I have been going after a beaver for going on two weeks now. He is shredding tree bark nightly. I have tried castor mounds, slides, and crossovers. With nothing to show but a small beaver kit with no head. Please give me some advice. I have not set the lodge yet. Thinking that is next option. All i can use on these property is 330 set in water. HELP HELP HELP.

when I get a tough educated beaver,the best bet is to pull your traps,and let him get comfortable again. try putting a big log over a well used run and let him get used to diving under it ,if he keeps using that run, then after a week or so put the 330 under the log.blind sets are the only answer for abeaver with a phd in trapping sets

Are you using mutiple traps, If so sounds like there getting buy your sets. Use blocking to guide them into traps. Keep traps just below surface of water and use a dive stick to make them go under and into trap. This should help.

block down a location where they climbing onto lodge, then let it rest a week or so, add trap, collect beaver

Are you not allowed to use foothold traps at that property?

Rickey

Give us some idea of the location. man made pond ? creek ? large lake ? Residential area ? All deep water ? etc

A couple of pictures would help too!

This is a small man made pond with very small creek feeding it. About 2 acres. I have multiple sets out (7). All 330. I can't use foothold traps. Slides are everywhere but nothing is just fresh. I know beaver is there because trees are getting stripped of bark nightly. One small lodge. when you get close to lodge beaver ALWAYS bust out of there and hugs bank and never gets out of water. I could easily shoot the beaver. Land owners swears it will not fit in the 330 but I know it will. I have tried castor mounds, blind sets and traps on culverts. Lures I have used are Backbreaker, Woodchipper, and Beaver Plus. I really haven't found much feeding in pond. I'm starting to get a little frustrated with this ole beaver. Help please.

try a blind leaning log set along the bank he travels

Can you use snares set along the bank . You can't set the lodge up , here's video of me catching two beaver right at lodge . The rest of the colony went down in snares all the first 24 hours . I returned the next day to pull traps and go inside the lodge to catch the muskrat size kits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOMmXAOhgZE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I would set the lodge. Use your feet to find every entrance hole and set the 330s tight to the den if they aren't too deep . Try to sneak in when the wind is in your favor, ease the traps into position with the hooks off you may get him while you are holding the trap LOL ( Did that once )
If your in an area where you can shoot it go for it instead of the above. Just remember to "double tap " !

I would wear waders I got some bad beaver rot On my feet (swimmers itch) at that last beaver pond . Took like a week to get rid of it . nasty stuff

Too hot here in the south for waders. Most of us wear jeans and football cleats for traction !

I can't imagine some where that will not allow any trap other than connibears. Normally it's the other way around. Sounds as though they are taking away all your tools for the job. Why?

You've got some good advice here. Deep sets with dive poles, sun decks on top of the lodge, lodge entrance itself, all that sounds good. Removing all your traps and letting him get comfortable with your fencing sounds like your best bet. After a week or so he'll stop looking for your traps and just go about his routine. Then reset your traps and bust him.

But if you are seeing this critter on a regular basis, then by all means, SHOOT THE SUCKER!

Yeah that beev# 2 took me a month to catch,and i would not use castor lures down south here.and the advice I got " use food they dont have on site" was good advice.I brought in some willow( they love weeping willows), and I also bundled up about 15or so thumb size limbs that i merely shaved with a knife,leaving the strings of bark hanging off.used tie wire to bundle it together. This beaver was eating every tree.shrub ect.... in site, so any beev food that was not there that is a more desirable food I think will help .needless to say I caught him in 2 days from that
Setup. I did use Woodchipper on a limb i stuck in the mud behind the willow and placed stakes around so he could not approach willows or lure without going through trap

