The gamekeeper understands by the beating beam a part of the beating beam trap, with which small predatory game can be caught and killed immediately within the framework of trap hunting. Thus, it belongs to the killing traps.

If the predatory game (primarily marten) pulls off the bait attached to the trap, it is killed by a battering ram/bludgeon weighted by weights. Due to the animal protection law, hunting with the Schlagbaumfalle is prohibited, at least in Germany.