I'm not a hunter. I get all my meat from the grocery store. But I want to learn how, just in case the day ever comes when I need to. I live in the country. On my land I've seen rabbits, raccoons, opposums, squirrels, armadillos, and even deer. I need go no further than my own backyard to practice.

So my question is... how do I get started?

There are many good books with technique...many of them survival books.

The most important thing you need to do is actually do it! Practice and go through with it all the way now so that when you have to it's not new.

First there are so many different types of snares and traps, you need to determine what type/size of critters your going to be going after. The animals in the area you will be doing this in will largely determine this. Second will they be ground dwellers, tree dwellers or both. After you decide what your going after, the best way would be to find someone who has done this before and have them show you. But seeing that you’re asking here I suppose thats probably not going to work. Second best is to look on the Internet or our local library there are some instructional videos and books that can show you how to do it. After you watch a few videos or read the books, go out to the nearest patch of woods (after checking local regs.) and try out your new knowledge and turn it into a new skill. One word though be patient it will take several tries to get it right.

Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making by Gibson
This is a html file of an excellent book from the 1800's.

-Blast

Snaring is a particularly cruel way of killing animals. You should only get started only when you're life depends on it. And if your interested in larger game you should be prepared for the possibility of criminal prosecution by Wildlife and Animal protection services if your lucky and by the Poilce if you're unlucky and you've snared someone rather than something.

A properly set up snare would never snare a person...unless that were the purpose of the snare.

When my life depends on it would be a pretty bad time to start learning, don't you think? I might starve to death before I figure out what the hell I'm doing wrong.

You would normally have about 3-4 weeks to figure out what your not doing properly in setting up a snare. If you can't figure that out in that time then you should probably adopt the Bear Grylls throwing a stick technique.

First step that a lot of people have missed is a consult with your state's fish and game agency- you might have seasons and trapping permits to worry about. This isn't the real thing, and should be conducted within the law- it covers you.

Second, you aren't snaring deer in most places. Not legally, and poaching for larger animals usually is more trouble than most people want to be in. If you ever NEED to snare deer, you scale up, try a different type of trap, or learn to hunt.

Third, learn to skin. Buy a few live rabbits and chickens, kill them (throttle or machete), and clean them. If you can't do that, you shouldn't worry about this yet.

3-4 weeks? Maybe that's what it says in some book. But have you ever gone without food for just one week? You'll still be alive, but you'll also be very weak. It's not like you're going to just be sitting on the sofa waiting to snare a rabbit. You're going to be building shelter, searching for water, and doing whatever other tasks the situation demands. All of this will be burning energy, and every single day that you don't eat will make survival more and more unlikely.

I don't gamble, and I especially don't gamble with my life.