Hey guys, I'm looking at trying my hand at running some snares, do you guys buy yours premade or do you build them yourself? In Wyoming we need a 295lb or less break away on them and Ive had a time finding some premades with the break away.

Thanks!

A lot cheaper to make your own.
Once you have some snaring experience you can custom make what you need which is far better than generic pre made snares.
But like you said some jurisdictions require a lot of jewellery on snares so if that is your case best to buy a few as a template so you learn how to cobble that junk together properly.

If you are going to run a lot them, think it's something you'll enjoy, and have time for it, you can build them yourself. I don't run a bunch of them, so I buy them premade. That's what you may want to do at first just to get a feel for them.

Whoever you purchase them from can build them to your breakaway spec's. Allan Minear on here may have what you need. John Graham and Marty Seneker's snares would have what you need to meet the breakaway spec's. Those are just a few that came to mind but there are many other good snare makers that can provide what you need. Maybe some others will post some other names here for you.

Long run it's cheaper unless you only use a handful over your life

Make them to your state specs. You can make them longer or shorter as you need. Make them so they suit your way of snaring. They will be quicker to set and you will feel more comfortable using them.

I would recommend buying a dozen or two to check them out and test them. Then if you want to continue snaring you can make your own and change anything you didnt like about the ones you bought, but you can use them as a template for a starting point on making your own.

Allan Minear is supposed to be a good snare maker and being next door in Montana is I'm sure familiar within Wyoming snare regs. But John Graham was mentioned and while I don't know anything about his snare making, he is a good trapper and located in Wyoming so he also will be familiar with your regs.

I took the South Jersey Snaring and DP school 5 years ago. Up to that time I’d caught 2 rabbits and a 40-pound beaver in snares. Also, I had no confidence in using snares and needed some expert pushing to get me into using them at all.

The snares they use started out being home made but thru necessity, morphed into capture devices, with experience. Newt Sterling’s snares are second to none. Ron Jones’ builds dynamite snares also. In the process of learning about building my own, I also used some Roadrunner and Steck’s Dakotaline snares. And talked extensively to Dale Billingsley. In the end, I opted for 5/64 7x7 cable, mini-cam locks, poly whammies, and inline crane swivels. I use the same cable size and locks for beaver, coon and fox. I have a bench swager which cuts the noise since I build them in my basement. They work fine.

Do your homework. Try a couple different designs. Find suppliers who have the parts you need. You’ll botch the first dozen you make—when you go to load them. Eventually you’ll get better.

Arthritis is making depressing springs a thing of the past for me. I can’t do it all day anymore. With snares, the hardest part is pounding in the anchor.

Make them. You will learn a lot in the process.

Going to buy some first and then start making them as I learn.

I would recommend of you buy snares to learn from, get them from a custom shop primarily a snare shop. The generic snares from the more general shops leave a bit to be desired.

Thanks.Good to know

I like mine to be just enough cable for the loop size I want, ferruled to 5-6' of 9 or 11 gauge wire

Atta boy, good plan! Then you can customize the way you like. I bought a bench swager on sale. Don't waste money on a hand held one, when I switched to the bench mount, it's night and day difference. I don't bolt it down or nothing. It's heavy enough and I just use spring clamps to hold it for a bit.

Thanks and good information on the bench swager

Awesome thanks guys! Im trapping a real real long dried creek bed across the high desert of Wyoming and there are so many cut trails up and out of the creek bed to the top of the high bank, all of them have coyote/fox and occasionally cat tracks I figured that I would cover them easier with snares than putting a trap on each, especially with the freeze thaw that we have been having this year.

Sounds like pretty open terrain, in that case I'd suggest looking into Senneker style snares. They will have thin cables that are not as easy for the animals to detect, and are designed to kill very quickly so you don't get chew outs. I'd definitely buy the first ones and then copy the design. They are a numbers game, you need to set a lot of them since they are basically blind sets and you're not calling the critters to the location. I wouldn't bother setting less than 4 dozen to start and adding to them as you go. You'll want to order at least 6-8 dozen to start IMO. Be sure to get yourself some good cable cutters. These small cutters are the ones I like best... compact cable cutters You'll need them to cut the snares off your catches as well as to cut the snares apart so you can save and reuse your reusable snare parts like the locks & springs. After a couple seasons of saving components you'll be able to buy just the cable and stops and a few parts to add to the ones you saved to then start building your own. If you have to buy all the components from the start they'll cost you near what the complete snares cost unless you buy in huge bulk.

I don't use cable restraints enough to justify making them myself.
I buy a dozen at a time as needed.
I keep thinking I will get in somewhere that they will be to my advantage but it hasn't happened yet.

Huge learning curve, theres an art to building and loading a good snare. IMHO

Agreed! But as a trappers ed instructor, you wouldn't believe the stuff I've seen people try to use. In NJ we have a few of the best snaremen in the country, and Ive been fortunate to know them and learn a bit too