Is it legal to snare rabbits?

[sawmill]

I hear guys talking about snaring Bugs but when I tryed it here a few years ago I got busted for trapping without a lisence.150$ kick in the balls.So............is it or not?

[blacklab]

Page 85 says you can use a snare of less than 20 gauge, you may not use a snare of braided wire unless you hold a trappers licence.
I believe it used to read you could snare rabbits but only with snares meeting the above description, and you did not need a trappers licence.
I can,t find that in the current synopsis, but they didn't put it together to make it easy to stay out of trouble.
My take is it is still legal, and they make good stew.

[Woodrow]

how do ya snar bugs

[hunter1947]

I just talked to the person that i took my trapping course with. He said that you are allowed to trap or snare rabbits. Sorry for giving you the wrong wording Sawmill.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon11.gif.

[Will]

how do ya snar bugs
Something along these lines......:razz:
http://www.thehuntinglife.com/html/sections/articles/ferreting_trapping/rabbit-snaring-rabbits.html

[bcboy]

I put out some snares today but quickly took them down:icon_frow It was just snowing too hard. I will try again later.. hopefully post some pictures.
I also use <4" noose and I put it about 3-4" off the ground.

[Gun Dog]

A brief look at the synopsis shows that rabbits (eastern cottontail & European rabiit) are schedule C animals (can be captured or killed at any time anywhere in BC) and you do not need a hunting licence (p14).

Rabbits are not mentioned in the trapping regulations at all.

[Will]

A brief look at the synopsis shows that rabbits (eastern cottontail & European rabiit) are schedule C animals (can be captured or killed at any time anywhere in BC) and you do not need a hunting licence (p14).
Yes for non native bunnies, but be sure you know the diff before offing them outside of a season.........all we have around here are Snowshoes;)

[Stone Sheep Steve]

So setting up snares on Enterprise Road would be okay??:tongue:

SSS

[Will]

So setting up snares on Enterprise Road would be okay??:tongue:

SSS
If there's no Municipal Bylaw forbidding hunting within the limits then snare away:wink:

Just check the snares before the Kids start walking to school again......:oops:

[o2fish2day]

I looked into this last year. I couldn't figure out from the regs if it was legal so I e-mailed several COs and got 3 different answers. (one said yes, one said no and the other gave me a special exemption)

Out of frustration I e-mailed the individual who was supposed to be the authority in Victoria. After waiting many weeks and several follow-up e-mails they called me to say essentailly upon investigation is seems the BC COs have all been doing it differently. Some have said it's ok (in writting) and others have laid charges on people. When I asked if the lack of response was due to possible legal implications the individual I spoke with said...yes.

I indicated that he should get the issue clearly addressed in the 2007 synopsis since it seems to be an issue every year...

2007 rolls around and the wording is exacly as it was. I found this incredibly frustrating and e-mailed him to ask for a status on the issue (1 year later) and now cannot get a response to my e-mails.


I had a second frustrating incident the same year where a CO stopped me (nice guy) and we got talking about the cost of arrows (I was bow hunting for ducks) he said that the regs don't prohibit using target tips and they are much cheaper so he suggested I use them....following weekend I switch to target tips...(after validating what he said in the regs) and a different CO stops me and holds me for 20 minutes while he looks for the regulation that says I have to use blunts. Anyways - he couldn't find it (because it doesn't exist) but warned me that if I hunted and he found the reg I could be in trouble.

It seeems to me that the synopsis and regulations are so blinking complicated that even the COs can't get it straight. They should clean up the synopsis so that it's by animal , The animal section would include EVERYTHING you can and cannot do instead of flipping between legal kill method charts, where to hunt info, wire gage info in the trapping section etc etc.

These two incidents really shook my confidence in the COs abilities to consistantly apply the rules. Bottom line is ...if you are charged with something ....do some digging...there is a good chance the COs could be wrong.

I suspect when a judge issues a sentence with respect to the Wildlife act he/she might (I really don't know) be relying heavily on the fact that the COs know what is and isn't legal when they charge someone...who can blame the COs however ...you need to be a laywer to understand some of the info in the synopsis.

