How to Build a Survival Squirrel Snare

How to Build a Survival Squirrel Snare

 

Survival Squirrel Snare
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Trapping gives much more meat per unit of energy expended than hunting does. Using snares is a passive activity; you can set several traps in multiple locations and check them once a day leaving you free to do other useful work while still gathering food. Hunting requires active attention; you cannot stalk a deer while tending a signal fire.

Snares are also relatively lightweight, cheap, and easy to pack.

Today’s video shows how to make and use a Survival Squirrel Snare using bailing wire or 20 gauge galvanized steel wire.

A roll of this wire is about $5.00, makes several dozen snares, is relatively lightweight, compact, and can be used for other survival uses.

How to Build a Survival Squirrel Snare

  • Cut a length of wire approximately 18 inches long (length depends on how you are going to attach it).
  • Make a small loop at one end of the wire
  • Run the wire back over itself and through the small twisted loop you made. This makes a larger loop “lasso”. The wire should run freely through the small twisted loop you made at the end of the wire. The loop this forms should be approximately the diameter of a coke can.
  • With the small twisted loop at approximately the “10 o’clock” position, run the free end of your wire snare down and attach it to your squirrel run.
  • The squirrel run is a straight stick relatively free of limbs and 6-10 feet long. It should be about the same thickness as a man’s wrist. This branch has one end resting on the ground, and the other resting on the trunk of a tree. It should intersect the ground at an approximate 45 degree angle.

Is possible you want to pick a tree that has a squirrel nest in it, or is an oak tree – that way squirrels will be naturally drawn to it.

The idea is that a squirrel will choose to run up the stick to get to the tree trunk, as that is easier for them to get on the tree than jumping the 90 degree angle to move from ground to trunk.

If a squirrel runs up the pole they will have to move through the snare. They won’t mind as it looks flexible and they can see through it. As they enter the snare, their head goes in, but their body cannot. The snare tightens around them as they run; they hit the end of the wire and fall off the branch in their struggle.

Be Careful How You Place the Snare

If the wire is placed appropriately, they will hang themselves and will not be able to climb back up.

You can place multiple snares on a single run, just make sure they are all high enough that a snared squirrel will hang free and not touch the ground, and that there is enough space that they cannot touch each other.

I do not know where you live, but obviously you need to look at the game laws in your area. In my state of Tennessee this is illegal, and not something I would do as long as I can go to the grocery for food. But in the event nothing else was available and I would starve otherwise, there are many squirrels in my subdivision (or nearby parks) and they could mean the difference between going hungry or not.

The Trapper’s Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards

Dakota Line’s Versatile Snares 1 Dozen

Ethics at the Shelter Door

Ethics at the Shelter Door
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In the 50’s Time magazine published an article called Ethics at the Shelter Door.  This article discussed bomb shelters and the ethics of letting your neighbors in, even if it meant your family would not have enough to survive.

A friar named McHugh wrote a dissenting article.  He explained how the Christian thing to do in the event of a nuclear attack would be to get your family inside and lock the door.  Even if that excluded your neighbors from safety.

Obviously his opinion controversial.  Some even believe the uproar caused the Kennedy administration to move from helping build individual family shelters to building fewer community shelters.

Not too long ago I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he expressed STRONG feelings about that idea.

He was loudly vocal on “What Would Jesus Do”.  He could not comprehend how excluding someone from your fallout shelter was Christian.

Here are the assumptions of the article:

There is a well-known threat, the 50’s was the civil defense era. The duck and cover video was played in schools and at the start of movies. Civil Defense (later FEMA) gave out scores of pamphlets on how to build a fallout shelter in your home.

Everyone was told to prepare, not everyone did.  What if you choose to build a shelter while your neighbors choose to buy boats, better cars, season tickets, or just go out to eat more than you.

Similar resources, dissimilar values

If you built a bomb shelter you are limited by your resources as to how big it could be.  Resources determine how it was stocked.  Both determine how long you could stay inside.  Once you’re out of air, food, or toilets you have to come outside – even if it’s not safe yet.

Your family is your responsibility.  If you let extra people in your shelter you are reducing the safety of the people who you have a duty to provide for.

“Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”- Adam Smith

So it’s pretty easy to see why a man would decide that after all his work and sacrifice that he would be justified in locking the door to his shelter.

If you have ever spent time around me you have heard me say “I love everybody, but I love me (and my family) more”.

I would have tears in my eyes as I did it.  Most likely I would never sleep well again.  However, if you choose not to prepare and bombs were falling, I would let you and yours die.  At least I would do so rather than let my own son suffer for your lack of planning.

The Bible has several verses that deal with preparedness.  The Bible is clear on a man’s role as the protector of his home.

God also gave us a set of rules that if we followed them we could have everlasting life with him.  Since no man can follow those rules he sent His Son to die for us so that if we have faith we can still go to heaven.

If we choose not to have faith and to disregard what God has done for us then we suffer the consequences.

Anyone who has read the Book of Revelations has the image of Jesus smiting the world for not believing.  The world during Tribulation and Apocalypse is very reminiscent of the world in a nuclear holocaust. The Bible is clear in Romans 6 23 “The wages of sin is death”.

God loves us and wants us to follow his word,  However, he gave us free will so that our love would be real and not contrived. If we choose to disregard his warnings then he allows us the choice to die alone.

God clearly tells us to work and save and prepare for lean times. He gives strict instructions for men to take care of their families.

If commit a crime and go to jail would you let your kids go hungry to feed mine? No, you would say, “I am sorry about the kids; they have a really crappy dad”.   That is not to say I would not give extra to feed your kids.  I would not let mine go hungry to do it.

