I posed this question to a very experienced trapper, but he didnt have a ton of experience with relaxing locks

I was in the shop making some snares and I had a question for ya. I might try some different things next year and one is implementing snares for bobcats. I generally trap country thats hard to get to ie, skiing if there is snow or just covering more miles then most trappers care too. It doesnt get me more fur but i do feel like I can have some country to myself lol.

Anyway Im making some bobcat snares and as you know they require a relaxing lock. 1/16” 1x19. Loaded. I had the plan of making pen sets much similar to how they do it up north for Lynx. I was planning on just wiring these to the tree “short”. Snare is just big enough to be opened about 8” or so. Loop on the end to get wired. My thought was, am I getting myself into trouble without a swivel? Will I get a lot dispatched with entanglement? Like to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance

If it was a non-relaxing lock I wouldn’t be so worried. I dont want a twist or chew out….

dont have to worry about swivels with bobcats. If you might catch a fox or coyote, that might be a different story.

I don't understand the reasoning for a relaxing lock if you're allowed to set in entanglement, but if that's the law, I'd use a longer snare to ensure the animal can get wrapped up in the entanglement so the snare will dispatch the catch. It doesn't matter what lock you use if they are hanging in entanglement they will be DOA like you want to avoid chew/twist outs. Swivels are not needed at all for dispatch snaring in entanglement.

Bobcat snares in my area need to have a relaxing lock. Its a measure I suppose to not kill any incidental lynx. The law says nothing about entanglement. That said there are no lynx where Im trapping.

I think Im going to build my snares like I usually do and hang em high. Entanglement is a given where I trap bobcats. Ive never snared one so Im cutting my teeth here lol. Thanks for the responses

Sounds good DT. You have to follow the law, as strange as it is. I think you'll like the results of your plans. Good luck.

I’m sure they will work for you. That does seem like a strange law, but you can work with it. Not a deal breaker, but I hate those type of wammys. I’ve just had better luck with poly. Like ADC said, I would set those up with a good extension. I would also want to take some free standing supports (9 gauge). You might find the perfect spot for a snare, with no tree to support it right on the trail. That would just give you a few more options.

I agree. Good ideas. I too hate those support collars.

Question… isn’t a relaxing lock supposed to not lock up if the animal stops pulling? Any way nice looking snare but like others I hate those supports. I can never get them to hold tightly enough.

That's the basic idea of it, but if they are used in good entanglement, the animal will wrap up tight enough that it kills them as they can't pull it any tighter. If they are set with no entanglement, for the most part, all the animals will be alive when you get there, they may chew out and not be there but they'll be alive somewhere, probably far away.

Im not a fan of the supports either. Just what i had left and figured I would make what I was thinking to better show my idea.

It seems a lot of lynx snares are just the loop swaged to wire, but again my main concern is the relaxing lock. I have heard bobcats go down pretty easy, but at the same time i could see problems arising with the relaxing lock not putting them down. Again our law says nothing about entanglement though it is clear that in my region, bobcat snares must have relaxing locks…. My usual snare has about a 4-5’ cable after the loop and i like hitching them around trees. Its very quick for me. I plan on doing the same and just lassoing them high for obvious reasons

I’ve had great success this year with the Newt locks.Dead in entanglement and alive in no entanglement. No law just experimenting.

The “Newts Master Lock”? I have some of those too. I made 48 snares and have them all loaded but I am waiting on some supplies to finish them.

Yep Newts Master lock.So far I love them!