well most of my animals this year came from snares so i am looking into gear for next year i want some do it all snares for cats,yote and fox i got yotes and a fox this year in the snare shop northern beaver/fox snare with a 10in loop i was looking into building some and 1000ft of cable a cutter,camlocks,#11 wire and ends came out to $150 and by my math that is enough to make 29 snares then i saw you can get 5dz for like $80 but i want an extra 2ft. of wire on them and a cam lock so what would you guys do build or buy, another question i have is the top of the loop ends at the coils of #9 do you guys think this will shy some animals away or will they not notice it i only had 1 walk around this year and i think that was because i didnt fence it off enough but am wondering what you guys think.

I build. The biggest expense are the loc's. Talk to 907trapper, he can get 11 and 9 gauge wire at a reasonable price.
Loop end? I use pig tails, and have not had anything issues.
The things I have noticed from cats and K9's, is
1. cable size, all the critters I caught this year were with 1/16, and I started out with a 50/50 mix with 3/32. I had about 5 refusals with 3/32. And other then a yote trying to jump thru one set for wolves, and a bunch of bunnies, zilch.
2. Loop size, to small three refusals.

You should be able to make alot more than 29 snares with 1000ft of cable. Need to figure in more cam locks though.

yea i suck at math i divided 33.5 cable length for 10in loop by 1000 not 12000 so that should make about 350 snares if i didnt screw something up again, what size loop would you recommend i have been using 10in but thought of going to 12 for a little extra room on yotes, and would you guys go swiveling or non swiveling, also i was thinking about going with #11 because the #9 is kinda hard to get tight on a tree would it hold a yote ok. the locks are a little spendy i think its $40 for 100 camlocks with teeth but for what foot holds cost its not a bad deal.

Go 6-8 feet cable and forget the wire for your secure attachment. I love having gone to all cable and no wire used to secure the snare. A small piece to hang but thats it. It is really nice at the end of the season to not have to deal with wire on snares. imo.

x2

Like HFT, I like 1/16th for fox sized critters and build my own. I make mine around 60", using 7x7 (I like the way it slides), usually with a mini lock or micro lock, whammy's and a swivel. I also make a bunch of 3 to 4 foot extensions with loops on each end. I connect the extensions to the snares with a "square knot" (passed through each other at the swivel), and just wrap the extension around a tree and pull the whole thing through the loop at that end of the extension to fasten it. I use 9 or 11 gauge support wire. Very fast to set and pick up. When I catch something I save the components and rebuild a new snare. If the old snare still has usable length I'll turn it into an extension. I have some swivels and locks that are 8- 10 years old or older and have been recycled many times over. With the additional length, the critters usually wrap up away from the trail and I can reset without having to rebuild the site.

X3

so without using an extention how do you guys hook your snare to the tree do you use a double ferrel at the end then just feed the snare through the loop or use a split ring or what.

Yes, run the snare back through the loop. I have some snares built without swivels, just loops, and they work good, but I get some that are very near the twisted up/ breaking point with this set up (I use one well hammered double ferrel for the loop ends, but would probably want to use two on each loop if going for bigger than fox or lynx). I like the swivel in line with an extension best because it lets the swivel work real well, easy to loop the extension around a tree, snare cable usually has little damage (still needs replacing of course), and like I said above, it gets the critters away from the set for a reusable location. If using a swivel on the end with no extension, wire the swivel to the tree to allow it to work properly. Swiveled snare with extension usually equals dead critter wrapped up off the main trail.

Snare attached to the tree. Easily removed if no catch, otherwise wire cutters:



Short support wire on tree which is left on tree if location to be reused. Snare attached to support wire with duoble ferrule:

ok that looks like its a little easy'r to remove with gloves on and will normal trappers wire support the snare good or should you use #11-9. i was also planning on using the steel nuts insted of the aluminum ferrels after the web page ft put up. so how does this sound 6ft 1/16 cable,camlock with teeth,wammy, i would like to put a swivel in the system and keep it easy and fast to set up how well do the inline swivels work,or should i use the #9 end and a small extension on that for an anchor.

For lynx and fox 1/16 cable snares normal 14ga trapping wire is all I use. For coyote and wolf 11 ga. The 11 ga support wire is stiffer and holds heavier ( larger) cable up better. I only use inline mid swivels on my wolf snares. I do not find swivals necessary for fox and lynx. For coyote probably would be a benefit.

7 foot 7x7 1/16 inch cable sure-loc
One with pig-tailed #11 wire

what is everyone favorite snare lock? for fox and coyote

i have tried micro loc, cam loc, and sure loc....like sure loc best

Toothed cam-loc or amberg lock although they tend to freeze up in varying warm and cold temperatures. This winter I have tried the micro lock and find it to be quite effective as it does not seem to freeze up as it has no moving parts. All with a kill spring attached for coyote and wolf. Kill spring is not necessary for lynx and optinal for fox IMO.

ive heard micro's fur up though?

Far cheaper to make your own snares. Most trappers here use 11 foot long wire to make the snare. For most taking wolves they use the 5/64th 1x19. One friend who is very successful, 10 to 15 wolves a year goes a size larger with the cam lock. So on the 5/64th he uses the 3/32 lock. Claims that not as many freeze up problems.

Some of the fellows use the snare portion out of the 5/64th 1x19 and then use a halibut swivel and 3/32 7x7 for the extra length. Be sure to get the proper file to file the teeth in your locks. They are a file that files groves, can not think of the technical name off the top of my head. I will find out the name though.

[quote=lbtrapperive heard micro's fur up though? [/quote]

In my limited experience with the micro lock, not any more than the other locks.