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meat trapper, thanks for this design!! we have a LOT of rabbits in our neighborhood {an evening walk a while ago for about 3 miles, and I counted over 50}. so many that they are pretty much a pest, tearing up gardens and lawns. so after watching this vid, I built about a dozen traps out of my old cedar privacy fence, some chicken wire, and old wire coathangers for the triggers and locks. and they work amazingly well!!I didn't use any bait. and it is fairly warm right now at low 80's during the day and low 50's at night. what I found best was to set them up like a snare. and set them in the rabbits normal runways, like where they like to get under my shed, or through the gaps in the fence. I have caught 5 of them in 3 days, and will wait for others to move in and do it all over again. it worked so well that I made a couple more for neighbors also.
I had a pest rabbit that was eating all my beans. I built this trap and I caught it on day 2. Lovely design. I made 3 further improvements: - placed a metal plate in the door to act as a more efficient weight. - Placed two magnets on the sides of the opening, to make contact with the door's metal plate so the door is completely impossible to open now once the rabbit is inside. - added hinges to the top of the trap so it's possible to open the top and do maintenance. I can link you a video if you're interested.
Sounds like a great upgrade! Feel free to link a video - RU-vid will flag your comment as Spam because it has a link in it - but I will manually approve it so it is visible.
Thanks! Here is my rabbit trap (with also trail camera showing the first catch). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Do4O3msU_G4.html I linked back to your video because I basically copied your design.
I recently discovered your channel, and I'm glad I did. I used to hunt rabbits, and probly will again, but this is a good alternative; quiet, doesn't need ammunition, and can be used over and over again. Really good info.
Really great video man. I'm pretty sure I know how to put the trapping wire on but I wish I could have seen that part a little better. But I'm glad I found this video, such a better design than I'm use to. Thanks man.
Nothing wasted at all my friend. What is a waste is the kids these days that don't even have a father; much less the gumption to build a box trap. Good for you for involving your grand daughter. She is a lucky girl to have a grand dad who cares.
Pretty slick idea although nothing big but I would of loved to see the backside of box with the door clearance with the wire. Like i said no big thing. I made a wooden trap box using a conibear trap at big end and hard ware cloth at the other end but an animal ripped apart the hardware cloth stealing my bait never setting off the trap. !?!? No Wolverines where i live dunno !?!?!
they don't like those metal traps on amazon. but my rabbits and squirrels love these wooden traps! they won't leave them alone and i get tired of taking them for a "ride" ten miles out in the country to release them every darn day,lol. they even scratch at the door when i'm too lazy to set it to get a free peanut!
Trapper, I am going to make a box like this. I always had luck with using old wood from old barns on the other type rabbit boxes. I raise my own rabbits and have a pan under my Does pens and I bottle their urine and droppings to scent my traps to attract other rabbits. Thanks for the design.
Nice trap,this design has been around for many years,I have modified the trigger hole over the years by adding a short piece of pipe in the trigger hole to prevent ware and tear on the hole edge
It occurs to me back in the early 1970's I used to live-trap ground squirrels using a thin wooden box, with a screen front (the squirrels couldn't break through). I made a track for a vertical, sheet metal sliding door (cut from an old real estate sign) from of the sides of an old window screen I attached to the box. I drilled a hole in the door just above the top of the box, attaching a nail to one end, and the other to the bale of a regular mousetrap. The nail was stuck through the hole in the door, and another string hung down from the bait pedal and through the roof attached to a ball of typing paper slathered with peanut butter. When the squirrel grabbed the ball hanging overhead, it tripped the mousetrap, pulling the nail out of the door, allowing it to fall shut.
Hello Bama Trapper, Like your videos, have been thinking a lot about learning how to trap ! You obviously know what you are doing ! Great information. Keep up the great work ! Bill
I'm going to convert some of my old mink traps that have been sitting in my garage for a few years into this trap. I like your design better than any of the others I've seen. Thanks for the video. I liked and subscribed. Merry Christmas!!
I've been using traps like these for years. I like to put a small handle on the side in case I want to move it or I need to let a unwanted catch out. That way my hands aren't near the trapdoor
Nice setup I like the trigger I made one for my old box today, I will build some this week for my rabbit pen, the predator got in and hawk took my population its my fault didn't keep trees cut and didn't expect wire daily,
The great thing about traps like this is you can deploy them and catch multiple game and have a larger cage somewhere else to fill up. Like I've heard many times before, live game doesn't spoil. Its easy to feed till your ready to eat.
I thought the same thing when he mentioned rain. I thought he was gonna say the rain swelled the wood and made it HARDER to fire. Metal on metal would eliminate that problem.
Tom from Cinci, OH. Thanks for your tremendous videos. I'm a trapper because of you. I was making a rabbit trap like the one you've showed here. But I can't figure out how to place the wire that keeps the door shut in the front ... and what is the gauge of the wire. How do you connect it? Thanks very much.
I wonder if you could make the pole out of thick wire and put a orange flag on there to make it look like a gas line marker. I live in an area where my traps have been stolen before so i don't want to invest a lot of money just so someone can come and take it.
I also like to build them and just let them set in the barn for a couple of months to get rid of human smell and fresh cut wood smell. I use lettuce or cabbage for bait
It is a piece of wire pointing towards the door. When the door comes down it pushes the wire down, allowing the door to close. The door having passed by, the wire then springs up preventing the door from opening until the wire is held down by us.
hii, why dont you just use hardware wire cloth to make the whole trap instead of using wood ? does rabbit really will go into a wooden box ? will they feel like threaten with enclosure such this ? hence wire mesh will be more "open".... thx andrew
Hey trapper..... your video (& explanation) does NOT show exactly HOW a wire at the front of the door PREVENTS the door from opening. Does the door slam past it and it then springs UP, with that wire being just long enough to poke the door after the door has slammed shut?
