Need a snare that kills a rabbit quickly

[learnin2hunt]

Hi, everyone, can anyone advise me? I need to catch rabbits for food for me and my dog. A while back I used to shoot them, but sold my rifle and now can't afford another one. I was a good shot and always killed them so stone-dead they didn't even squeak. That was the way I killed, never want to cause suffering of any kind.
Now I will have to use snares. I've never used snares before, am learning about how to set them, what wire to use, etc, but from my research into this, I don't like the sound of the snares I'm hearing about. It sounds to me like they trap the rabbit by the neck, maybe not killing it. Now I'd check my snares obviously 1st thing (before the crows!) middle of the day, and in the evening when the sun's gone down. But even so, I don't like the thought of some rabbit being half (but not quite) strangled while waiting for me to come and kill it, even a half hour!
So, does anyone know of a snare that is as near to 100% deadly as you can get? And fast.

If I can't be sure it'll work well, I'm not going to use a snare, and will have to become a tree-hugging veggie....(dog won't like that)

 

[JonathanD]

No such thing as a fast deadly snare if you want to comply with UK law. There is suffering and you can catch other animals you didn't intend to. If you want to catch rabbits efficiently and legally, you need to shoot them and obviously obtain the landowners permission too.

If you need food that badly. Cancel your ISP agreement and sell your PC to fund your rifle.

 

[learnin2hunt]

That's probably going to have to be the next move (cancelling the ISP etc....things are getting that bad) Anyway thank you for your reply. It's decided it. I'm not going to use a snare.
I do find it odd though that a snare which could possibly result in suffering is legal, and one that kills quickly isn't.....weird world....
A shotgun is the best thing.

 

[1234]

im sure someone on here could lend you a rifle for a month or 2 (they wouldnt want you or your dog to starve)
so you have time to have a clear out and sell some stuff, get some part time work etc
or you could always teach people about the basics of shooting (providing they have a gun, you can give them a couple of demonstration shots where you keep the rabbits you shot, then its there turn. or just charge them and put the money into the gun fund)
how much are you looking at for a basic gun?

 

[wattsy]

most snares don't kill the rabbits outright i've been snaring for 5 years now and most of the time when you check the snare the rabbits's just sat there quietly. they struggle for a bit but then they try to hide themselves, then all you have to do is walk up and snap their neck. cheap and efficient way of catching bunnies

 

[1234]

on another note there must be some kind of rabbit trap available
might not work out if there expensive (the money could go to a gun) but if you can get them cheapish its worth a go

its amazing what boredom will do to you
ebay £10 a pop
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RABBIT-TRAP-C...vr_id=&cguid=cee3ccc91280a0aad3e0c9f0ffeea345
if you dont use ebay, primrose at £12.45 a go
http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/rabbit-cage-trap-p-2946.html?source=googlebase

 

[Thoth]

To comply with UK law a snare must have a free-running 'eye' and such a snare is designed to catch rabbits, and not kill them. As Wattsey has described you need to kill the rabbit you have caught.

 

[Harley]

Could you not get hold of a ferret and some nets?

 

[leon-1]

on another note there must be some kind of rabbit trap available
might not work out if there expensive (the money could go to a gun) but if you can get them cheapish its worth a go

its amazing what boredom will do to you
ebay £10 a pop
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RABBIT-TRAP-C...vr_id=&cguid=cee3ccc91280a0aad3e0c9f0ffeea345
if you dont use ebay, primrose at £12.45 a go
http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/rabbit-cage-trap-p-2946.html?source=googlebase

Most of the guys have mentioned about snares and the law on using them in the UK, ie; free running eye, they are designed to hold and not kill and are not sprung so as to take your snared animal out of the reach of predators.

Humane traps are a way that you could take, but it may work out quite expensive as you would probably require at least 10 of these to actually catch anything (a bit like a snare the more you place out the better your chances of success).

You say that you used to shoot, by the sounds of it, it was shotgun. This means that you have permission to shoot on land. Possibly look into another means of shooting. Look into a good, cheap, secondhand air rifle, the ammunition will be a lot cheaper, but you'll probably have to get within 30 yards for a good clean kill shot. In the long term a lot cheaper than a shotgun.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Could you not get hold of a ferret and some nets?

