I was told by a friend that (knowing I just started trapping) he knew a person that was having beaver prob. After talking to the guy he said I could knock myself out with as many beavers as I want.
Got me thinking..... There might be $$$$ to be made in this.
So my question is... How much do you charge per beaver? I know there use to be a bounty in this area but I checked Local and the county has a contract with a co. for the next 3 years so there is no bounty.
I have Sold cars for many years But with the market bad I have decided to venture out on a limb.
Is it Possible to make a living doing somthing like this? And if So any advice out there.
Where I live the Beavers are all over the place and with Snares I have landed some monsters.
Thanks
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08/09
27-coon
6-grinners
2-gray fox
1-beaver

In my world there is NO per Beaver price. I charge by the hour as well as I charge milage.

$150 set up and $100 per animal working locally.
bob evans

I charge a service fee plus a per capture price. You must remember that ADC is totally different than fur trapping. So... do you want to get paid to do a job (catch them all) or are you happy with making a few bucks and moving on. Another question is what does the customer expect or want. I have had some beaver jobs that the beaver holed up for two weeks. that is a lot of time and gas wasted. the first week on one job i caught 14 beavers and then spent 4 months catching the last one. i guess as long as the customer and you have clear expectations and have communicated effectivly there shouldn't be anything left to do but go have fun. Good Luck, Tim

In my neck of the woods I charge 250.00 to 375.00 for set-up and then 89.00 per beaver. Price is higher if a boat or canoe is needed. I use mostly footholds on a drowner cable or 330's. Make sure you have all the necessary insurance first. Good luck.

There are MANY variables that will come into play when pricing a beaver job (or any other wildlife control job for that matter). Your cost of doing business. Mileage to site. Size of body of water or length of waterway where the problem exists. Scouting time. Set-up time. Daily trap checks (time and mileage). Duration of trapping program. Possible interference from locals who oppose your activity. Time of day (or night) that you must retrieve catches.

The number of beavers has ZERO to do with the cost if you are operating as a WCO. You are there to solve a problem, not fur trap. In most cases, clients have no idea fur trapping even exists, so they certainly are not in the same mindset as a fur trapper who gets paid by how many animals he catches. I see many WCO's that use per animal pricing.... as if the customer is comparing it to fur trapping. The only one comparing it to fur trapping is the trapper, and that is THE biggest mistake you can make.

Step one - forget everything you know about the "money" end as compared to fur trapping. The only thing you will ever use from fur trapping experience is the methods to capture certain species. End of similarity.

Wow! Thanks
Ya as I have started to notice trapping for fur is not going to pay the bills... LOL.
But The input on WCO's is great. The more I hear the more informed I am on making the decision to try it.
I have sold cars for a long time and the guys got a kick out of us working a 11 hour day and then hunting season opened up and I would be rushin into work changing from Camo to Tie and Slacks. As everyone knows the Car market is not good so If I can stay in my Camo's all day I would Freakin Love It!
I even have the WIFE pushing the issue. Sold my Motorcycle to have a few dollars to play with while i was learning.

When I first started WCO work, I had a real problem making money doing beaver work. Bearver are allot of work! Make sure you price these job to be allot of work and time! Or you will loose your butt!

And make sure you talk with the customer up front and find out what they expect on the job.

Beavers can be tought hard work at times! Its not trapping fur for a farmer and one educated beaver can make life suck! Just make sure you lay out everything to the customer up front and cover your bases. Also take a real good look at the job and know what is needed before you start or give a price. I give no prices over the phone other than the first sevice call and insp fee's.

Brent

KEE KEE good point.Most of the jobs I've had were for young of the year,2-2yr, olds.
Had a job were a fur trapper missed one! That was a long job.
bob

$150. set-up and $100. per beaver is what we charge.

Thanks LT, We get $159 and $95.

Educated beaver who stopped learning!

Here are the first two beaver I took from a location where another ADC guy had been. Both adults had injuries from the other ADC person. One was missing a toe the ather an entire front leg. So far I have taken 7 from this spot.

I had a similar experience, where a nincompoop ADC guy took the front leg off a beaver, and I was lucky enough to catch it by a rear leg. I was also lucky enough to give that incompetent WCO a good talking to. I see him every time I look in a mirror!

Ron has a great point that i never thought of. The number of animals has nothing to do with solving the problem to the customer. Here in Iowa it is tough to get a farmer to pay for having animals removed so i have to try and find a happy medium. I usually have an idea how long it will take me to clear an area. lets say if the job is close, i need 300 a week for 2 weeks. so i set the service fee at 600, this is going to pay my costs and some of my time at least. plus 100 per beaver and 40 for incidentals is my incentive and what i really end up making for profit.Look into what it costs to hire heavy equiptment for a day and we are way underpaid. if i am worth my salt i'll get r done and move on. if i screw up then i have a little wiggle room to fall back on. I like Paul have a beaver in my living room that i caught 3 times, he has a missing back toe and a missing front leg. This is the beaver i was after for 4 months. I talked to Clint Locklear about this beaver while in pursuit of him and he said i will learn more from this 1 beaver than catching 500 easy ones. He was right and i am reminded to "do it right the first time" every time i look at that [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot] beaver in my livingroom.

..................

...does that mean it was him?

Yeah it does, but I gotta tell you, when I look in the mirror nowadays, I expect to see Brad Pitt but what I see is Walter Brennan.

I charge $25/hr and .50 cents a mile since gas is back down now. Includes drive time, inspection, setting and trap check time as well as trap removal at the end. If I check empty traps I still get paid for my time. I offer the option for the client to check the traps and call me to remove catches if they want to reduce cost. Most don't want to do this, so I get paid to ride and look. I always explain that the catch will vary with the animals habits and may take extra time. So far no complaints.

Right now My wife and I are working a small pond that the lady says the beavers keep blocking the drain pipe. i got to looking and the only thing that was in the pipe was MUD no sticks. Anyway I found what looked to be Nutria Scat. Will they dam up pipes like a beaver????? And if so do you Charge the same?