what size and type of wire do you folks use for snaring hare and squirrels.. I have heard 24 gauge brass but only know one old timer that did it. Would you use soft or stiff wire also what size loop

From Ron.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthr...aring_the_Western_Red_Squirr#Post1126006

Never tried squirrels but on hares I always used .032 safety wire with about a 4 inch loop

Is soft annealed wire what you want or stiff?? How about snaring hares what size wire??

I posted a link that has the answers you are after, regarding squirrel snaring.

Thanks Mike do you know if it is a stiff wire or soft annealed??

I do not. Trapper Ron has always been helpful with questions asked, perhaps he will chime in. You could send him a PM with your specific questions.

Stainless steel the only way to go with rabbits. .22 gauge in 1 lb. rolls we can get it. Brass is garbage unless you want to catch and release a good percentage of rabbits. 1 lb. rolls available from Mercer's Marine in NFLD. It is Backwoods brand distributed by C.G. Emery International Ltd., Markham, Ontario 1 888 475 0111. Chinese but good for the job. Been using it for 45 years since we could first get it. Snared a ton of rabbits. Discard kinked snares but most you can reset after a catch.

Crosspatch is this the same wire that is used for fishing in deep water trolling ?

For hares, we use picture hanging wire or strip out the copper wiring. I have never snared squirrels before.

Don't know - .22 gauge stainless steel is the thing to remember

People gave up what we call "picture cord" here back in the '70's. Copper has to be like brass for twisting off. Go with the .22 gauge steel and you never go back.

Thanks for the help ordered some of both not expensive give them both a try. Trapper Ron said soft wire worked well also a good bit of info.

For squirrel snaring I prefer 16 lb test stainless steel fishing line as it’s a bit finer than the 24-gage brass wire and more flexible providing quicker loop closing IMO. Loop size of 1 ½ inches preferred but no larger than 1 ¾ inches with height off pole of 1 inch (length of a 22LR cartridge and bullet) being my preference.

Snare tied and mounted on pole as shown in the photo:
The 1-inch tag end above the loop discourages jumping over the loop. Snare tied on the side of the pole, and crossing over the pole below the snare loop discourages ducking under and/or around the loop.

I know it's overkill, but I used to catch snowshoe hares all the time in my standard coyote and bobcat snares back in MN
Beyond that, never actually tried to catch them, although if times got harder...
There is a guy I recently saw on Youtube, I forget the channel name but I can go find it in my history. But squirrel trapping is a regular part of his line, for food and for bait. He puts up clean poles between trees about chest height and the squirrels run them every day. A small loop (not sure what he uses) and he has them hanging there by the neck all the time.

I looked that guy up. He goes by "Kusk Bushcraft" on youtube.
I'm not a squirrel trapper but I was impressed. Seems like an all around good guy. I bet you will find his stuff interesting.