Snares: What am I doing wrong?

[i K33L n0085]

I have yet to catch a single bunny in my time playing this game. I've looked at tutorials showing how to use snares, but they have't helped me. I have nine snares on Carter river, behind my base, the hydro dam. 3 of them are spread out around the ice lake, and the other 6 are close together between some trees. I check on the snares almost of every in-game day. I know bunnies spawn there, because every time I check on the snares, I see them hopping around, taunting me. I even saw one run straight through on of my snares and didn't get caught in it. I recently but a rose hip under each snare for bait to hopefully improve my chances, but still nothing. So tell me, am I doing something wrong? Or do I just have the worst luck?

Edit: Don't know if this changes anything, but I'm playing on Xbox One.

[Majales]

You place your snares in a bunny area, look for the bunny tracks, and wait at least 12 hours. You don't need any bait, but it's better to place more snares together in one area, because there is very high chance to catch rabbits only with half of the snares.

[DrMembrane]

I've noticed that bunny meat is really really lean, so it seems difficult to make a living from snares unless you set up your base like, right next to the bunny place, or else I end up burning more or less as many calories getting to and from the trapping ground as from the bunnies, am I doing something wrong?

[selfless]

Snares only work when rabbits spawn, usually at the beginning of the day. Seems if they can spawn near a trap, they will spawn in a trap instead. Never do they trap when you are present on the map. Can't chase rabbits into snares or watch them hop in.

Limiting factors to how many you can trap are how many rabbits spawn in the area each day and how many corpses are already on the map. Too many corpses? Have to wait for some to disappear...

[DrMembrane]

I do that and would get quite a lot of rabbits but the amount of calories from the rabbits barely compensated for the effort of trapping them

[selfless]

It's survival, not farming.

[i K33L n0085]

Finally caught one by moving one of my snares on top of some fresh rabbit tracks. I'm don't even care about their meat, I just want the rabbit skin gloves to complete my set of crafted clothes.

[Majales]

Snares only work when rabbits spawn, usually at the beginning of the day. Seems if they can spawn near a trap, they will spawn in a trap instead. Never do they trap when you are present on the map. Can't chase rabbits into snares or watch them hop in.

Rabbits are catched when you leave interior after twelve hours after trap placement. You can see it if you have traps near a base (e.g. Farmstead). The rabbit's corpse isn't frozen at all. I once catched a rabbit into free trap during harvesting of other rabbits. Once in 255 hours I played TLD

[elloco999]

It's been a while since I've actively trapped rabbits in TLD but here's what I used to do:

1. Find a place where the rabbits spawn.

2. Set up 6-8 snares in that area. They can all be set up right next to each other, that makes no difference to the result. Try and set the snares up so they are sheltered from the wind. They last a lot longer that way.

3. Come back just after 24 hours have passed. You'll find 3-4 rabbits if the snares haven't been broken.

4. Pick up and reset all snares, replacing any broken ones.

This way I usually caught 3-4 rabbits a day using 1 rabbit area. There seems to be a limit of max 4 rabbits caught per day. It doesn't matter if you set up 20 snares or 8. I've never tried trapping in 2 area's at the same time, it may be that the limit of 4 rabbits is for all the map or for each area. If it's for each area you could double your gains by trapping in 2 area at the same time, but I have never found 2 area's close enough to bother doing that.

4 rabbits = 4 x 1-1,5kg x 450 cal = 4-6kg x 450 cal = 1800-2700 calories, with an average of 2250 cals. That's enough to get through the day if you don't do much. It most definitely makes the rest of your food last a lot longer. (For those thinking about replying that eating only rabbit meat can lead to rabbit starvation (a form of protein poisoning), that may be true in real life but not in TLD)

[SteveP]

[spoil]I usually set snares on ML under the fallen tree where you go out of the Trapper's Cabin, head past the barn and make a left past the big rocks.[/spoil] You will see lots of rabbits there. It's often sheltered from the wind there however the snares used to get ruined a lot in the past. I think it was a bug because they "fixed" it.

There are other locations but not close to a shelter on ML. [spoil]On Coastal you need to visit the islands; only one has rabbits.[/spoil]

[Eachna]

Borrowing this thread to ask a related question (which may help the OP as well).

