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.
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.