That's news to me. Where's that in the regs? I've just never seen it.

If you look at Ohio's definition of what a relaxing lock is, it is a lock that stops moving when the animal stops pulling. There's not a lock out there that can move after the animal stops pulling.

We can use kill springs for groundhog snaring if you're a licensed nuisance trapper.

Everybody needs to calm down about relaxing or not and who did what. The regulations work. Snares are legal and that’s all that matters. Anti’s love this kind of discussion.:(

Unfortunately there is a lot of misunderstanding on the relaxing lock thing. What the industry calls a relaxing lock and what the rules say a relaxing lock is are two separate things. I think some states define this differently. That's why I always ask how does your state define a relaxing lock when they ask if a certain lock is relaxing or not.

Only thing we cant do with snares in Ohio other than the springs is use a drag on a snare, cant use them on pubic ground unless you're beaver trapping, and cant set them on a livestock trail or two track road.

I am PO'ed over Trappers Post "Ohio Snares article#8628725Yesterday at 01:37 PM
eric space OfflineOP
trapper
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Joined: Mar 2009
wantage n.j.
The writer of this article makes it sound like he was the sole reason there is snaring in states east of the Mississippi. The last sentence says it all: " But the impetus for this really started in Ohio, shortly before the turn of the century." ( my note: he is talking about 2000.)
New Jersey always had snaring. In 1984 we lost the use of the foothold trap and introduced regulations as to loop size, locks (no locks with springs, any other lock was considered non-fatal), deer stops and breakaways (all regulations the article's author takes credit for creating). The NJTA promoted snaring to other states. We had a committee that would attend other states conventions or DNR meetings to promote snaring. Art Monto, Emil Kwasnik, Jimmy D., Marty Scanlon, Jim P., and myself were some of the committee members.
I started selling snares commercially in 1990. By 1995 I was attending many of the state and national conventions in the east including the Ohio State Convention. In states where snaring was not legal sales were few but all the trappers I talked to were very interested about the prospects of using snares. In many states I did demos even if they could not snare. Newt Sterling was doing the same as me. Our demos were always standing room only as trappers were eager for snaring knowledge. I believe Ohio's first year of legal snaring was 1999. That's good for Ohio but hardly the bellwether for eastern snaring.



Like my daddy always said. " Get over it or die mad. The world won't care either way."

Hal left out the person who was instrumental in convincing the Fur Council to agree to snares in Ohio. Doug Haubert took Jeff Robinson of JR and Sons to Columbus to give a presentation to the Fur Council. After over an hour and honestly answering questions. There was a little bit of a compromise with snares only used on private land, not on public land.

I thought snares had been legal down here in Texas since before I was born?

Now I am going to have to do some investigating

When we worked on clarifying the description of a “ non locking snare” in Kentucky, which was confusing to everyone, we instead now call it a one piece closing device that is not spring assisted and we borrowed that I believe from another state. No one could define, it was left up to individual interpretation, what a relaxing lock truly was. This made everything about but the cam lock and Amberg lock legal. We considered the Ram as spring assisted.

Boy the hoops we trappers have to jump though to appease the antis

My guess is it is to appease the dog owners?

Yes, the houndsmen were sitting at the same table. We were trying to just get something solid that every person that may be involved from trapper to court judge could clearly understand. We had the same thought process on the foothold nomenclature to make it a jaw spread and do away with the #2 or smaller. Lots of traps anymore are not numbered one through four like they used to be.

Hats off to the UTK for cleaning up the Kentucky snare lock language....Approx what year did that take place?

Remember Dan DeZarn advising us to cut the locking tab out of the Gregerson locks circa 1984, and wishing we didn't have to do that.

Much better scenario here now thanks to the UTK.

I think that was one of the first things we worked on when we formed in 2004. Seems like the six inch jaw spread was easier accomplished than the snare clean up. I remember Dezarn saying to cut the tab outof the Gregerson lock to make it relaxing. The problem was a game warden, judge, trapper or houndsmen could look at a lock and have different opinions as to whether it was legal or not. Now, much easier to understand.

Whats the fur council? if it existed, it doesnt now.

Absolutely true in Michigan, the year was 2005!!

There is no such thing as a “Relaxing Lock. That is an oxymoron, and a term phrased by one of our own. Either a snare lock locks, or it is a cable guide or directional device. Not all DNR officials, special interest groups, or European Union members are mechanically inclined, nor necessarily interested in true animal humaneness, as long as their standards are achieved, erroneous or not.

pretty much. if the animal fights the snare at all a kink will develop behind the lock within a quarter of an inch. So of the locks that dont have the greatest lock up, they can only "relax" so far.

Wasn't that about the same time the bear hound hunters that also hunted bobcat , had HSUS help them stop bobcat trapping in Michigan?

As far as Hal being the author, I have no idea about how much he was involved in the snare laws, or getting snaring in Ohio.
While I was on his site, he did seem to be involved in many DNR issues.
I haven't been on his site in years, so have no idea what he did or didn't do.
Just that he was active in the regulations , and remember something about keeping beaver trapping season after Christmas.
Something about primness, which I fine strange, as most fur is prime in early December .