Hunting and Trapping Kit for Survival (No Firearms)

Putting together an inexpensive hunting and trapping kit, allows one to gather small game during a survival situation, or as a supplement to one’s regular diet. The idea with this hunting and trapping kit was to keep the cost relatively low, make the hunting and trapping kit easily packable, and avoid inclusion of firearms which too often require special permits (or may be prohibited entirely by oppressive governments).

The first item for the hunting and trapping kit is a serviceable knife. For this I choose the Cold Steel Bushman Bowie knife. The knife is designed for survival use, can be fashioned into a spear, and is relatively inexpensive.

Trapping small game such as rabbit, squirrel, and birds can return a meal for a small amount of work. Including a few metal rat traps in the kit allows one to set out a quick trap line. These rat traps will easily take game the size of a squirrel or a rabbit. The all-metal traps are stronger and last longer than those with the wooden base.

For game that is a bit larger I include a few snares. Snares can be very effective, but it is often the case that for any game larger than a hare, the snare wire gets twisted to such an extent after the animal has been caught that the snare isn’t useable a second time. Still a large raccoon, or such, makes a fine meal for the cost of a snare. Properly set, snares will also catch deer. The snare will hold the deer, but not kill it, so if you set a snare for deer be sure that you have a way to kill the deer after it has been caught (maybe with the Bushman Bowie fashioned into a spear).

I have previously written about the Conibear trap, and a few of these traps included in your hunting and trapping kit can be effective when set along runs and at the entrances to burrows and dens.

The Pathfinder School / Self Reliance Outfitters sells the DF-4 Trap Trigger, which is a trigger designed for use in the Figure-Four Deadfall. The DF-4 trigger makes it easy to set deadfalls in the field without the need to spend time constructing triggers. The DF-4 triggers are light-weight and are worth adding to your hunting and trapping kit if you use the Figure-Four Deadfall.

Game is often found near bodies of water, and of course fish, frogs, and turtles may be caught from ponds, lakes, and streams. For this I include a pocket fishing kit, gill net, and a heavy-duty frog gig.

For hunting, there is a slingshot and a pack of ammo (steel balls). Although it takes practice to develop skill with a slingshot, it is quite possible to hunt small game with a slingshot at ranges of 10 - 15 meters. Some slingshots can be modified, allowing them to shoot full-size arrows. These modified slingshots are known as sling-bows, and they can be used to take most any mid-sized game that could be taken using a regular recurve bow.

 

If you are able to spend a little more money when building your hunting and trapping kit, you could include a take-down bow, such as the Nomad Survival Bow, and perhaps a few extra take-down arrows such as the Pocket Hunter Arrows.

This hunting and trapping kit will easily fit in your bug-out bag, or could be cached where you could recover it when needed. Because the overall cost of this kit is fairly low, it can be assembled and left to be used at a future time, and if lost you don’t suffer a significant financial loss.