Not this time of year unless you like digging a lot.

l2h, you say you've got a dog to feed. What type is it?
A 40mph couch potato and a lamp would be a good way to go.

 

[Longstrider]

There is a perfectly legal way to make snares as humane as they can be made as far as I know. It does mean, however, that you have put in a little more effort than 'normal' snare setters would bother with. You also need to be able to work in poor light with good field craft skills.

You find a suitable field (and obtain the owners consent, of course) that the rabbits go out into to feed. If the rabbits are coming in to the field through a fence line or a hedge so much the better. You then work your way along that fence/hedge line very quietly a little after dusk, setting pre-rigged snares ( a decent peg that you can PUSH into the ground and a 'teeler' already fitted to the snare, to save mesing around) You work quickly and quietly, setting snares on the runs BEFORE the fence/hedge, leaving as little scent and disturbance as possible. You don't want the dog with you as you do this bit.
Then you move around to the far side of the field and walk a zig-zag back toward the line of snares making a bit of a commotion. The dog can help with this bit, but if he's a rabbit-chaser KEEP HIM ON THE LEAD.
What you are effectively doing is setting the snares between the rabbits that are out feeding, and their burrows. You are then driving them back towards (and hopefully into) the snares. Many will hit the snare at a full-on run and break their own necks, and those that don't will have you close at hand to quickly and cleanly dispatch them.
This isn't an absoloutely fail-safe method, but it works, and is as efficient a way of setting snares and killing humanely that have ever found.

You MUST be sure to gather in all the snares before you leave unless you are willing to leave them set overnight and be back EARLY the next morning to check/lift them. Checking them before the crows in the morning simply isn't feasible without a torch. Those ******'s will always be sharper and earlier than you if there's light in the sky
If you leave snares set overnight and return only to find heads (No bodies) in, or close to your wires, then the fox beat you to the meat. He/she has a family to feed too and will be smarter than you regarding rabbits 999 times out of 1000.

 

[slammer187]

Perhaps you should get a catapult or wrist rocket type of set-up...are they legal?
A Jack Russell or Lurcher will keep you fed if you ever go down that route!
Best of luck to you and sorry to hear about your financial struggle.

 

[JonathanD]

Fish Hunter cattys are superb. With a bit of practice it's hard o miss anything. Very powerful and accurate, and you can get steel ammo off ebay for cheap.

 

[ged]

Perhaps you should get a catapult or wrist rocket type of set-up...are they legal?

Not for killing things.

 

[treelore]

try a book called "trap making step by step" by John Bryan, i think the book cost me about a tenner and has detailed plans of all kinds of traps.
home made drop boxs and cage traps would be a good bet. long netting can be effective too.

all the best

 

[JonathanD]

Not for killing things.

It is still legal to hunt with a catty in the UK. Obviously you need landowners permission etc etc.

 

[nevetsjc80]

snares dont kill, they hold the rabbit like a dog lead does and like mentioned above the sit quite till you dispatch them.

 

[solvista]

Could you not get hold of a ferret and some nets?

My thoughts entirely. You live in England, there are no shortage of highly visible warrens to exploit, with landowners consent obviously.

Another tactic, for finding free meat, I used to do regularly is what I call road-kill-managment. Every night on my way home from work I'd use the country roads, stopping and removing any dead animal; rabbit, pheasant, pigeon etc. Then set off early to work the next day and pick up anything I found that looked like a meal, in the knowledge that it was fresh enough.

 

[Katanic]

You could always see about adding Squirrel to your diet as well, Has anyone else seen the dead drop snare they use? basically you stick a snare on a branch the sneaky grey b******s stick there head in jerk back fall of an hang themselves

Of course there not the size of rabbits but there ample an dont taste too bad

 

[JonathanD]

You could always see about adding Squirrel to your diet as well, Has anyone else seen the dead drop snare they use? basically you stick a snare on a branch the sneaky grey b******s stick there head in jerk back fall of an hang themselves

Of course there not the size of rabbits but there ample an dont taste too bad

I think that method is illegal in the UK, classed much the same as a springsnare only using gravity.