I use pretty much the same set as mole.

chopping the hole isnt really that bad because i have to chop it that way anyway. most all of my beaver are 50 pounds and bigger but i do notice a size difference the closer i get to the lodge, and after i set the pole under water i wire a cross pole to the pole on top of the ice so they cant pull it under.

Just waiting to be snared

Fisher-usmc: looks close to what I use but I found if you stay about 6-8 feet away in shallow water(up to 5 feet deep) and 10-15 feet away in deeper water,on the outside of the feeder bed 90% of your catches will be the adults,IMHO.

Slick T

If you use a chain saw to cut your holes you can cut them in a minute or less I would say. Just cut a slit 4 inches or less in the ice and put your snares down through this.

wismat; you need to run a wire through those snares and up to the tie-down on the surface, because sometime they will chew dry poles amd move them.

Mole,

I use a set very similar to yours, I just have the trigger centered on top and the wires bent like a small coathanger to give the beaver maximum room to work on the bait. My former trapping partner cuts his triggers off at about 2 inches for this set. I would rather bend them out of the way and change the configuration for different uses. With 330's I get a good shoulder or head catch with 280's I get all head catches. 220's are a little small unless you cut the trigger wires almost off.

I tried with bait on the triggers on bottom but had about 30% misses, when I put the bait between the jaws and the triggers on top I never had another miss.

I use 2 or three of these sets to a house. I also set lots of snares in their runs, up to 10 or more per run, kind of like a "gill net" for beaver. Swivel snares with a 10-11 inch loop hung from a pole on the ice with doubled tie wire. I set the snares on the very bottom of the runs, unless in a floating bog situation, (can't find the runs, or bottom) then I use only conibear bait sets.

MartenMan, I have better luck with my feed sets and Trapping the Adults if the sets are out a little ways along the Main DAM...

The Adults usually venture out each Night to check on the Dam and almost always I have the larger ones within 3 days...

I use a chain saw to cut my holes about 16"x16" or 20"x20" this gives plenty of room to put snare pole down like fisher-usmc has shown. In deep water I will put four snares to a baited pole, two low on bottom then two about 12" below the ice. When you set your snares do so at the 11:oo position with a 10" loop this prevents most of the time from them falling down and the 10"loop should keep small guy's out of snare. But when you lower pole in the hole you can reset snare if it falls, just slowly lower pole when doing so, should not trip, you learn to get the hang out it after a few times doing it.

I only set by, outside and around depending on pond etc.. food pile with baite pole snare and by dams. Be carfule by dam, ice can be tricky and get wet a$$. I blitz set a pond, set sometimes 6-8 baite pole set's. I do not mess with run's. Check once a week and pull out within 2 weeks. I cover the hole with feed bag or boughs then shovel snow on top, this prevents ice from getting to thick to chop out on check day and keeps beav from getting on the ice. Normaly 1'-2" of ice to chop to check set, sometimes just scim ice, this is at below o temps.

I use snow-shoes and some of my ponds are a 1/2 mile in or so. I do it for the love of it and the joy of it. Ya the cash is nice but never enough for time and labor that goes with beav trapping.

I learned to trap b'ver thru ice in nw WI with footholds. Been hooked ever since. Nowadays I cut holes with a chainsaw and most sets are exactly like Fisher usmc 's picture. Sometimes I'm in a river with some current and set bait and snares in a V as b'vers work set facing upstream. This is a great thread, thanks guys!

I have better success snaring the runs, especially when you have to clean out the whole house. If the conditions are right I can get them all(hard bottom, no floating bog where they can swim anywhere, or peat bog where they can have hidden tunnels in the peat under the water and muck) some conditions you have to use every trick or invent a new set.

Bait sets are fine when you just want to catch a couple and leave the rest for next year or the year after.

Depends on what you intend to do.

I have had locations where they wouldn't touch bait, and others where I caught them all with bait. Maybe someone educated them previously? Anyway under ice is fun, interesting and hard work.

Fisher,

How do you hold the snares next to the bait. Do you have a closeup pic of it?

I would say a support wire wound around the verticle dry post holds the snare, at least in my book it does, sorry to intrude fisher, my bad!
Slick T

most of the time you need to use a support wire but the snares i use are made for beaver, they open to ten inches so when i wire them to the pole i wire them really tight, all you have to do is move the snare up or down to where you want it, no need for support wire on thses snares just wirethem tight to the pole

Anyone,

How can you tell if you have trapped all of the beaver out of a pond when trapping under the ice?

Thanks,
mntrapper

not really sure but i would chop a decent size hole at te entrence and when it has a fresh glaze of ice look for bubbles, thats the only thing i can think of

Thanks Fisher-usmc. It sounds like it's worth a shot. I hate trapping all of them out but there doing alot of damage.

I plan on taking a few more videos today on the line.
It is -26 here with an extra 12 inches of snow so I don't know it I will get out there today or not.


It is foolish to go out in this weather without someone with.

One way to know if there are still beaver in the pond is to cut a small hole or two in the ice and shove some green popple sticks down into the water, come back a few days later and check to see if they are cut off.

ok does any body have any pics of a 330 set up with the pvc for bait? and would it work with the ny trigger restrictions?