Hello All,

I have been trapping beaver for three years. So, I have a lot to learn. I have a job at an housing association to remove beavers from their two ponds. Four sets were made in one pond two run sets,one set with castor, and one set with beaver oil. All sets were made with cage traps.

The beaver went past the two scented sets and was caught in a run set. The beaver was a two year old. Why would a beaver pass a castor set? I thought they are very territorial.

Thanks

Chuck

Wrong time of year in many places...some places I've read it doesn't matter,but looks like it does up there.
It's like using deer estrus NOT during the rut, kinda.(altho there are better examples) like rattling in mid-summer to attract bucks.
Pauls Woodchipper is my go to lure for summertime beavering.
Peel a few lil stix and stab 1 into the lure, and walla, a beaver in a trap or snare.

This was made on another thread that might help.



If the scent sets were made with traps in a run to the scent or bait, the trap may have appeared more of an obstacle. Maybe you need a taller, wider trap, or maybe the response was thwarted by something as described in the above quote.

Your weather and water temperatures now are like what we get in December. You should get a good response. It must be the sets. Or as described above.

Just got back this evening from a nuisance job.
Set 4 traps two days ago,2 in submerged runs and 2 bank sets lured with Bob Wilsons green lure.
Got the pair in the lured sets-that Bob Wilsons green lure is just like candy for these northern beaver in the spring and summer.It does not work as well in the fall when its cold for some reason.

Thanks

Chuck

Chuck,

I found this today. I have done quite a bit of experimenting. Here is an example as to why I said a larger more open appearing trap might be needed.

SET


Catch


It is not to say the smaller trap set by its self would not have caught the beaver, but it does show preference.

Trap on left is 17"x 12". Trap on right is 12 x 12 with a swing down door. Both are 36" long. I have found this to be true with almost any animal set to where he has the ability to make a choice. If they have a choice, they choose the most open appearing most of the time.

Basically, one trap is just taller than the other.

There are as many different viable methods of beaver trapping as there are days in a month, all good, again just different.

In the north country, as in N.H., like N.Y., beaver respond to castor nearly 100% of the time, so I set castor whenever there is open water. Its incredible how well the castor sets work and the reason I will put them out with as much confidence as a run or den set. Two days ago I had an opportunity to set a den, but chose not to. Since the den was 50 yards back and the pond was right by the truck, I told the onlookers I would simply set closet to the vehicle so as not to have to carry the beaver more than necessary. I have often jokingly mentioned that set locations are determined with a tape measure. Measure the closest distance form the bumper to the pond, that's where to set. Next day, using castor, the beaver was in the 12 in high cage, but set in the water as swim through with castor about 6 feet back from the cage.

I do use traps that can be used in either 18 inch tall or 12 inch tall mode, but choose to take the beaver in the water opposite the castor, placing the traps sideways 12 inches high in water for a swim through, with castor on the bank, not in the trap, which does the trick nearly every time. I prefer keeping trap and lure separate, sometimes separated by 50 feet or more depending on the situation. The only pertinent element is having the trap placed somewhere between the lure and the beaver, utilizing a natural or created travel way. In the water, traps can be completely hidden from those who might want to steal or disrupt trapping.

So when you set a cage in a swim thru situation,in deeper water,how do you suspend it so it is at the right depth for the beaver to enter and swim thru.Do you use 4 poles driven in the bottom and wire the cage,or do you place the cage underwater on the bottom and incorporate a dive pole.I suppose it would depend if you wanted to take him dead or alive?

You can stack them or you just place on bottom with dive sticks on each end as a body grip. The disadvantage is the longer area for dive sticks due to cage length on a dive set. The taller the trap the deeper the water and still catch alive except in water that is right at freezing or at the other extreme, over 80 degrees and in the sun, then you will get them by exposure. The taller the trap on a deep run the less he has to dive. Even the style of cage affects the best trap to be used for that particular run.

The reason for being a distance from the lure is to get them to commit or swimming around and be into the trap before they have time to think on a swim through cage trap (same as a standard 330). On the larger cages (over 14" wide x 14"tall) it is not so critical on going into a baited trap as long as the trap is set up as described in an earlier post.

Thanks Kirk.I enjoyed speaking with you at Escanaba.

Not to forget that much of the time when we get called to do ADC jobs we are NOT the first guys who have trapped these beaver....and what's the first thing the first (or third) trapper used as a lure...CASTOR. Some get castor shy, square shy, etc. Who has been there to trap BEFORE me is one of the first things I ask. Hopefully they are honest with you...it'll save you time and headache.

