First of all - I'm new to this beaver trapping thing so forgive my ignorance...

Got a good spot and have caught 4 beavers in this pool. I made a dam beak to check things out and it has been repaired.
From your experience - how many of these critters can be living in one pool / lodge area.

At least here in Minnesota, typically you either have 2, 6, or 10, depending on how long they've been there. But there can be variables.

How big and what sex are the ones you already caught?
Is there a feed pile? If so how big is it?
This will give you an idea of how many more are in there.

These questions right here...

So, I have seen 1 to over 50 being caught out of one location. If a true single family unit then 2 adults and up to 4, 5, maybe 6 others. But I've caught 3 generations in the same pond too. If they have started breeding and travelling, and the overall population is high, you could catch new arrivals through the spring. Hard to answer without more info.

Thanks guys...

Caught these:
1 - Male (50lbs)
1 - Male around 25lbs
2 - Females , both around 25lbs

Feed pile is about 30 x 20 feet, but even when things sere frozen up last week, this pool was still open.
It's a spring feed creek so has to be very cold for quite some time before it completely ices over.

I'd say you still need one female 50 lbs minimum, probably bigger. Maybe another 20-25 lbs. Maybe not...One adult female though.

Thanks my man!!

That's why I said Minnesota in my above response. Southern beaver are much different than our northern when it comes to beaver colonies. Seems southern beaver colonies can have more than two adults, here it's rare. Not sure where Illinois fits in.

Yours might be different, but here in Minnesota, 23-28 pound beaver are usually nearing to be 2 year olds. Anything less than 20 pounds is less than a year old. So you should have the big female and four kits left to catch. But again, I don't know when your beaver are born. Ours are born in June.

Agree, you need to catch Momma.

I catch a beaver, skin it, remove the castors...and generally have no idea what the sex is. How are you all sexing them? I never see anything on the outside and I'm not sure what to look for on the inside.

There is a penis bone that is on the head side of the anus center between the two castors. It is usually about a half in inch long and sort of shaped like a golf tee. You can usually feel it from the outside, but easier to find skinning.

I used to live in MI, and trapped beaver the full length of the state. Kits generally were less than 15 pounds and ranged from 1-5 per colony. Adults were 40 pounds plus and usually 2 per colony. If the pond was big with multiple lodges, usually the two year olds were occupying the secondary lodge and not another family.

Down here, it is quite different. They can have kits almost year round so it is harder to distinguish generations.

My typical experience where they have been established without being disturbed for a couple of years.....the mated pair in the 40+ range, 1 to 4 close to 30 lbs and 1 to 4 approaching 20 lbs. The weights of the young will vary depending on the time of the year with summer and early fall being lighter and late winter and early spring heavier.

They usually give birth here in the late April to May timeframe and I am already getting calls for dispersals showing up in new places.

In the problem beaver I have trapped if you are a ways from the house. The big female is the last to be caught. (spring time beaver in MN). One area that I trap behind the house, I usually have to trap it every three years because of the population. Last spring was the 2nd time I trapped here and took 10 beaver from this small area. Still have not caught the adult female. I bet she is huge. I am about 1/4 mile from the house. This area is kind of a savings account for me.