Hi All

Just started trapping this year. Got a late start, didn't start until a couple weeks ago. I have been trying to trap a beaver. I have not been able to find the den or any slides for that matter. The dam they have built has run the water level above the creek bank and into the wood line.

I have tried busting the dam and setting a 330 with guide sticks. only thing caught there was sticks it was going to use to fix the dam. So next i tried a foothold drowning setup there. the trap was set off 2x's, but no beaver. don't know if dam repair material got into it, or if he hit it with his belly, or if it got its foot and he just pulled loose.

I have not found anywhere on the dam where they are crossing into the lower part of the creek. I thought about a castor setup, but the bank there is not deep enough for a drowning rig. if i put a castor mound behind the dam, will they come to it there??

Or what other suggestions to you experts have??

Oh, yeah, i did get my first ever trap the other day, It was a nice otter!! got it skinned out and on a stretcher!!

hold on a minute...

congrats

have they ever been trapped before

O.K.

I don't think so.

From thread "beaver trials and tibulations"...I have to say that I fully agree with the line of reasoning in the first post. I am certain that beavers have learnd to avoid my trap becuase they were they either when thier mate got gagged or because they accidentally tripped the trap while trying to repair the break I made in the dam. I know this becuase I have made sets where I caught a beaver on the first night and my guide sticks were knocked down where another beaver made a route around the trap. The follwing night, they would be knocked down in the exact same spot and manner. I've even had them move the dive stick up and over the trap where I had it hanging with wire. Either way, they are intelligent enough to figure out that the trap represented some sort of danger when it went off.

A couple of things I did to prevent these things from happening:

1.) Now, instead of wiring the divestick to the tops of the last 2 guide sticks and letting it hang, I make sure those last 2 guide sticks have a knot or small broken-off limb. I push them down to the point where I want my dive stick in the water and then wire the dive stick at each end around the 2 guide sticks, right at those 2 knots so it can't slip down or be lifted up and flung over.

2.) Instead of 1 trap at an opening, I use 2. I used to make a small break in the dam to get the water moving, then do my set parallel to the dam-not anymore, and especiall if I've already had one burn me. Now, I make the break and place 2 traps at 90deg. to the dam. In other words, I make out a 3-sided box, the dam being the 4th side, and place 1 trap on each side of the "box" perpendicular (90 deg.) to the dam. When I get a beaver that does not want to go through the trap and just tries to repair the break by letting debris go into it with the flow of water, the debris cannot collect in the trap. Eventually, he bites the bullet and has to go through on one side or the other to see why his crud just ain't stopping the water from moving. That's when he gets gagged. Also, this leaves the other side open to catch a follow-up beaver should one of his buddies come over to help. Also, because the first beaver is trapped on the other side of the "box", the second beaver doesn't feel like there is any danger in the route he's taking. This set up works very well. It's more work, but I've come to use it in places where there are large colonies and/or the other beavers figures out after the first night or two of seeing thier relatives getting snagged that there was something dangerous going on. This also prevents the occaisional burried beaver becuase thier buddies cannot stop the flow of water by just letting the debris go.

3.) Move the trap to the other side. If I'm in a place where I don't have room to set 2 traps at the same break and I get a beaver and can't seem to get his buddies, I just move the trap to the other side of the set-up. Sometimes after catching 1 or 2 the rest know what's going on. In this situation, I jsut move the trap to the other side of the setup and "kawham" I'm back in business.

I think I got a pick of the perpendicular set-up somewhere on my computer....

Make a castor mound set usin the 330 on one end of the dam at where it meets the bank of the creek

O.K., here it is. I don't know if this is new to anyone or not, but I hope someone will benefit from it. The green line is where the trap is. In this situation, I only had a trap on one side because the water was too shallow at the bank. I could have moved the setup further down the dam, but then it would have been too deep as this pond was about 5 feet deep. The red arrow is pointing at the dive stick. This is the first beaver I ever trapped. I had this set up parallel to the dam the night before and the beaver clogged my trap by just letting go debris in front of the break and letting the flow of the water carry it into the trap. The next day, I turned it 90 deg. to the dam as shown in the pic. This way it won't clog and he can't clog it without going through it to try to figure out why. Later, when I started catching one and missing one is when I started using this set-up and added the second trap. Again, if it were in this picture, it would be set up 90deg. to the dam just like the one in the picture, but on the other side of the "box".



Here is the result-63lbs. of beaver meat. That's my size 10.5 shoe beside him. Who's hungry????

I had the same problem and was in the same boat you're in now this time last year. This is the very first beaver I ever trapped. The first night th trap was clogged. Turn it 90 deg. to your dam like shown above and they can't clog it up. I do this all the time now. Works like a charm. Set the trap to this config. on the second night I ever had a trap in the water and got this porker! You're probably in the exact same type of terrain as me-black swamp! I was up against the bank here, but now, I will set them up so hat there is a trap on each side of the "box". This also sometimes helps produce doubles.

Yeah, i wish i could do that, but the dam made the water level too high for that.

thanks beavernator, i havent thought of that, that setup will get done saturday. I have left them alone for about a week now, so they should not bee too spooky.

You need to make a small break ad drain the top 10-12" off of that. The northern guys will tell you not to because they like to leave beaver ponds in-tact so they can trap more out of the same pond next year. If you're just getting rid of the beaver and flooded area for depredation purposes, go ahead and drop the water level so you can work, then put in the setup above. Call
me if you like fo tips.

910-512-5564

-Will Boone

dont bust the dam. Find whare they are sliding over the dam and set a 330 on the lower side on the path.

yeah i was going to do that, but i can't find anywhere they are doing this. there are two abandoned ponds behind this one, but i don't see any evidence of them going to either one of those.

Like I said, they have different m.o.'s up north. I don't use cross overs for the exact reason you have posted in the pic above. 'Cause down here we get muskrat, nutria, otter and even snapping turtles crossing over the "crossover". If you're specifically after beaver, don't use the crossover. We have too many other varmints that use them, but a beaver is the only one that will attend to a new, fast-running break in the dam. Just don't drain it so much that your trap is out of the water. If you're reclaiming flooded property anyway, don't worry 'bout tha dam. Not using the crossovers, I have only ever caught 8 critters on dam sets that were not beaver-1 otter, 2 muskrats and 5 nutria.

Crossovers aren't always obvious enough that inxperienced eyes can find them. They're not always in the middle of the run of the creek either and only sometims are they in the most convenient place to set a trap. Make a 10" drain break and bring them to your trap.

Sounds like your situation is just like what we have here. Sometimes the parent beavers die off and there are abandoned ponds behind the acive one. You're right, there probably arent any beavers there. If there isn't evidence of fresh sticks on the dam and/or the hut and neither of them look like they are being well maintained (you can tell because well-maintianed ones look like they were just built) then the pond is most likely empty. You can check it by makig a small break and seeing if they fix it.

yep, made a small break in one the other day, not fixed. got a good spot to catch another otter now!!

keep trying. I didn't say you wouldn't catch one there, but it will cut back on that kind of stuff.besdies, there's probably only one more otter in there anway...

Buy paul dobbins beaver video.

It will give you great step by step detail on how to use footholds at the dam and avoid them tripping the trap with repair sticks.

it is worth every penny