Antique Conibear Trap Hunting Trap Spring Trap

Antique Conibear Trap Hunting Trap for hunting. It is spring loaded. These were commonly used for catching smaller game such as harvested by fur trappers .

Measures approx 7" by 7" by 2".

This would be a great addition or gift to any hunting or fishing cabin. Great as decor for any an of the outdoors.

Canadian trapper Frank Conibear came up with the invention of the conibear trap in an attempt to make a more humane trap that quickly dispatched animals and held them securely, preventing animal loss and improving welfare. His inspiration for the design was the egg beater. By mimicking the motion of two bars of an egg beater closing together, he designed a trap that used springs to apply tension and squeeze the jaws together. The first prototype, which he made in 1929, was quite crude, but over time it evolved into the modern bodygrip trap commonly used today. By the mid 1950’s, after decades of development, Conibear had a good working trap. In 1959 he sold the rights to the trap, as well as the Conibear name, to the Animal Trap Company in Lititz, PA. These traps are still manufactured today by Oneida Victor.

Conibear’s new trap was so revolutionary that it quickly began to be used widely by trappers throughout North America. Trappers found it much more effective to use a trap that animals would move through rather than step on, if provided quick kills and eliminated animal loss, and was lightweight and easy to carrry. Numerous other trap manufacturers began to make their own versions of the Conibear and its use became so universal that the trap became a household name among fur harvesters.