Just finished the cable restraint course. Any advise?

Buy yourself some decent gear and get out and scout around looking to see where they are walking . Than put your training to use . I was a little slow to get the idea for about the first week . Once I started positioning them correctly it made a difference .The best way to learn is by doing it .So go have some fun and learn Good luck

I just did the same thing, congrats. Now to learn myself how to use them properly.

Watching a bunch of things like this:

Snare School

and reading the threads here as I'm gathering my supplies.

Good luck!

You'll need a catch pole.
Mid cable swivel is good.
Portable cable cutters are good.
Don't stake where he will get into jaggers.
Set ON tracks.
Take an old guy.
It's like blind set traps with a different tool.
Ask questions at conventions and stuff.
Ignore the CR haters.

I use CR's, have a handful out right now but I prefer footholds. The "no entanglement" and some of the other rules really limit where you can set them. One big plus is they are not affected by wet freeze/thaw conditions at all.

footholds still benefit me more i think but as i try new things in this down market,i may work with some next winter.

Get out on your line while there is snow on the ground and look for tracks. Follow them around looking for natural points that narrow the path and make it perfect for hang you CR.

you will learn tons out there this time of year for sure.i still say the snow has taught me more than any other tool over my 35 yr career.

I'm probably going to grab the .22 and go for a walk along the reservoir today for just this reason in fact...

Yep, snow on boots.
Got goldenrod?
Got clear cuts?
Learn about face guides.
Deers are trouble.

Set several on each trail 10 feet apart. Set on croooked parts of the trail so the loop will blend in with the background. Take some snap type clothes pins with you(thanks HERN) to mark their location. They will be hard to find. You want spots where the animal is moving right along, not standing still so in between attracters, not at the attracter. Your own truck tracks in golden rod fields is good. You can narrow down trails a little bit with light brush, nothing big, no major changes to the trail. You own trail in the snow and you walk right by the snare with out breaking stride. They do work where traps wont, they are a good addition to you trap line.......jk

CR's have been pretty good for me over the years but I still prefer footholds and set them 80-90% more than CR's.



If you look closely you can see the second cable and it's support wire on the right track.



A typical location for me:







The stake is a trick I use because there is such a large catch circle with cables. I pound it in a foot or so inside the edge of the circle and chase the fox into it so I can better control it for dispatch.



Here is another good location that I have used repeatedly over the years to catch multiple fox. I
typically catch 4-6 fox here in a season. I just keep rebuilding the area with loose brush after each catch.



The cable on the left split:



The cable on the right split.



A catch at the above location:



A rare CR double:



Same location, different angle:



This cabled fox was killed by a coyote, The yote grabbed him by the back and shook.



See how nice the puppy is sitting? That's because right before the picture I had told him to sit. He hadn't seen many live fox close up at that time and broke the command and rushed the fox. The same instant I bellowed "SIT" he hit the other cable and did a back flip when he reached the end. He looked at me with new respect and appreciation for the awesome power he hadn't realized I possessed. He was a good boy for most of the rest of that day.

Just got back from resetting the line.

Pulled some unproductive sets, rebedded the rest with dry peat and put in some new sets in locations I couldn’t access during the warm, wet weather.

I let the tracks in the new snow show me where to hang a few more cables.

Excellent pics to learn from, lug.

Nice job Lugnut.

Do y’all not have any deer?

Yeah, lot's of them. They're a huge pain in the arse always knocking cables down.

People claim they see a deer every once in a while in PA

I agree with Lugnut and others about preffering to use footholds .But I have been using cables for three years now .And they really work if you set them up in the right places Plus they can be put out so quickly and the weather does not affect them as much as it does footholds And Lugnut great job with the pictures showing locations to use them Those show exactly where you need to hang them .Also to the OP or anyone else just getting started using CR'S .Staking them in the ground is a very important part of using them . I guess because of the length of the cable even a 12 lb fox can enlarge the hole and begin ti work the stake up and or out.It did not take me long to see that staking was as important as the instructors taught us in the training session And to all the instructors doing the training through the PTA .Thanks and keep up the good work