Woodchuck snares.

[williaada]

Hi,

Need a little help. I am completely new to trapping. I bought some snared and have set three of them on known runs. Twice the groundhog has through the run. Once the snare did not even trigger. The second time the snare went with the groundhog but did not actually cinch right enough to capture the woodchuck.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[williaada]

Below is a picture of my set.

 

[williaada]

Here is an up close picture.

 

[bigjohn]

I have never used a snare, but I believe that you could easily catch the woodchuck if you used a conibear trap.

 

[fulldraw]

I have used both snares and conibears and had better luck with the conibear. However there would be a new family the next year so I finally jacked up my shed and set it on 8 inch cinder blocks. Woodchuck problem solved.

 

[Scott85]

I've used live cage traps to catch them.

 

[D4570]

The slide has to be able to slide down by gravity when the chuck steps in you want it around its head/neck. I think it is too high and set to big.
Just a foothold is sufficient for a chuck.

 

[BuckRut]

Make sure you are not going to have any domestic animal bycatch with that thing. The traps don't care what steps into them. I trap myself so I'm not on an anti trapping speal here but under your privacy fence is a bad place for a lethal style trap and probably illegal to boot. Catching peoples pets with poor trapping techniques is the worst thing in the world for trapping. Do all of us trappers a favor and switch to a live trap.

 

[JBS]

I do not know the situation but buck rut has some good points. I would also recommend a live trap. Your close up picture shows a deer stop, I would be willing to bet this does not allow the snare to close tight enough.

 

[williaada]

Thanks for the post on this, and the help on my trap set. I did not use a conibear trap due to the fact I did not want to kill, or injure any dogs, cats, or small children in the area.

I chose to use a live trap and the snares to try and capture the ground hogs. So far the ground hogs have slide through the snares without an issue. The live trap caught two woodchucks in a span of an two hours.

 

[williaada]

Your post is spot on as to why I did not use a conibear trap, and why I did not remove the deer stop on the snares. Glad to know there are other people out there who think the same as I do.

Make sure you are not going to have any domestic animal bycatch with that thing. The traps don't care what steps into them. I trap myself so I'm not on an anti trapping speal here but under your privacy fence is a bad place for a lethal style trap and probably illegal to boot. Catching peoples pets with poor trapping techniques is the worst thing in the world for trapping. Do all of us trappers a favor and switch to a live trap.

 

[BuckRut]

Your post is spot on as to why I did not use a conibear trap, and why I did not remove the deer stop on the snares. Glad to know there are other people out there who think the same as I do.

You are missing the point. A snare is a lethal trap. If a cat or dog gets caught in the snare they will be dead when you find them.

 

[williaada]

You are missing the point. A snare is a lethal trap. If a cat or dog gets caught in the snare they will be dead when you find them.

Thank you for educating me on.

 

[JohnBud]

I've used live cage traps to catch them.

Can you recommend an effective bait for trapping woodchucks in a live cage trap?

 

[Addicting]

A carrot works well, I’ve also used iceberg lettuce.

 

[williaada]

Cantaloupe has worked extremely well. The ground hogs chosen it over the garden veggies.

 

[Scott85]

Can you recommend an effective bait for trapping woodchucks in a live cage trap?

Put it where they want to go. I’ve always set it in their path. Under the building like you showed is perfect to catch them. Block their other paths.