Checking the line and found one of my K9 snares snapped. The cable was 7x7 3/32", the snapped end was frayed 7" or 8" on the end. Under 10X magnification the strand tips are round with a tiny divot in the center and I see no sign of cutting ( by tools) or chewing. I had a deer stop clamped at a 5" loop. Not a catch circle but ground stomped up only on one side. Lot of leave, hard to see any tracks. So could a large deer break the cable or did I catch bigfoot ? -Thanks

Sounds like a chew out to me.

I held the broken snare up to a new from the same lot and it looks like it broke at the end where the slider is attached.

A Squatch for sure! Show it to Bobo, he will tell you.

No way it was a deer. May be a defective cable ??

I'd say chew out!

Call in SWAT! We have to catch the Bigfoot!

May have been. Went back and looked closer in the day light, found a few tuffs of deer hair . The cable looks like it broke at the deer stop which is a small steel nut I crimped on the cable( this was a Dakota Line versatile snare) . So because it broke about 4" from the end It would seem to rule out a chew out or someone else releasing the deer as it does appear to have been a deer at this point.

Squatchs carry pouches of deer hair to foil Trackers

Sounds like the deer stop may have damaged the cable when it was crimped. Is that your take on it ???

And occasionally deer turds too.

LOL. good to hear some humor in this world.

Yes, the break is close (from memory) where the deer stop was crimped . I'm just glad it got away without trying to deal with that alone. Outside my 12 year old trapping partner, I have no "buddies" to help me out.

If you put BADs on your snares Big Foot will release himself.

Yes, will be adding them to all my snares this week.

Geez I didn't know that...when I tasted them near a squatch sighting I could have sworn those were from rabbit

That deer could have stayed for you. I'm sure season is in somehow some way......
MEAT IS LIFE. Remember

Deer stop damaged cable allowing it to fray and break. If using a nut for a deer stop it wants to be tapped on ONLY enough for the lock to stop when hitting it. Remember nuts have threads inside and hammering one on tight for a deer stop will allow the threads inside the nut to crimp and/or cut the cable, weakening the cable severely. Eric

I doubt if an aluminum stop damaged the cable.I've used them a lot.Keep in mind,the deer may have gotten it's antler snagged,not a foot,so no chance of a foot slipping out and he will break out.I've seen it happen on 3/32".

I agree with the aluminum part but the OP said it was a steel nut.
Surprised you've seen a deer break 3/32". I have held more moose in 3/32 than I care to think about. Never lost one unless there was a BAD in the system.

I have seen one caribou with antlers in a wolf snare. Had that snare twisted up like a spring. I could see that breaking eventually.

I've never seen a deer break 3/32 and I've never had a failure with smashed on nuts, especially the tiny 6-32 or 8-32 nuts used as deer stops, but I guess anything is possible.

Can the OP post a picture of the broken cable?

If you've ever seen one get an antler in one,you will either see a broken cable or you will own a souvenir antler.

Yep ! On that caribou I couldn't get very close. It was like a whirling dervish ! I had to wait until he stopped dancing around and I shot the antler in two, and he ran off.

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow. I'm only missing about 4" of cable. Yes standard snare swivel on end.

i'm usually swearing at the deer when i find everything disassembled on the ground but using break aways does make it easier than the project of releasing them. even with break aways, expect to hold a few deer. i'd suggest always carrying a tarp to throw over them and a pair of cutters because sooner or later you are going to need it

I have a theory. (Could be wrong, but it’s still a shot)

Nuts that haven’t been annealed are harder. It takes a heavier hammer blow to crimp them than if they were annealed. When the standard deer stop (nut) in this case was crimped, the hammer blow may have caused the nut to pinch the cable, thus creating the point of failure under stress.


Had the deer stop (nut) been annealed, perhaps the cable wouldn’t have been pinched, because of the softer nature and less force required to mash it, and it is possible that the cable would have held.




Thoughts?

Anyone agree? Everyone disagree? Anything? Learning why cable fails benefits all of us...