Trapping and fishing · Trapping and catching food course
A deadfalldeadfall A trap that drops a heavy weight, like a log or rock, when an animal touches the trigger. drops a weight; a pit holds an animal that falls in. The manual teaches these for real emergencies. It also shows two traps that can kill a person. Here you learn how each works and which ones never to build.
Deadfalls need no wire or cord at all, only sticks and a rock, which is why the manual includes them. They are also the traps most likely to hurt the person setting them, so learning the risks matters as much as the method.
Figure 4trigger The part of a trap that holds tension until the animal moves it. The heart of every trap. Practice it, then take it apart. deadfall: three notched sticks lock into the shape of a 4 and hold up a heavy flat rock or log. A nudge on the bait stick lets it all go. The lesson "How a trap trigger works" shows how to practice the trigger at a table.
Paiute deadfall: like the figure 4, but a short cord and a small catch stick replace one notch, so it is easier to set. When the bait stick is moved, the catch stick slips free and the weight drops.
The weight must be heavy enough to stop the animal at once. A weight that only injures is cruel and wastes the catch.
Bottle trap: a hole 30 to 45 cm deep, wider at the bottom than at the top, with barkbark slabs Big sheets of bark peeled off a dead log. Laid like shingles, bottom row first, they shed rain. propped 2.5 to 5 cm above it on small stones. Mice and voles hide under the cover, fall in, and cannot climb the sloped walls.
Check a bottle trap with care. The manual warns it is a perfect hiding place for snakes. Look before you reach.
The manual also shows a bow trap and a spear trap set on a trip line. Both can kill a person who walks into them. They are illegal, and this trainer never shows how to build them.
Practice only the figure 4 and Paiute triggers, at a table, under a light book. Take them apart when you are done.
At a table, set the Paiute trigger under a light book with a short string and a small catch stick. Nudge the bait stick and watch it drop. Take it apart.
Which traps from the manual can kill a person and must never be built?
The bow trap and the spear trap
The app checks your answers, keeps your place in the Trapping and catching food, and works with no signal once saved.
Before you rely on thisA learning tool, not a replacement for training. In an emergency, call 911. Do not eat any plant, berry or mushroom here. This app never tells you a wild food is safe.