kill pole question

[conibear]

I have never used kill poles before only seen and read about them in articles in magizines, i know they would come in handy in many places i snare in north western minn were there is lot of pasture land and no entangelment Is there different sizes, do you paint them to camo them, how do you hook the snare to it. Any help would be great.

[buckfreak]

I think they are about the most used tool on the Iowa coon snare lines. I paint mine which are the type with the wire loop and tail. The older version had two washers with a cotter key and a nine guage tail.
Painting them helps them blend in better, paint all my snares too.
As far as fastening snares on them there are several ways. I usually run the end of the snare through the wire loop on the pole and then run the loop of the snare through the other end of the snare and cinch it down. You can also put the terminal end of the snare through the wire loop and take it out over the end of the support wire and back down over the top of the pole. There are some other ways that was on the sheet that they came out with but I can't find it.
Hope this helps.

[SteveCraig]

Conibear,
Kill poles were designed to kill your target critter quicker. The concept is that you are to use a long rebar instead of just a rebar stake to anchor your snare to. By using a longer than necessary stake, you leave aproximatley 1/2 or more of your stake sticking up out of the ground. By attaching your snare to the top of the kill pole, and using a very short snare, with a support wire welded to the top of the pole, the critter will wrap around the pole and choke down faster and kill itself quicker. As long as your pole does not spin, that is. Spinning defeats the proccess. I use 3 foot, 1/2 inch rebar for coon and drive the pole into the ground about14 inches or so. For coyotes, cats, I prefer 5/8 rebar poles 5 feet long. I drive these into the ground about 24 inches or so. Soil conditions will determine length of poles. You can get the same effect in brush by attaching your snare to a tree 3 to 6 feet high depending on the target critter. Generally kill poles are used in situations where there is less brush to tangle on, making the pole replace the brush and by attaching the end of your snare to the top of the pole allows the critter to hang himself. doesnt always work that way though.
FWIW
Steve

[conibear]

Thank's you guys i just bought some 1/2 inch rebar to start makeing some kill poles, i'm always excited to try knew things to make it more easier to snare or trap.