X2 on the foot catch if it were a body catch or neck catch I wouldn't think they would pull the loop down tight without getting caught. Depending on the lock you are using also. I have caught a few coyotes by the foot (not on purpose) but this is the only thing I could think of without having the coyote there when you check.

My talk at the FTA will be on the firing vs drag. swing out fire vs downward fire. And if the support is not solid the best loaded cable will miss. On a k9 or cat the animal has a vertical chest.(swing out fire)for the cable to be pulled down means either the animal got head, both front feet and most of the body through the loop before it started to fire or drag, or the animal stopped and backed up before the lock could set, or as was stated a foot. Most of the time for me when I a get a pull down the loop was too low for the spot and the animal stepped or jumped through. But again who knows

Aren’t one and eleven o’ clock the same position distance wise from center?

I fail to see how eleven o clock (30 degrees left of center) is any better than one o clock (30 degrees right of center).

Well It depends on how your looking at It. If your looking at the loop and the lock Is on your right then the lock would be at the 1 o'clock position. And In my opinion would be harder for It to close since It has to move up the loop and past the 12 o'clock position.. If the lock would be at the 11 o'clock position It would take less movement to close It.

Well Beav I think you need glasses, or new ones. as it takes the same amount of effort to move the lock the same distance from left to right, or vice/versus in my experience. If the lock is in the 11 o,clock position it still has to go up and over the 12 position. Examples as in my previous post.

I think what Boone is trying to say is that 11 and 1 o'clock ARE the same, it just depends on which direction the animal is coming down the trail. That is, with '12 o'clock' being top center.

Well In my opinion when the lock is on the whammy side of 12 o'clock It takes more effort for the loop to close since the lock Is being pulled up and over the 12 o'clock position. I want my lock on the other side of 12 o'clock so It more or less Is free falling when critter sticks It's head thought It.

Correct, that is what I was trying to show, in my previous pictures.

With the lock on the down side of 12 you will have a lot of closed loops here because of wind

I like mine around 11:37

Would that be Canadian time?

No that would be the time period in and for New Foundland & Labrador found in Canada since 1949

I totally agree the lock needs to go up slightly over the top before it fires shut to ensure the coyote is fully committed to going through the loop. Far less knocked down snares as well. Its just like adding pan tension to a trap to ensure the animal is fully committed before the the trap fires. Once the coyote starts the snare moving though, it should fire shut very fast, why a loaded snare is so important IMO. #9 is the best support wire by far but still using as short of a length of it as you need to hold your snare in position is important. No need to use 30" of wire if you can get by with 12" off a killpole, tree, or other ridged support. (of course this isn't always an option for cable restraint states, but we were talking about real snaring. )

Here too, plus rabbits, coons, possums, and all that other junk that hits the bottom of the loop.

I rarely ever have a knocked down snare without a catch unless its deer going over the loop.

X2

Watched a Gary Jepson dvd. He has his lock around 2:00(or 10:00)

We don't have much In the way of wind problems here. And with a 12" loop 12" off the ground 95% of non targets are gong under the loop without hitting It. With most If not all of my snaring done after Dec 1st non target's aren't much of a issue.
And I will make a slight kink In that cable so the lock Is sitting just about flat but just on the verge of falling.
It seems to be working for me.

If your using a well loaded snare they will easily and quickly jump over the hoop and close very quickly with little pressure on bottom of loop.