Drags vs. stakes

[Adi007]

I've been reading through my library of outdoor books recently and one think that I've noticed it that almost all of them will show a snare or some other trap attached to a stake of some kind that appears to be stuck into the ground a couple of inches.

Come on, I mean, What's the deal with this?!!?!! If you or I were trapped in a snare that was attached to a peg driven into the ground a few inches do you think that we'd have any trouble getting it out of the ground? Animals in traps are literally fighting for their lives and can exert extreme pressure on whatever the trap is attached to and a stake simply isn't good enough. An animal with either take your trap or snare with it as it removes the peg or will injure itself breaking free the attachment.

I always use drags on snare ... by this I mean that I attach the snare to a big log or something similar with enough give in it to take the strain off the tie used to connect the snare to the log but heavy enough not to moved too far.

Why do they show such a silly arrangement in books? In my mind the stake is the single most irresponsible thing that you could use and I have no idea why - unless the images are drawn by people who don't know better.

Does anyone actually use stakes? If so, how big are they and how deep do you put them? Do you find a lot of snares that are just GONE?

 

[tomtom]

it depends on the type of trap.. all the snares i have pulled out around here latly have had 4/5 ince stakes driven deep in the ground.. i have a hell of a job to pull them out and that is with direct upward force.. an animal in the snare would put different direction of force on it if you can invisage that and would be unlikly to pull it out of the ground.. IMO

 

[Ed]

The way I was taught to snare was to use an 8" stake driven almost flush to the ground..... never seen it shown in a book that way though :-? I was taught to use drags when you could'nt drive the stake in a good 7"+ or the ground was too soft to hold it (like sand)....... realisticly though drags or tethers tied to bush branches/ tree roots are alot more practical.


Ed

 

[den]

I do use stakes 50/50 it depends where and when really but when I do it's always backed up with something sturdier.

I'm older and wiser now but I started snaring when I was 12 and only used a single stake to start off with



Sorry but I didn't know better then. I can’t remember losing many though. The ones I did I put down to old foxy beating me to it.

It's a good point though Adi About things in books not always adding up when you put them into practice. Can’t really think of any at the moment I’ll need a think. But there are a few.
Ah I have got a book with a fish trap which is laughable

 

[Hoodoo]

Driving stakes deep into the ground is one of the reasons trappers carried a good axe.

 

[Paganwolf]

i use stakes/pegs with my ferret nets (as everyone does) and even when a bunny comes out at full flight ive only had a few take the net with it,usually on a sandy earth, same as snares when i used to go out with the keeper on my old shoot we used to set 50 to 200+ snares between us of an evening (and maybe only caught 10/20ish :roll: ), i found a few sitting frozen and only tried to leg it when aproached, a good 6/7inch hazel peg wont come out if pushed in correctly unless the soil is poor then a drag is used, but when snaring en mass drags would be a drag i dont go much on heavy snaring as its time consuming and a tad boring, but a few for the odd bunny is good id rather give my ferrets a run or get the Rapid out, but i do know where you are coming from

 

[hootchi]

I think there is nothing like snaring. It awakens in my the thought of bygone poachers out at night with their snares and a silenced shotgun

Why dont we have the old traditional poachers anymore? :roll: :?:

 

[Paganwolf]

I think there is nothing like snaring. It awakens in my the thought of bygone poachers out at night with their snares and a silenced shotgun

Why dont we have the old traditional poachers anymore? :roll: :?:

Because of lidl's ans aldi's and the social services. Its easier for people to go to a supermarket and get cheap food, rather than go out on a freezing cold night and work for a meal.

 

[hootchi]

Because of lidl's ans aldi's and the social services. Its easier for people to go to a supermarket and get cheap food, rather than go out on a freezing cold night and work for a meal.

If only they knew what real food tasted like. :roll:

Personally I do not do much snaring anymore, but when I did I used a mixture. Solid stakes or a drag, which ever seemed the most secure at the time and no snares came away

 

[Paganwolf]

If only they knew what real food tasted like. :roll:

if only

 

[dean4442]

I think it's all to do with size of beast and expectation of fast kill. If you expect the animal to be moving fast and therefore to snap it's nect you'd use a stake but if it's something larger or slower you'd use a drag so that it won't snap the snare by pulling against the stake.

 

[Buckshot]

Why dont we have the old traditional poachers anymore? :roll: :?:

Because it's illegal

I don't snare much now but when I did I would use pegs more often than drags. I agree with Ed, a long peg driven into the ground will not move unless the ground gives.I tended to use saplings or tree roots, they're secured to the ground far better than any peg.
Drags are OK in the right circumstances, they can make a mess of the ground cover though and as PW says, searching for lots of dragged snares is a pain.
Perhaps a reason why books don't often show drags is because people may be tempted to use unsuitable ones. Either too light or rotten to do the job, which means that a animal is running around with a snare and a piece of wood hanging around it's neck just waiting to be snagged on something - not nice.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Paganwolf]

Because it's illegal

It always was illegal, but when your family is at home and hungry feeding them is top priority, and i bet the local bobby took a brace home at the end of the night too (doesn't make it right and legal granted) modern poaching is more serious as the poisons and traps used are used en mass poaching is no longer to fill your familys bellys but to fill the bank account, the days of the old boy slipping into the night with his lurcher for his pot filler has (mostly) long gone and the days of the THUGS going into the field killing indiscriminately is unfortunately here....

 

[hootchi]

...the days of the old boy slipping into the night with his lurcher for his pot filler has (mostly) long gone ....

Do you really think this still happens?

 

[Paganwolf]

Do you really think this still happens?

Well Hmmmmmm

 

[hootchi]

Well Hmmmmmm

You dont happen to have a lurcher by any chance do you Paganwolf?

:biggthump

 

[Stuart]

Wherever possible I use saplings and bramble trunks to secure my snares, there not going anywhere.

When I can’t do this I use a heavy drag, one to heavy for my intended prey to move more than an inch or two.

I means that I don’t have to carry or make stakes I just find something where I need it and I can position the snare exactly where I want regardless of soil conditions.

if there is any chance at all that the snare may catch something large then tie a few meters of line from the drag to something solid so it cant go to far if it really determined

whilst it is illegal in the UK from a survival point of view it is useful to remember that many animals caught in a leg hold snare which is secured fast to the ground will chew though the limb to escape, but if it is attached to a drag they will pull it some distance and then tire and lay down.

some thought should also be given to spring arm snares (also illegal in the UK) these should be driven firmly into the ground and where ever possible the line should run off to a solid attachment point in case the spring arm becomes dislodged. (the flexing can work them free of the soil)

as with all trapping do it responsibly and give great thought to every trap you set, if you are going to take life do it right.