How often do snares need to be checked on private land ?

[Puma]

What is maximum legal time ?
What is maximum ethical time ?

[aka bushmaster]

I don't think the regs show a legal time period and as far as ethics, it depends on what type of snares you use and the setup. When it's cold, I leave mine for about a week between checks.....mine are all set for entanglement and meant to be lethal.

[katts69]

well if you hold a resident trappers license the snares need to be checked every 24 hours, if you hold a registered fur management license you can check your snares every 48 hours, says so in the alberta trapper regulations.

[aka bushmaster]

Katts, where do you read that in the trapping regs ?

[katts69]

it was under REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS:
- Holders of Resident Fur Management Licences must check traps that are not defined as killing devices (see Definitions) at least once every 24 hours. Other trappers must check such traps once in every 48 hours.

it might be interpreted differently for you bushmaster, because of your entanglement sets, for the most part the yote will stop trying before he chokes out. i might be reading this wrong. correct me if i am, take care, rob

[Rob]

That reference is toward sets that aren't defined as "Killing Devices" which snares are:

Traps that are not killing devices must be checked at least once every 48 hours, or at least once every 24 hours if set under the authority of a Resident Fur Management Licence.

Snares are considered killing devices and as such need not be checked by a time frame. Non-killing devices such as leghold traps, must be checked by the timeframe set above unless they are set in a manner that they become a killing device. Example: a leghold trap set on a slide wire for beaver.

[aka bushmaster]

What Rob said ! :D

Snares are designated as lethal traps, therefore do not fall under these guidelines. I stopped at the Local F & W office this a.m. to get his read on this but.... nobody home !!

[backman2]

Snares are killing devices and need not be checked at a set time. I check mine once a week in freezing temperatures and more often if raven damage or warmth would cause fur slippage. The majority of my coyotes are dead in under 5 minutes. Some 1 minute.

[t]

Gotta like them Stingers, eh?

Dead animals feel no pain.

[Trapper Joe]

Are stingers any better than the little coil springs than tighten up on the snare? You can get them in different strengths - 25lb for fox, 50 or 75 pound for coyote.

[t]

Well, I think they are about 100x better myself, however, as I produce the thing people might think that I could be biased. You should get some other's opinions of the thing or else give them a try.

Make sure you file sharp teeth into your lock and sharpen them after each catch plus use long snares and solid anchors. Drastic results are the norm, very fast kills. I love the thing.

The Elite 265 lb s-hook breakaway devices keep your snare locations neat and tidy the way they should be. Use them only with the Stinger Kill Springs.

[snares]

Marty they're evaluating your stingers at ARC right now aren't they? Should be interesting to see the results.

[t]

Not the ARC, it's actually the trappers association that ran a small snare survey this winter. I believe ten trappers were involved. The snares were made with 5/64" 7x7 and I believe the camlocks that were used were manufactured by Schmitt Ent, MN which may or may not be a good thing.

Whatever the results turn out to be, I highly recommend the 1/16" 1x19 (stiff) over such a set up. As the cable is thinner diameter, it is likely to perform better both in initial lock up of the snare initially, and also far more likely to choke the coyote down fast.

Performance of the Stinger will be dependant upon the understanding of the user as well as the conditions one is snaring. In super springy and thick brush, expect less lightning fast kills than more open floored snare environments, however, the coyote will generally entangle quickly in such environments due to the long snare.

I recommend 12 foot snares in most environments with the Elite 265 lb s-hooks, and don't go longer with such a BAD as it is a borderline ultra light device. Best results on coyotes with the 265 lb Elites are with the s-hook crimped completely closed for general coyote useage.

[Trapper Joe]

... new thread

[Tucumseh]

Well guys, I hunted and snared eastern cottontails for a good many years. I would often have 200 to 300 snares in the bush at a time. If able, I liked to check my snares every morning, crack of dawn.

There's alot of hard work put into snaring rabbits. Back home we got lots of snow so the snares frequently had to be raised. Many snares would get lost in heavy snow storms, that literally shut down a line. Sometimes we would have to wait until the snow melted (into spring) to go back and close em. Others would be hit or tipped and had to be reset or replaced.
I preferred to check mine everyday because of the crows, weasels and bobcats (now coyoyes are thriving in N.S.) Weasels would crawl up the azz of a snared rabbit and eat the belly out, touch nothing else. Other times they would only eat the head off them. Strange but they were notorious for doing this and any rabbit of mine that a weasel bit, became dog food.

I also liked checking my snares right after a cold, clear frosty night. Crisp nights always made the rabbits active and they would run the bunny trails on such nights. These nights would often yeild many a rabbit. Back then we didn't have quads and ski-doo's to run around on. We put our bunnies in old burlap tater bags and let me tell you there were mornings when we had to make 3 and 4 trips to get the catch out.

I loved hunting and snaring rabbits back in those days, it was a true passion of mine. Most of the local neighbours made their stews out of my bunnies. Rabbit eatin is very common in N.S. You could make a decent buck too if you trucked your catch into Halifax and set up in the tavern parking lots. Any of you guys remember Comeaus' Tavern right across from the Stacoma Navy Base on Gottingen Street? It later became the Northend Beverage Room, this was one of my favorite places to set up and sell my bunnies. Most of them navy boys leaving the tavern would buy anything and the tips weren't sleezy neither.:lol Can't say that for some of the gals they were totin on their arms! :lol :hat

Got to say though, often old Johnny Commeau the tavern owner got his share of our profits, we would made a pretty penny, but many times after all our rabbits were sold, somehow we'd manage to sneak our way into the tavern for a quick one;) and by the time we left there wasn't much to show for all our hard work....:\ Oh well.....

But man, it was a hellofa good time back in those days!:hat