Set out my snares on tuesday and caught a ~200lb sow on a trail set on Wednesday. Man, was she pissed when I walked up on her. Caught her by the snout. I have some pics, will post as soon as my wife is finished with the disk. We have a trapper running pen traps on our lease but he is not having any luck. Said he would have never caught that big sow in a pen trap. They are trap wise and hunting pressure has driven them nocturnal. These snares are the way to go. I was spending 2-3hrs on a stand over bait and not having much luck. I run my snares in the morning and I am back home by 8a.m. Hopfully more to come.

I look fortward to the pictures
You should hunt then at night with a Benelli M3 and a sure fire I would love that.

Cheers,

André

Catching hogs in snares is easy. Getting them out is hard. A few thoughts on snaring hogs:

1. Snares hurt hogs. Checking snares is the equivalent of following up a wounded animal.
2. As hogs get wise to snares, unsnared hogs may guard the snared ones and charge from behind or from your flank. Later in the day, unsnared hogs get tired and thirsty. When they leave, the snared hogs get desparate and may find the strength to break out and charge as you approach.
3. If you shoot a snared one, any others in nearby snares will freak out. They may break free and charge. Watch your back and flanks.
4. Approach from uphill if you can, forcing them to climb as they charge.
5. If possible, set the snares so the hogs can't turn to face you as you approach.
6. Life is more interesting when you snare a sow with piglets.
7. Be careful and use enough gun.


Okie John

Here is the pic I promised:

Here is another one:

was that sow pregnant??

Wet sow.

not my cup of tea or within my ethics....

in africa,if you are caught with a snare, you are shot...


about the only way *I* would use a snare is in a survival situation

and yeah, it's a wet sow, so an indescriminate snare took the sow, and several "footballs"

jeffe

I am with you Jeffe.

Roland

This sow was not pregnant and she had no little ones with her when I caught her. I did catch two little ones a week later in the same area, about 25-30lb each. The area I trap in South Louisiana is so overrun with hogs it is ridiculous. We are required by lease rules to kill EVERY hog we can no matter what size. 3000 acres 14 paying members and we killed 1 eight point buck this past year, but everyone killed hogs. Cage traps aren't working, landowner will not let us run dogs, they hit bait only at night and we are not allowed to night hunt so right now snares are the most effective and efficient method of controling a very prolific and destructive nonnative species that just happens to be very tasty. To quote my wife "If a deer and hog walk out, shoot the hog."

Jeffeosso and Roland1

I share your concern with the ethical issue of snares. I have been snaring for a long time and have never caught a nontarget animal. Just like any other aspect of hunting/trapping, snares if abused by poachers and those lacking respect for target and nontarget animals, snaring will get a bad name. Baiting is considered unethical in some areas, in others it is considered necessary. Same with snares.