Is there anything that tracks bunny deaths and keeps bunnies from returning to the spot where snares were set? Do you need to move your snares around to increase your chances of catching bunnies, or can you just pick them up and place them back in the same spot to reset them?

[selfless]

They are not smart at all. Set snares back in the same exact spot if you like, but it will be hard to tell when they are full until the previous corpse disappears. Better to move a few feet to one side

Check picture here to witness extensive snare use:

viewtopic.php?f=63&t=7842

[ThresholdSeven]

Can confirm that a trap right next to you will sometimes catch a rabbit while you are harvesting another rabbit. I've never had a trap catch a rabbit while i was outside other than that instance, which happens quite occasionally. Maybe harvesting a deer or wolf would cause it too?

I generally set up 10 -12 traps in the orchard next to the PV farmhouse. I'll wake up in the morning to 3-4 bunnies that are just starting to freeze (as if they were caught the moment I walked outside. This is the easiest way I've found to catch bunnies and am soon going to go back to the farmhouse from desolation point to do just that because i can't catch any bunnies in DP and it will just be easier to go back to PV for them.

The current bunny system can be worked around, but it is very counterintuitive and unrealistic. I would find it much better if the system worked so bunnies could be caught in real time, if bait (such as the rose hips) actually helped and the whole loading into/out of a house had nothing to do with it. The fact the all interiors are loaded instead of seamless (with the exception of the lookout tower) is a major drawback for immersion and mechanics. Not sure what the reason is for it. Maybe it's easier for programming/troubleshooting, but it results in a worse game than it could be. (I love the game, but the interior loading and bunny trapping debacle needs to be addressed if this game is to be as good as it deserves to be.

A nice thing about bunny trapping is that all you need is a few snares and a magnifying glass (literally nothing else) and you can live forever. I've tested this extensively. It's quite tedious and get boring fast, but it's easily doable. However, I'd like to see that perpetual system removed somehow, because the game is too easy right now. I'd like faster deterioration times, much less loot, no immortal systems, and an endgame around 300-400 days instead of 4000-5000. I'm on a 2300 day run, no end in sight and more loot stored than I've used. Stalker mode. Leave the game as is for the easy and medium difficulty, but stalker needs to be drastically changed or a new difficulty needs to be added.

I understand this is in alpha, which is exactly why I'm voicing my opinion. Give me a challenge hinterland! kill me if you dare! I will not restart my run willingly! Only famine, weather or beast will bring me down!

[Eachna]

The current bunny system can be worked around, but it is very counterintuitive and unrealistic. I would find it much better if the system worked so bunnies could be caught in real time, if bait (such as the rose hips) actually helped and the whole loading into/out of a house had nothing to do with it. The fact the all interiors are loaded instead of seamless (with the exception of the lookout tower) is a major drawback for immersion and mechanics. Not sure what the reason is for it. Maybe it's easier for programming/troubleshooting, but it results in a worse game than it could be. (I love the game, but the interior loading and bunny trapping debacle needs to be addressed if this game is to be as good as it deserves to be.

I would really like a seamless world as well, although I don't know if it's possible to do over the map as a whole.

I would _think_ so given the lookouts are seamless, but I do realize just because something looks possible to me doesn't mean it's worth it for the devs to try to do.

[Thelek]

I love how some of you complain that the game is too easy. I actually find it almost too hard. I can survive ok in Pilgrim mode (unless i piss off a bear), but i am lucky if i make it 3 days on Voyager mode. I usually get killed by wolves before the end of day 1. Last time i tried Voyager mode, three wolves ganged up on me INSIDE the dam in the room with the safe just minutes after starting a game. I had no weapon to fight back with and they attacked me one right after the other. I died 3 seconds into the third wolf's attack. I feel that there should be a level between Pilgrim and Voyager as that Pilgrim gets boring around day 50 and Voyager is too frustating because of overly agressive wolves.

Btw, how the hell do they get inside the dam???? I have been attacked inside the dam 4 times. Once in the safe room, twice in the generator area, and once in the turbine area.

