Home Made Snares
How to make a 1/16 size 48" long snare.
While these snares are not as good as professional snares, they are easy and cheap to make. You could make them in a survival situation.
This snare is would be for small game such as rabbit, marten, groundhog, beaver, fox, lynx, raccoon, and bobcat. Also other small animals of similar size not listed.
You can use this same tutorial to make larger snares just use larger materials.
The 3/8" washer will work for 3/32 cable as well but you will need a larger washer for larger sized cables. Also your holes will need to be drilled accordingly.
In place of the 1/16" cable you can also use wire for hanging pictures in an emergency situation although it does not have the strength of cable. Also once you buy your cable if it came off a roll at the hardware store try not to wad up the wire because it will have memory from being on the roll that you will need for the snare.
Items needed
1 - 3/8" flat washer
1 - 1/16" cable ferrel
1 - 1/16" cable stop
1 - piece of 1/16" galvanized cable in the length you wish to make your snare.
Various tools
Step 1
Take your washer and mark it in the middle so that you make hole on each side, drill the 1st hole with a 5/64" drill bit then the other with a 3/32" drill bit. Mark which hole is which. Then clean the edges of the holes with a 1/8" bit to make the cable slide smooth without snagging. Note I used a small piece of wood to keep from drilling into my work bench.
Step 2
Turn your washer and mark it the opposite way of the holes down the center. Then on that mark bend the washer 90 degrees. This is easiest done after clamping the washer into a vice then using a small hammer.
Step 3
Now insert your cable stop onto 1 end of you cable and crimp it on. If you do not have a pair of crimps avalible you can use a pair or plyers or side cutters just make sure you do not cut them through if you use side cutters.
Step 4
Now insert you washer onto your wire using the 5/64" side. When you slide on washer make sure the 90 degree bend faces out from the cable end (see pic) This is very important to make your snare work properly. After you have inserted the washer slide it all the way down to your cable stop
Step 5
Now insert the the end of the cable into the 3/32" hole from the triangle side. once you start sliding it through you may notice that it seems out of wack you may need to roll the wire with your fingers to line it out to where the memory holds the loop easily. If rolling the wire does not work you may need to put memory into the wire (tutorial coming soon). Do not move on from here until you have proper memory in the wire or the snare will not function properly.
Step 6
Next will be to make the tie down loop at the other end of the snare. To do so insert the end of the cable into the ferrel and run the wire through. once you have done so place the end of the wire back into the ferrel going the opposite direction you ran it through the first time. You can adjust the size of your loop by pulling the end of the cable running to your snare. Leave 1/8-1/4" of the end of the cable sticking out. Crimp your ferrel into place, if you do not have crimpers you can use plyers or side cutters being careful not to cut into the ferrel just to crimp it.
Step 7
Dye or paint your snare whichever you choose if you wise. No pictures in this section as I will do a tutorial on this subject alone.
Step 8
Storing and marking your snare for later use. If you have elected to use your snare at a later time or are making them for your bug out bag you will need to keep them seperated by size and length and mark them so you grab the right snare the first time. For long term storage you can place them in a ziplock bag which is marked with what snares are in that back. If you want to put multiple snares in a single back you may want to use something to keep the separated. You can see how I placed a black zip tie then cliped it off to store it. You can store them in anything you choose you just want to make sure they form a circle so you do not loose your cable memory.
That is all have fun trapping and remember to follow all local, state and federal laws while trapping.