Box Trap and Snare — The Two Tools of Trap Hunting

I've written before about earning my trap hunting license. In fact, that license is the only one I hold — I don't use firearms.

And my hunting isn't a hobby. Its purpose is to cull the nuisance wildlife that tears up our fields. So naturally, my tools narrow down to two: the box trap and the snare trap.

This time, I want to talk about these two — what each is good at, and what makes each difficult.

The box trap — anywhere, and all at once

First, the box trap. It's a large wire-mesh box with bait placed inside, which shuts an animal in once it enters. Essentially, a cage.

Advantages

• Can be set anywhere you have the space
• If a group goes in, you can catch the whole lot at once
• Catches the animal alive

Disadvantages

• It's a big, conspicuous contraption, so clever animals grow wary of it
• Depending on the location, retrieving a caught animal can be very hard
• It has to stay in place for a long time — it takes patience

The snare — striking the trail

The other is the snare trap. Set on a path the animals use, it's a spring-loaded device that catches the leg in a loop.

Advantages

• You find the animal's trail and set it with pinpoint precision
• If it works, you can expect a catch in a short time

Disadvantages

• Retrieving the caught animal is hard
• Once set, frequent patrols are essential

So, in short

The box trap is wide, collective, patient. The snare is targeted, quick, attentive.

Two traps with entirely different characters, used according to the place and the animals' behavior. That is both the joy and the difficulty of trap hunting.

Both catch them alive

And there's one important thing these two share: both catch the animal alive.

A life caught alive and then butchered properly, with care — becomes astonishingly good meat. It is the moment a "nuisance" that ravages the fields transforms into the mountain's bounty.

We catch in order to protect; we keep them alive in order to receive. The trap, I think, is the tool that stands at the entrance to all of that.

Coming next

So, in the next hunting article, I'd like to write about delicious gibier at last. How a life taken in a trap makes its way to the table. Please look forward to it.

As the Keeper of Zero, I'll keep facing these two traps — protecting this community, and receiving the lives it gives.

ZEROSPHERE / The Keeper of Zero