I believe in charity, and have made provisions for it. I try to get others to prepare for future disasters both small scale and catastrophic. But my charity ends at the last box of noodles.

My wife and my son get taken care of first. Anyone that does not think my life and work should go to my family needs to see if they are willing to give their life and their work for mine over theirs.

If not, then they are not just a hypocrite, they are a thief and a looter.

“But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Timothy 5:8

Life Under a Cloud: AMERICAN ANXIETY ABOUT THE ATOM

How to Replace the Recoil Spring in a Walther P22

 

Walther P22 Recoil Spring Replacement
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This post is about why I had to do some work on my Walther P22 Recoil Spring.  It also shows how to replace the recoil spring in a Walther P22

I am a huge believer in repetition for any physical skill. If you want to be good at something you have to put in the time practicing perfectly. I have heard that to be a master of something you need to spend at least 10,000 hours practicing the skill. Dry firing can be a big part of that time block, but you will HAVE to get out to the range.

I haven’t won the lottery, or invented the next widget so spending 10,000 hours of range time is cost prohibitive shooting centerfire ammunition, but I since still have to practice I decided to try a .22 rimfire.

After hearing a lot of good things about the Walther I bought myself a P22. I was told that it needed a long break in period using premium ammunition and repeated cleanings in order for it to function properly. However, even after firing 500 premium rounds through the gun, I was still having malfunctions with the gun.

A weak grip is notorious for causing malfunctions, so I spent time looking into that.

Not the problem.

Early model P22s had a magazine problem.  The newer (marked with a “b”) magazines have a 1inch slit cut into them for the rimmed cases to stack.  This is also not the problem

Several internet forums state that bulk green box federal rounds are not powerful enough to cycle the gun…

BINGO

In my search for cheap shooting those 550 round Wal-Mart boxes of ammo is pretty much all I shoot in my .22lr caliber firearms.

Now, that doesn’t help me much – higher velocity .22 ammo is getting expensive – I want to shoot as cheaply as possible so I kept searching for a solution. A gunsmith friend of mine told me that they changed out the recoil spring in later designs of the Walther P22. The new recoil spring is lighter.

I had also read on the interwebz that “cutting a couple turns off the spring” helped – Now I am not willing to butcher my gun by cutting springs – but I am willing to try a new factory spring. I called Walther customer service, explained my problem, and asked if I could purchase a spring. They were very helpful and sent me a new spring at no charge.

The one I received was a bit longer than the original, but it had a lot more “give”.
I replaced the Walther P22 Recoil Spring and as the video shows I was able to rapidly fire the firearm without any malfunctions. I don’t have enough rounds through the gun with the new spring to say the problem is fixed, but I am quite pleased with Walther working with me fix the problem.

As a value added tip for following along this far I am going to tell you an easier way to reassembly the slide back on the frame without using the little tool they send you:

How to Replace the Recoil Spring in a Walther P22

  • Put the recoil guide rod in your palm(non-dominant hand), and insert the spring over it.
  • Compress the spring, once compressed use your thumb and forefinger to grasp the recoil spring and rod. Several inches of rod should extend past your fingertips.
  • With your dominant hand pick up the slide and push the guide rod through the hole in the slide.
  • Grasp the end of the rod with your dominant hand. Once you have a firm grasp (otherwise you will shoot the rod across the room), let go with your non-dominant hand.
  • The Compressed spring should be inside the slide, with your hand holding on to the majority of the guide rod sticking outside the muzzle end of the slide.
  • Guide the slide onto the frame, with the barrel inserted into the slide and slightly extended outside of the slide.
  • Slowly, and carefully release tension on the guide rod so that it retreats back into the slide. Once the guide rod is touching the frame wiggle it until it slides into the detent inside the frame.
  • Let go of the guide rod
  • Rack the slide
  • Press the slide down over the ears in the frame
  • Ride the slide forward
  • Push the locking bar back up
  • Function check the pistol

It takes some practice to do it this way, but it is a much simpler way of doing things.

Understanding the USE of Handguns for Self-Defense

The Gun Digest Book of .22 Rimfire: Rifles ·Pistols ·Ammunition

Why Prepare

Why Prepare
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Why Prepare?  Well, let me take a quick second to tell you why we prepare.

Monday I spent all day out in the woods for work, It was raining, and by the end of the day I was soaked to the bone. I am not complaining mind you, as a bad day in the field is better than a good day in the office, but by the time I got home all I wanted to do was dry off, warm up, and get a nice hot meal and brag to my wife how cool a job I have…

So as I am getting close to home my wife called telling me a tree fell in the yard, she said we still has electricity, but she was worried. On first glance it wasn’t that big of a deal, but as I walked closer I noticed that the tree caught my power line and did a lot of damage.

I was worried about the risk of fire and electrocution, as we had a tree crossing a power-line, into a wire fence, with the meter ripped away from the house and loose wires hanging free, all in the middle of a rain storm

I went into emergency mode, and told the wife to grab a set of clothes for the night and call the electric company as I turned the breaker off and checked the animals.

Luckily, as we have flashlights hanging from several doorknobs, and “go-kits” with a change of clothes medicine and a little emergency cash, emergency mode only lasted a few minutes.

We went up the street to the hotel, splurged on a nice restaurant meal, and the next day I called an electrician and the insurance company.

This was an unexpected problem, and rather minor, but by having a good general preplan, it made our life a lot easier, even though we never thought this particular event would happen.

This leads me to my final point. Plan A is a long, uneventful, and happy life, Plan B is a good rifle, and plenty of beans and bullets. We are not scared, because we are prepared. Prepping makes life easier, and if it doesn’t your doing it wrong.

Maybe you can see how it helps me and my family to have some level of constant preparedness.  If it does, maybe you can stop asking the question, Why Prepare?