovel, 550 lb. test paracord, and bait.

Note: There are laws regarding trapping.

I hope you got a good shovel and back! You will need to dig a hole 2 to 3 feet deep. Yes, I know it is a true pain, but it can save your life or get you free food!

Diameter of your Hole:

- Raccoon/Opossum/Mink/Groundhog/Large Rabbit (6 inches)

- Coyote/Fox/Bobcat (8 inches)

- Animals under 550 pounds/Deer/Small Elk/Very Small Bear/ect. (12 to 18 inches)

After digging your hole, add leaves, thin sticks, tree bark, or grass over the hole. Do not put to much "camouflage" over the hole or else you may prevent the animal from falling down in the hole.

Even though the pictures above is wire, you can do the same thing to paracord. Wrap the paracord around a stick or you finger making a small loop. Tie the small loop, and pull your finger out. Make sure the knot is very strong. Put the other end of the paracord through the small loop, like the picture above. You should then have a giant loop, known as the snare itself. Make the loop's (snare) diameter slightly smaller than your hole's diameter. Tie the snare extra line around a tree, sapling, or log near by. Make sure it holds. Place the snare itself over the hole, on top of the "camouflage".

Sense the animal has plenty of ground to step on, it might be hard to get him in your hole. Hence you need to create a the path of the least resistance. You need to make him limited to where the animal will step. Make a path to your foothold snare using leaves, sticks, logs, and grass. Make it easy for the animal to walk through. Like us we want to walk on a nice smooth sidewalk, not on a beaten trail. They want to walk on a path with the least resistance, they don't want step on pointy sticks. They want to step were the feel most comfortable. That is way you need to make a path to your snare, so it will step into your snare!

Place your bait two to three feet ahead of your foothold snare. Raccoon and mink like fish. Opossum like processed meat like hot dogs. Groundhogs like sweet apples. Coyote and fox like meat. Deer like deer feed (duh!).

How it works:

The animal will smell the bait and take your path of the least resistance. While walking up to your bait on the path, he will step his foot in the hole. It will pull his foot out of the hole and continue walking. (When we pulls his foot out the snare comes out with him.) Then the snare tightens around his foot, making him trapped.