Although you can technically for weeks without food, you're going to start feeling weak after just a few days. And in a survival situation, you want to make sure you have enough energy to not just stay alive, but to actively improve your changes of rescue. Foraging for food can work in some areas, but it can also be very time consuming. If you have the skills and materials, setting up traps can yield more food for less work.
Note that the following has been heavily sourced from an article originally published by Field and Stream.
You can significantly improve the chances your trap will work if you plan accordingly. Animals follow patterns and understanding these patterns can go a long way to helping you acquire a meal.
1. Location: Rabbits, muskrats, groundhogs, and other animals usually follow the same trails through meadows and forests. These trails make for ideal locations for traps. In bright sunlight such trails can be difficult to spot so make use of the shadows of early mornings and late afternoons as a guide.
2. Direction: Sometimes it is possible to improve the "funneling effect" of a trail by narrowing it with small sticks and brush stuck in the ground. Doing so will force animals to pass through your trap. In addition, horizontal sticks placed at just the right height can "trick" animals in to ducking right in to the snare you've set up.
3. Size: A good rule to follow is to make your trap's noose about 1.5 times the diameter of the head of the animal you wish to trap. Also, use materials that are strong enough for your intended prey, but weak enough to so that larger game won't be accidentally injured.
When it comes to making traps, the most important construction material is a spool of snare wire. According to Field and Stream, 26 gauge is about right for all-purpose small-game snares; 28 gauge for squirrels; and 24 or heavier for beaver-size animals. In addition, "soft, single-strand wire is superior to nylon monofilament because it holds its shape and game can't chew through it." In a pinch, snares can also be made from braided fishing superlines or 550 parachute cord.
This works best when set in a clearing where the trigger stick offers a handy perch. The slightest weight on the trigger should cause it to fall and the noose to catch the bird by its feet.
Your intention here is to create a precarious balance, so the slightest jostling of the trigger will cause the trap to collapse.
After dark, fish often cruise the shorelines of a lake or the shallow inside bend of a stream's ideal places for a trap.
Excellent tips on how to catch game to eat and help you when your lost.
Thanks DE. If you know of any other animal trap resources, let me know. I'd like to bring together a more complete list.
i like the twtch-up snare trap