Hunting and Trapping Tools. Part 4. Final.

What tools can you make for yourself? Well the bow and arrow have been covered, a  spear is a well known common item. Throwing sticks or rabbit sticks are less well known though, and they can be very handy. I learnt to throw the rabbit stick many years ago. You can of course throw a rock, but the idea of the throwing stick is that it covers more area that a rock.
The first time I used a throwing stick in earnest for anything other than target practice, for which I used a peg hammered into the ground, was when one of my sons was struck at by a snake. I was too far away to reach him in time, and I had his younger brother in a carry pack on my back. If you ever learn to throw the tomahawk, I suggest you try throwing at a target with your knapsack on your back. It is a whole lot different!
I started running as best I could and snatched up the first good looking stick I came across. I was about maybe 25-30 paces away when I threw that stick and it struck the snake and knocked it aside.

The throwing stick I made myself had a point on one end so it doubled as a digging stick.

The Figure 4 trap trigger is pretty well known, and it works very well. This one is set with a dead-fall. As you can see in this image a small fence has been constructed to guide the animal in from one side only. If this were my trap I would turn the trigger so that the bait was closer to the fence, bringing the animal further under the rock.

You do not have to use a spring, but it will take some of the strain out of the snare if a large animal is caught.

This is cordage I made from inner tree bark. Depending on the size you make the cordage, you can snare anything from rabbits up to goats, wild boar and deer.

If you wish to practice setting survival snares I suggest you use knitting wool for the snare. It will not harm the animal. Instead of making an actual snare, simply lay the yarn across the trail at the height you would set the bottom of the snare. If it is trodden down you had it too low. If it is broken and lays along the trail then it was probably at the right height.

Rabbits on the other hand can be trapped at the burrow entrance. Make sure that the snare can not get caught on anything about the burrow, such as downed timber. Allow enough snare so that the rabbit can retreat down the burrow where foxes and cats can't reach it.

Cord attached to a sapling used as a spring.

The bait stick is suspended between two pegs, one peg driven into the ground on the left, the other attached to the snare and the cord running to the spring above. The snare cannot be seen, but it is layed out beneath the baited trigger. Depending on what you use for bait, you can trap anything from birds and rabbit to ferral cats and dogs.