[selfless]

I love how some of you complain that the game is too easy. I actually find it almost too hard. I can survive ok in Pilgrim mode (unless i piss off a bear), but i am lucky if i make it 3 days on Voyager mode. I usually get killed by wolves before the end of day 1. Last time i tried Voyager mode, three wolves ganged up on me INSIDE the dam in the room with the safe just minutes after starting a game. I had no weapon to fight back with and they attacked me one right after the other. I died 3 seconds into the third wolf's attack. I feel that there should be a level between Pilgrim and Voyager as that Pilgrim gets boring around day 50 and Voyager is too frustating because of overly agressive wolves.

I recommend you try dealing with wolves in way other than feeding them your face.

Seriously. I've tried that tactic and it never works for me either.

[Scyzara]

I love how some of you complain that the game is too easy. I actually find it almost too hard. [...] Last time i tried Voyager mode, three wolves ganged up on me INSIDE the dam in the room with the safe just minutes after starting a game. I had no weapon to fight back with and they attacked me one right after the other. I died 3 seconds into the third wolf's attack. [...]

Btw, how the hell do they get inside the dam???? I have been attacked inside the dam 4 times. Once in the safe room, twice in the generator area, and once in the turbine area.

I suggest you stop spreading false rumors. It's impossible to get attacked by three wolves inside the dam as there is only a single wolf (called Fluffy) inside. If you got attacked by said one wolf three times in a row, you did so little damage to it that it didn't drop dead after the first two attacks. Which probably means that you went inside the dam without a hunting knife or hatchet and thus had to fight Fluffy barehanded. Which is not a good idea unless you're really good at it.

Moreover, I'm pretty sure that this particular wolf doesn't spawn on day one in Voyageur mode. The spawn delay (18-36h or something if I remember correctly) for wolves should include Fluffy as well. So whatever kills you on day one in voyageur mode can hardly be a wolf.

How to clear the dam safely:

Only enter it with a lit flare in your hand and a rifle in your inventory. Throw the flare on the floor in front of the doorframe that leads to the dam's basement. Kneel down, take out your rifle, wait for Fluffy to walk upstairs (might take some minutes) and shoot it between the eyes. Problem solved.

If you fail to headshot it and it runs away, leave the dam and return a few hours later to retrieve its corpse. Don't follow it into the basement (or try to sleep upstairs) unless you want to finish it off in a handfight.

@snares:

I always find it pretty funny how most people assume that snares actually catch "real" rabbits (I mean the living ones you see hopping around). I've observed the snare mechanism for pretty many hours a while ago and I'm completely sure that there is no direct relationship between "hopping living rabbits" and "snared dead rabbits" at all.

I've seen numerous living rabbits running right through snares without ever getting caught. I've also seen snared (dead) rabbits spawning out of thin air right in front of my eyes. The presence of a living rabbit next to your snare is in no way necessary to get a "snared" dead rabbit. The living rabbits only kind of mark the areas in which you have to place your snares.

What happens afterwards is most likely just a status roll for the snare (either catch rabbit or stay empty or get broken) that happens about 12 hours after you've placed it. In other words, the snare itself spawns the dead rabbit. It doesn't really catch a living one.

[Thelek]

Well, i admit that it could have been a single wolf 3 times in quick succession. I had just started a NEW game and spawned in the main entry of the dam ( which seems to happen about every 4th game start), broke op the 2 crates by the door, stepped outside and started a fire, grabbed a coup'e torches from said fire, re-entered the dam and went straight to the safe to open it and was attacked and killed. A total play time of less than 5 minutes from spawn to death. Survival message read: You survived for 3 hours 3 minutes. Far short of the 18-24 hours you mentioned. I do appreciate the advice on how to handle that particular wolf, but i could use some advice on how to avoid " feeding my face" to the wolves in general when you have no weapons and still in the first 24 hours of a game.

[selfless]

Wolf discussion redirect here:

viewtopic.php?f=74&t=7837&p=47571#p47571

[SteveP]

what about snares?

[Eachna]

[spoil]I usually set snares on ML under the fallen tree where you go out of the Trapper's Cabin, head past the barn and make a left past the big rocks.[/spoil] You will see lots of rabbits there. It's often sheltered from the wind there however the snares used to get ruined a lot in the past. I think it was a bug because they "fixed" it.

There are other locations but not close to a shelter on ML.

There's another near a shelter on the ML map. [spoil]If you exit the Camp Office and head out onto the ice and then left (the path towards the Southern Access), there's a nice area with bunnies in the woods.[/spoil]