Excellent point Calvin.There are a lot of different sets that will take beaver and the deeper your bag of tricks the more successful you will be as a nuisance beaver trapper.The ability and knowledge of uncommon sets as well as keen knowledge of the animals habits will help immensely. Being able to read sign and interpret it is equally important to catching educated Animals of all sorts.

I've probably caught the first beaver in this part of Wisconsin. That is not a big deal. I have never had a beaver job that was

unsuccessful. That's not a big deal either. I have never used any scent for beaver and that's not a big deal either. As far as I

know, I've also had zero competition on any beaver job. ( I'm guessing that might be a big deal ) Some of you guys may have caught

more beaver in a year than I've caught in my lifetime. Again, no big deal. You've had them a whole lot longer. I had to treat beaver

like overgrown muskrats and I probably have caught more of them than most of you. Since I've never been able to catch muskrats on

either bait or lure either, you now know my predicament; I'm not only mentally challenged but also scentally challenged!

Just got back from todays beaver job.

An interesting discussion on tall vs. short, but the issue is really about tall vs. wide. Boco, in answer to your question after my post, though taller traps are another method, they are just one tool in the box. I don't view land trapping beaver as a primary method of take. After 456 beaver cage catches as of yesterday, primarily taken in water in wide traps set in a whole range of situations, I have had no issues. I can use a 12x18 inch trap set either 12 inches high or 18 inches high, but have found little reason to use them 18 inches high except that they will then fit into a tighter narrower run on the bottom, which I have only had to do on the rare occasion. A beaver spends most of his time in the water, swimming, affording the best opportunity to catch them.

I have found that a wider trap, a trap more akin to a 660 super bear conibear is easier to place since wider runs are more abundant and that a wider trap provides the most confidence, less confinement for the swimming beaver. Yes you can catch beaver on land, but water sets with foot traps, conibears, snares and cages are most frequently used for beaver simply due to ease in setting coupled with great results. I once caught a bobcat in a water set in a 330, but will stick with a land set for them.

Rich Kasper made his 660's wide instead of tall. They could have been made the other way, 24 inches tall and 10 inches wide, but they were purposely made 10 high and 24 wide. I have a great deal of experience with wide conibears having used 660's almost exclusively for about 6 years, year round, warm and cold, taking many hundreds of beaver in them with great results. The wide traps were so easy to place, leaving a large opening beaver did not shy from. That same principle can be applied to cages, wide.

For deep water cage setting where top sets are desired, I have used existing small saplings growing in place to support a cage at water level, wooden poles when necessary and also more recently made 48 inch long T bar stakes to keep traps on top. All have worked great. I have recorded the successes. Another method, when some cage traps are set upside down, long poles can even be slipped through the cage wire itself, completely out of the way of bottom triggering, running the poles bank to bank in small streams to support the trap on top or at the surface once again. I have even been lucky enough to witness beaver getting caught on a couple of occasions. The wide opening means no hesitation.

Nothing wraps up a beaver job faster then a hand full of 1.00 snares

Agreement on snares. Another super tool in the arsenal. They are a great finishing tool, in most cases, when problems arise from trap shy or castor shy beaver. I am slower setting snares and it takes me more time to remake a set, so for that reason I start with other devices. For openers the cages work great, making up 90% of what I do with nuisance beaver, but there are always smart beaver left over from failed attempts at trapping, usually fur trappers who got a sprung conibear. In 65 catches this year I have taken 4 beaver in snares, using them to catch the last hold out in each of the 4 cases. All came quickly, minus castor, in blind sets. Still, I have experienced snare avoidance and had to go to a Hancock, CDR or 660.

Another spot wrapped up this week,two more that succumbed to lured sets.

Its not necessarily about wide or tall. It is, which trap is the most open appearing to the animal as long as the trap performs.

As I said

I hardly ever use 660's here. If I do it usually is only mid December to feb 1. The thick wire trigger causes avoidences sometimes and they also miss otters sometimes depending how they enter the trap. I have always said that, even before I started making cages. Any obstruction on any set can cause avoidance. That is why on snare sets folding a blade or two of grass so as to hang down creates just enough avoidance to get the otter to go through the center instead of underneath.

Cold weather climates just make the animal more interested in eating and less noticing things.