Game
THE NOTION OF CATCHING GAME IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION is an attractive one,
mostly because you can end up eating something substantial that tastes
like the meat many of us eat on a daily basis. The reality, however, is that
catching game is difficult, especially if you’re talking about anything larger
than a rabbit.
Without a gun, ammunition, and hunting experience, the idea that
you might kill big game is wishful thinking at best. So what does that leave
us with? Small game.
Trapping and Snaring Small Game
Once you accept the reality that nabbing big game is an exercise lim-
ited to only a handful of survival situations, the world of small game
opens before you. The advantage of trapping and snaring small game
is the same as that of fishing: you can set a series of traps that work
while you don’t. Done properly—and in the right location—these sim-
ple devices can add enough sustenance to your diet to keep you going
for a while.
In addition to (hopefully) providing you with food, the other ben-
efit of creating traps and snares is that it is proactive and enables you to
feel like you’re doing something to better your situation. When you build
these tools, you’re concentrating for hours on a specific survival task. This
helps to occupy your mind—and to defeat boredom, apathy, and depres-
sion—thus helping to keep you alive.
Another benefit of traps and snares is that they’re effective anywhere
in the world. A figure-four deadfall, for instance, will work just as well in
the African savannah as in the northern boreal forest.
There’s strength in numbers when it comes to traps. The more you
set, the more luck you’ll have. If you can set 45 rabbit snares, do it. You’ll
have to invest more energy at the front end, but you’re also setting yourself
up for greater rewards at the back end.
Although many people tout the benefits of complex traps and snares,
my philosophy is to follow the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid! The
elaborate ones require tremendous effort and expertise and often don’t
yield any more than the basic ones.
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