You are right, the video doesn't show that clearly and that is critical. Yes, the door has enough weight so that when it slams shut, it is able to depress the wire down, then when the door comes to rest, the wire springs back up resting against the front of the door preventing the animal from pushing the door open. So the wire (or you can use a strip of flat metal) must be flexible enough to let the door depress it down and swing closed, but strong enough to pop back into place and keep the door from opening. I should have showed that more closely, and perhaps painted the wire white so it would show up better. Thanks for the tip for improvement and thanks for watching!
***** I got the concept... All except how the wire lock works... I would have liked to see the specifics on how that works. That's obscure... Can't see how a strait wire would lock the box.
It's not straight. It lifts off the bottom board about a half inch. The door closing pushes it down, but as soon as the door closes, it springs back up. You can also use the lid off a tin can. Fold it in half and screw the bottom half to the floor board. Works exactly the same way.
Thanks... ! Lots of good information, I can immediately think of a better locking system, but your way is certainly simple. What is your BEST bait for cottontail rabbits? I have a Havahart trap out and the rabbit goes everywhere but IN it... using apples for now, but need to get that bunny IN the trap :)
+Frederick Dunn I don't see a lot of difference between baits, with apples being as good as anything else. To me the more important aspect than bait is trap location and time of year. A trap placed directly in a run will catch much better than one casually placed near a trail. In addition, boxes catch much better in cold weather than hot, as a rabbit will hole up in a wooden box to get out of the cold, wet weather. Be sure to cover the trap with grass or brush and make it as much like a tunnel instead of a wire box. Good luck!
Fantastic advice from The Meat Trapper, as always. Often rabbits won't go very far out of their way. I've had several nights of tracks in the snow along one side of the trap, yet none in the trap, solved merely by rotating the trap 90°. Blocking and fencing are helpful. Bed the trap well. Sweet apples work much better than tart. Apple juice in a small dish or sponge works. A little sweet meadow or timothy hay around the entrance for visual appeal can help.
Hello, few ?s. How do you quickly dispatch a rabbit caught in this box or are they frozen on cold nights? If used on below zero nights do you bait them? If so what bait would not attract coons , only rabbit. Would birch tips work? Thank you Steve, Manitoba.
Screw a piece of wire onto the entrance board so it lines right up to the door when closed it shoves the wire out of the way and when the door passes the flexible wire springs back up and blocks the door
I really like your design on this buddy! I've got a beagle and am expecting pups in about a month or a little more. This summer I'm gonna live catch some rabbits for training purposes. I'm kicking around the idea of making a double doored trap. I think I can just make a second door with a board that'll just catch under the one that holds your trigger and both doors should slam shut at the same time. That way I can just drop a bunch of these in their trails and blind set them without worrying about bait or the like. What do you think?
I think a double doored design set as a blind set is a great idea. Set in a trail and cover with brush and it would look like a tunnel. The warmer the weather, the more food is available and the less bait works - so I think it's a great idea!
Beaver Bandit Outdoors Perhaps brush was a bad choice of words - I usually cover the trap with some weeds or grass pulled out of the ground. It helps camoflaouge it without interfering with the door.
Hi Meat Trapper I been having a hard time making the trigger, what is the Best way to make them I have 11 or 12 gauge wire I have a Vice but can't get the bend as small as yours is there a Tool I need or something I'm missing.....Thanks BJ
A sharp blow directly on the top of the skull with a stout wooden club will stun the animal. Flip the animal on it's back and place the club across the throat, then stand on the ends of the club.
I have a significant rabbit population that is wreaking havoc on young trees and seedlings in my apple orchard. Arkansas law stipulates max 8 inches wide and 10 inches tall interior dimensions for a rabbit box trap. However I see a great variance in recommended lengths. How long do you make your boxes and where along that length do you place your trigger. I want to get a half dozen of these made before the weather turns off cool and the rabbits decide my trees are a food source sgain.
The length is not critical - as long as the box is long enough for the rabbit to get all the way into it before hitting the trigger, and then 6 inches or more from the trigger to the end of the box here bait can be placed. The trigger needs to be far enough into the box so that when the rabbit hits the trigger - he is completely inside the box. I don't have a set length because I just use scrap wood. 24 to 30 inches is plenty. The best tip I can give is to try and use weathered, no treated wood. Old barn wood is great. Good luck!
+The Meat Trapper Thanks. I have a bit of scrap wood around here that has been laying around for a year or two. Guess tomorrow some of it becomes traps.
I grew up making these in the 80's & early 90's. I now have a 8 year old son & i refuse to let him play video games or play on phones ect.we hunt, fish & ride bikes & atvs. No indoor poison devices.i think i will get him to help me & we can make a few of these ol rabbit gums to put in a thickett.i wish more dads did this kind of stuff.our kids are being brain washed these days.its real sad.there our future.something has to change now or its not gonna be good.thanks for the video.cool trap my friend.
Cant show it on RU-vid obviously, but you grasp the rabbit behind the head with one hand, by the hips with the other. Do a half squat with your hands across your knees and then push your knees outward. This separates the spine from the skull and painlessly kills the rabbit instantly.
Box traps for rabbits work best on a cold winter night. The rabbit enters the box for protection from the weather as much as for the bait. Be sure to place the box very close to or in a trail used by the rabbit. There should be weeds or brush to serve as cover as the rabbit does not like to be in the open. Finally, if the weather is warm and food is plentiful, there is little reason for the rabbit to enter a box so you may be better off snaring them. Hope this helps.