This time in the summer,when I utilized a dive log,I caught a bunch of N.T.G snapping turtles ,mud fish ect... it was a pain because I was using a 330 and I set it in the channel with a dive log.I eventially caught him,but it was a pain to have to wade out there and redo the set( especially the mudfish,as I approached the channel down stream,I noticed this big fish head, and it was weird to me because of the water flow direction( what the heck is it doing there??? If it was tossed there,it should have floated down from the road crossing,and not be 6- 10 yards up the channel! ) well when I got to the 330,it was tripped with zilch in it I could not fig what tripped it especially since I tricked the dog as Dobbins showed us in the video.after I reset the trap/set,I was walking down the channel ,saw what appeared to be a chunk of fish (10inch long chunk) roughly the size of a closed 330 conibear!) I never saw the tail or third part,bit it cut the fish into 3 parts.I would probally set it up near the bank in about 4-5 inches of water,put some limbs crossways under as spacers for the dog with the dog on the bottom.the trap will be 1/ 2 way submergerged.then you can use staves to block the sides to the bank.I would even, stave the bank, that way you could introduce bait,fake slide ect.... hope this will help

Here's something else to consider when thinking of going in with no rubber.

We have Cotton Mouth Water Moccasins. I would not DARE go into the water this time of year without some type of protection around my legs. Even with the thick rubber I'm a bit nervous about stepping into water where I can't see through. I know what them snakes can do and just because I'm at a neatly kept pond in the middle of suburbia doesn't mean that they wont be there.

Set.330.in runs by house where they're blowing out look along pond edge for bank dens

You could always get a live trap, the advance works good and it is built good and is powder coated.there are several different types out there made by several different folks
You would have an easieer time setting it and dont necessarily have to wade in the cotton mouths

set the lodge if they swim out while your setting fine they will get caught on the way back in. its not uncommon the catch beavers while im setting traps. just be as quite as possible when you start setting and away stradle the hole in case they come out while your standing there.

A Coupla Nutria will do this too

If you can't use anything but 330s, you're screwed. They are lure shy, 330 shy, and won't respond to any lure. Even a 330 in front of the den or lodge will most likely be minimally successful. This sounds like a beaver that will not approach anything that is new to its environment. If you can't blind set with footholds, you have a tough row to hoe...

I've never experienced nutria stripping bark from established trees. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I've never seen it. I have had them dig up freshly planted cypress seedlings and eat the root. I figured this was because of whatever the nursery was using to fertilize the seedlings...

Have caught seval tiny beavers. The only trees being hit are sweeet gums too. But a lot of them

X2 Also you might want to try pure beaver sac oil on a set to.

Use the castor of those tiny beaver. the parents will be more attracted to it than any other castor, I have used this trick on shy beavs in the past with good luck. beaver can tell the difference in the scent of the castor from one beav to another, and the smell of those missing pups will be very attractive to momma.

Finished up a beaver job in Nashville last week. It was nearly 100 degrees every day but I always wear waders ( just have to pour out the sweat after each use ) and run traps around 7:30am. I used straight poplar oil to catch the last one but I'm able to set footholds. Have you seen foot prints to determine the size of the beaver? Too much castor at a set might repel it.

as paul stated-ur dealing with a smart beaver now. try makeing a blind set - such as a crawl out-useing a peeled stick or 2 WITHOUT lure. use a *bright* wood,such as maple if possible,(its color is really visible for a few days and doesnt fade out quickly). if no response after a couple days THEN try a food lure with new sticks(simply to freshen color).perhaps try a different food lure. dobbins lures are top notch but even beaver shy away from a high quality lure such as Backbreaker,Beaver Plus,and Woodchipper IF theyve had bad experiences associated to the lure (such as seeing their own floating dead in a trap or haveing a trap snapped on themselves). with the amount of beaver youve caught,im sure this has happened. this is how we get *trapshy* beaver.im surprised u cant catch the beaver in a crossover set on the bottom side of dam leading downstream(since you are limited to conibears i mean). perhaps try a castor mound with a different castor lure.as a last resort go to the house and get it over with. it really sucks youre limited to conibears. you may want to beg the landowner to let u use other traps or snares.explain to them that u may not be able to finish the job because u are so limited to your options.what ever u decide to do,if u catch (or shoot)another beaver, make sure u rip out a hole in the dam to make sure u have got all beaver.

If you can set snares go with them. the snare set on a scent pole set is deadly use a food smell that you have not used yet. do not use any castor. also I have taken Lilly pad roots and wired them to a scent pole and peeled back for color contrast.

I should have checked what type trees they were but they were really young trees and girded I have only seen this down by south mills moyock state line area after I caught the nutes the damage stopped they may have been fertilizing the young trees I am not sure