What is a foothold trap?

A snare is one of the traps that can be made to catch animals either for hunting purposes or to remove them from a property. In order to make a snare, you will need a rope, rubber or another suitable material and a sharp knife.

A foothold trap is designed to capture the feet of the animal being hunted. Its set up is a bit more complicated than the snare mentioned above. In principle, when the animal steps on one of the rods in the horizontal spur, then logs will push the trigger down so that the rope will tighten quickly and the rope will ensnare the prey's legs.

Using a wire rope is a good suggestion if you do not know what kind of animal you are hunting.Some wild animals have sharp teeth capable of severing a regular rope in just a few minutes. To save on wire rope, you can connect it with a string of other materials with the wire rope fixed to the main trappers. Usually the rope is in direct contact with the rod spring (watch carefully how the rope crosses the horizontal bar of the trigger).To ensnare the feet of hunted animals, you can use a tauthline hitch knot or a running bow line.

This type of trap will be effective if you want to capture animals that are medium in size.The recommended targets are squirrels, raccoons, chickens, and birds. Note that to hunt wild boar, deer or other larger animal in the wild, you will require materials and a snare that are bigger and stronger.You will also need a spear to knock out such a large animal. One main advantage of this trap is that it resultsin fresh prey.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Pests page or email us if you have any other questions about What is a foothold trap?