Hog Leg Traps n Snares

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  • Hoggin

    Well-Known Member
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    Nov 17, 2014
    165
    16
    Madisonville
    Over the past five weeks I've tried three different leg traps/snares with mixed results and wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions.

    I have two Hold-A-Hog leg traps with snares. At $100 each I was hoping I would not like them and I guessed correctly. They are a serious pain to set for a few reasons:
    1) The coil spring on the snare has about 1/8" spare slack so you really have to get every 8th of an inch out of the spring to set the spring;
    2) The darn leg trap wants to break my wrist, I can tell. It's a tricky maneuver to set the snare under the dog while not releasing the trap;
    3) The bolts rust and gum up easily after a few weeks in the swamp;
    4) If any mud gets into the trap or spring the darn thing won't throw the snare properly. I've had probably 10 misfires from these things and I'm done with them. I contacted the designer/maker of the product and, although nice enough, wasn't able to fix the issue of NO HOGS SNARED.

    I have two 8" Foot Belisle Snares and, while simpler than Hold-A-Hog, these darn things are just too tough to set. I've not worked out in a few years, but even if I had I don't think it would matter. A friend helped set one the other day. He put one end of the spring against his hitch-and-haul and held the other with his hand. He managed to set the spring but the metal on his hitch-and-haul was bent. That's a bit excessive. Fntpost.com said they would take them back for a refund which was cool ($63 each).

    Then I tried a $40 Fremont Hog Foot Snare thrower and I trapped an 182# boar after a few misfires that were my fault from improper setting. I like this one because it's a simple design (fewer moving parts = better success in swamp mud), it doesn't look like it wants to eat my hand, it's cheap and it has worked. I just ordered three more.

    I'm trapping on The King's land so I have to use corral traps and leg snares. The corral traps are working just fine but my learning curve on leg traps/snares has been larger than anticipated.

    Have you had any success in muddy areas with leg snares for hogs? Specifics would be appreciated. Thanks.
     

    rm76

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    Jan 12, 2007
    246
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    Texas
    I've not had any experience with leg snares, just neck snares, but you might want to contact USDA Wildlife Services. They may have some data for which snare are more effective and perhaps cost/time effective.
     

    JeeperCreeper

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    Dec 18, 2012
    1,161
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    LaLa Land
    I've looked at the Fremont's after the OP and probably going to pick up a couple. Have any luck with them? I'd love to hear any followup you have.
     

    Hoggin

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    Nov 17, 2014
    165
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    Madisonville
    Mud, mud, mud! Marsh mud is simply not accommodating to leg snares. You can't bury the snare like a traditional set because when the 95 degree heat comes with no rain, the mud hardens and your snare thrower is encased in S LA cement-mud. Placing the snare throwers above ground is tough because when those afternoon downpours come and fill the marsh with a few inches of water, the hogs tend to kick the throwers sideways. My best luck has come from hiding the thrower next to a tree or in dense vegetation while the activation plate is on their trail (set below a rub is a nice location). Put a stick 6-8 inches from the activation plate so the hog adjusts his stride, steps over the stick, and lands on the activation plate. I've had literally countless misfires though. I think the Fremont is the way to go though... just have to be careful about the set (above ground, on a known trail, use a stepping stick).

    I have picked up all my leg snare throwers and am going back to corral traps. I took down a 7-panel corral yesterday and made two corrals out of it (one 3-panel and one 4-panel). The 3-panel looks a bit small (52' diameter) but I want to run it for a while to see how it fares against the 4-panel (68' diameter). The 7-panel was nice and large (116' diameter) but the hogs moved out of the area and I figured two corrals in active locations was better than one in an inactive location (yeah, brilliant, I know).

    Increased my guillotine style door from 32" to 48" wide. The largest hog I caught in the 32" gate was 92#s. Have to finish the 4-panel corral tomorrow morning, then I'll have three traps active. One box trap and two corrals. Might drop some Fremonts on higher ground next week but for now I want to run these three main traps during July.

    Hog movement right now in this heat seems to be minimal -- the slowest I've seen. Trail cameras have more pictures of me than wildlife. Saw a deer at 10:00am this morning munching on my corn. Few coon and hog prints. Hogs tend to move move when it's dry and below 75 degrees (which is the current minimum night temperature = no movement).

    So far I've not found the trick with leg snares but I'm getting closer. Would like to hear other success & failure stories to learn from.
     

    JeeperCreeper

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    Dec 18, 2012
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    LaLa Land
    Thanks, not too worried about mud, I hunt Northwest of Greensburg. The hogs have caught on to the corral traps. I'm going to pick up a couple of the snares and put them in high traffic areas. I'll post an update when I get started with them.
     

    Hoggin

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    Nov 17, 2014
    165
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    Madisonville
    When the hogs learn to walk around your corral and not enter, use neck snares on the outside of your corral. They won't suspect neck snares outside the perimeter. I know a guy who claims to have snared 70 hogs in this manner. I can't use neck snares on public land, but on private land I'd give it a shot. I'd use relaxing locks above 50 degrees and non-relaxing locks below 50 degrees to keep the meat fresh. Relaxing locks risk letting the animal escape, but they won't kill the hog once trapped. Browse snare locks here http://www.snareshop.com/products.asp?dept=103
     

    Tweek

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    Nov 3, 2009
    73
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    madisonville, louisiana
    Any update on success with snares? I hunt on a lease in st tammany and recently had a couple decent size hogs showing up. Thinking about trying snares before I invest the time/money into building a corral trap.
     

    Hoggin

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    Nov 17, 2014
    165
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    Madisonville
    Corral trap is really the way to go if you have a substantial population. I typically use 5 panels plus a 4-foot guillotine gate with a root trigger.

    I'll use snares as a cheap solution, but the time invested setting and resetting can really be a pain. I'm not great at snares and still have lots to learn. I probably miss 10 hogs for each hog I snare. An idea set location that will pay you off is on either side of a log that already lays along their daily hog path with lose dirt (not mud or hard clay). The hogs will jump the logs and you'll get them either before or after the jump.

    But if you're looking for expert snare guidance it won't come from me. I'm still learning. The Freemont snare thrower is still my favorite and for $40 it's tough to beat for limited hog captures.
     

    Tweek

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    Nov 3, 2009
    73
    6
    madisonville, louisiana
    Thanks, I was leaning toward neck snares with deer stop. Just figured I could reset it every morning after my hunt, doesn't look like a huge population yet just a few big ones on camera.
     

    BigP623

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    Aug 27, 2014
    128
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    Lacombe, LA
    Just keep in mind, I was told with the snare trapping of hogs, in Louisiana, you need a trapping license. A normal hunting license doesn't suffice for using snares. Setting a corral trap though doesn't require a trapping license, but its required to be checked every day from what ive been told and it has to have an open top to allow animals such as bears if inadvertently trapped to escape.
     

    Hoggin

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    Nov 17, 2014
    165
    16
    Madisonville
    Just keep in mind, I was told with the snare trapping of hogs, in Louisiana, you need a trapping license. A normal hunting license doesn't suffice for using snares. Setting a corral trap though doesn't require a trapping license, but its required to be checked every day from what ive been told and it has to have an open top to allow animals such as bears if inadvertently trapped to escape.

    Yeah, that sounds about right. Not sure if you have to check traps daily on private land. I do, but I'm not sure it's required.
     

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