Is it legal?...I think so but you won't likley get an answer from the Wildlife Policy branch. It may take someone getting charged and then challenging the validity of the charge based on

1. The trapping regulations don't list snowshoe hares as fur bearing animals. The definition of a fur bearing animal is very specific it seems.....

2. The trapping regulations indicate It's unlawful to Use a snare made of wire heavier than 20 gauge unless licenced or authorized to trap. Impying that you don't need a trappers licence when using wire 20 guage or less.

3. The guide doesn't define legal hunting methods for small game other than waterfowl....ie: you are allowed to hunt with a BB gun, slingshot, whatever....so I beleive a snare would be ok too.

4. Snowshoe hares are also listed as Schedule B. The regs indicate that "Schedules B and C of the Designation and Exemption Regulation list wildlife that are known to destroy property and / or are detrimental to native wildlife. These species have fewer restrictions regulating their hunting, killing, or capturing. any capture or killing of these species must still abide by provincial laws regarding the humane treatment of animals."This to me this means that it's legal to "capture" or snare snowshoe hares

5. The final point to make is that there are no specific restrictions listed for rabbits on the legal hunting methods page (p16) meaning that anything "humane" is ok per the clause in Schedule B.

I know Pikey is just rolling his eyes reading this... ;)

[hunter1947]

So setting up snares on Enterprise Road would be okay??:tongue:

SSS Jim Hatter said its OK to snare rabbits without a trapping license. I looked in my trapping book and there are no rabbits in the book showing pelts. Jim is the instructor that teaches the trapping courses hear in Victoria ,he also has a registered trap line hear on the island ,it is located on the other side of Gorden river. Jim is 87 years young and still going strong ,i am proud that i had the opportunity to trap with him a few times. Jim also has a book out ,the name of this book is Politically Incorrect. Hear is the front cover on the book. http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/100_1329.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=7506&size=big&cat=500)

[boxhitch]

3. The guide doesn't define legal hunting methods for small game other than waterfowl....ie: you are allowed to hunt with a BB gun, slingshot, whatever....so I beleive a snare would be ok too.

4. Snowshoe hares are also listed as Schedule B. The regs indicate that "Schedules B and C of the Designation and Exemption Regulation list wildlife that are known to destroy property and / or are detrimental to native wildlife. These species have fewer restrictions regulating their hunting, killing, or capturing. any capture or killing of these species must still abide by provincial laws regarding the humane treatment of animals."This to me this means that it's legal to "capture" or snare snowshoe hares

5. The final point to make is that there are no specific restrictions listed for rabbits on the legal hunting methods page (p16) meaning that anything "humane" is ok per the clause in Schedule B.


A good puzzle for sure.
Re #3 - assuming someone else doesn't assume snowshoes fall under trapping regs.
Re #4 - I would guess 'capture' would be a live method, as opposed to a killing snare.

Another reg to muddy things-
it is unlawful to hunt game from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise.
So snaring in daylight only ?

[happygilmore]

We used to snare bunnies when we were kids... fed alot of coyotes, they get used to where you run your lines and it doesn't matter how early you get out there half your snares would be poached. lots of fun

[Mr. Dean]

Another reg to muddy things-
it is unlawful to hunt game from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise.
So snaring in daylight only ?

This is the definition of Hunting.
Does the trapping regs state this also???

As I read things, a Hunting License gives us some limited trapping privleges but we need to adhere to the Trapping Regs while taking into account the limitations of the Hunting License.

I've never looked into this before and am keenly watching this thread from an educational point of view. If I want Rabbit, I just pull out firearm.

[Wildfoot]

how come we cant use braided wire? When i was around 10 or so we used to snare rabbits up in the hills of knutsford all the time. Used the braided wire from Can Tire. The brass colored stuff never seemed to work. How come you need a trapping course to use the braided stuff???

[blacklab]

The regulation is to prevent the snaring of other fur bearers under the guise of rabbit snaring.

[boxhitch]

So....? Rabbit snare wire has a specific breaking strength ???