beaver dam in small creek causing flooding and concerns for neighboring industrial park, went today and inspected the dam, no damage to trees in sight, can't see any beaver hut in good size marsh land, all probably a couple of feet deep. Land Owner wants beaver removed and water level lowered as neighbor is getting very nervous.
How would you go about it ?

Maybe you might describe what tools you have got to work with. What are your limitations?

Kirk De, Owner says whatever it takes. Limited by what's legal.
Thanks Aix sponsa, will try to get a handle on the population numbers. I am stomped by not seeing any sign yet, so they might be a ways away actually. Usually beaver activity has not been that hard to spot.

That looks like an easy one.I would make a break in the dam about a foot deep and a foot wide as a draw,then I would set 6 sets lured with Bob Wilson's on the dam near the break,on each side,with the closest being about 10 feet from the break,and the rest 10 feet apart along the dam.Make sure no water is running over the dam where you make the lured sets.
After catching a few with the lured sets I would set the dam break itself with multiple submerged 330's out in front to take the stragglers.
After that I would rip the dam and return the water to natural flow,then check the house entrances for tracks in the mud to make sure all the beaver were eliminated.

not sure setting the dam is legal for agents in WI, I think it's not, but have to check.
would you still use a castor based lure or more a curiosity food lure?

Bob Wilsons for me works all summer.
If you cant set the dam,look for the house and set the shoreline both sides between the dam and house.
If you want to get rid of a nuisance problem,why wouldn't you be allowed to set the dam?

Wisconsin Regs, don't ask me why!
Currently landowner can trap on the dam, but that privilege can not be transferred to agent acting on behalf of the owner. I have to stay 15 ft away. Screwy regulation and is being changed, but not finalized yet, as far as I understand it.

I can see it in regards to fur trapping as a method of controlling the harvest(taking away some of the most sure fire sets).But when the target is removing all the beaver in a nuisance situation in the most efficient way possible,that rule doesn't make sense in that situation.
Good that it is being changed.

And what would THAT be?

What traps can you use?

Snares OK?

no snares or cable restraints.
I think body grips more than half submerged, and possibly still footholds as drowning sets. Regs are a bit ambiguous there.

One trap I would recommend you have is a Koro beaver trap.

Snare are legal and a good option if you can do a 24 hr check. I would set the runs between the dam and the house.
I just finished a job where I couldn't get permission to trap the main pond. Took
8 beaver in between the main dam and a culvert they were blocking down stream from it.
5 of 8 were caught in snares.

I studied the regulations. As I understand it, footholds, conies, and snares are legal to use. Conies and snares need to be at least 1/2 submerged. I cannot set closer than 15 ft of the dam.
I will try to locate the hut later today.

That is correct and also no lure. Also required to have permission in writing from the land owner with a time period specified.
I think aphis got involved in writing the regs just to make it difficult.

agreed, the 1/2 submerged rule is no hindrance.

The half submerged rule is fine until some Conservation Officer decides you are at fault when the water drops. Most have commonsense and apply the 24hr rule- meaning if when you checked the set it was ok, then 24 hours later it was too high, as long as you correct it then you are OK. Had one that was a stickler- called me at 6pm to say the trap was about half an inch too far out of water, based on the jaw rivets. I explained the level was falling, more than I expected, but he wanted it fixed that night. I put a 280 in place of a 330 and all was good.

in this case, the dam regulates the water level, so pretty consistent!

I wouldn't waste my time.
I often did jobs and never knew where the lodge was, should not set there anyway, good way to get them to hide out in the lodge for long time.
If that log in the 3rd pic is near their travel, it is perfect to hang at least 2 snares on. Just like in Pauls videos, SURELY you have some.

Hope this helps a bit

If there was a faster, easier, more effective, safer and more versatile method of beaver trapping that would offer better results than using swim through cage traps I would be doing it. After 50 years of beaver which includes using cages, conibears, magnums, 660's, snares, footholds, shooting, Hancock and Bailey the cages are still the go to trap after almost 8 years and nearly 1,000 beaver taken. Nope, they are not 100% as nothing is. I still use all of the other devices as required. Had the Hancock out this past week and used modified conibears on a winter colony due to all the junk in the water, feed pile and chewed wood. For ease, speed and results a shot of castor placed where you choose to set, with a cage or two out front in a foot or more of water is hard to beat. Put 3 cages side by side last year with castor beyond the traps. Had 3 in row the first night, 2 more and a turtle the next. Got one on the other side. Done in two nights, which is common. Runs are fine, just not always readily available, so I won't waste time looking for them because castor is so effective. I did have one spot this spring that was nothing but small runs close by so I used them all to 12 in a few trips. Whatever the situation dictates. When asked "how do you pick a castor location" the answer is simple. I get a tape measure and find the shortest distance from the bumper to the pond. The 60 pounders are heavier than they used to be.

That is quite a statement, if you are a long liner and a pick up.

The first thing I do before setting up any new nuisance beaver job is thoroughly scout the pond\ponds in order to set and remove all the beavers in the most efficient manner possible.Locating the house/bank dens and territorial castor mounds is key.
For example you could set up a pond,but if there is a larger pond upstream where the beavers are actually living,your traps at the lower pond may not see action for quite a while.This is especially true in summer.Even after a rain when beaver get more active,some beaver in the colony may not visit the lower impoundments for quite a while.
By scouting the entire area you will be able to identify the areas of frequent use,like crossovers,channels etc.It will also allow you to assess the probable size of the colony,how old it is and how many beaver you can expect to be there.By identifying large territorial castor mounds it will indicate you are dealing with more than one colony,and you can expect those adjacent beaver to move in after you remove the one colony,if you don't eliminate them too.Google earth can be an asset also.Another consideration is to know what lies downstream especially if you are in charge of lowering the water to natural flow after beaver removal.This can dictate if you can dump all the water in a couple of visits,or if you have to let the water down gradually over a longer time period.
This is not necessary when running and gunning for fur in season,unless you want to remove all the beaver.

quick update.
this is roughly 10 acres of swamp, water levels get beyond 4 ft quickly, so no way to wade around in it. perimeter is maybe 1/3 accessible, rest is out of my reach due to business park and subdivisions that boarder up against it. I don't see how I can scout it for runs, slides, mounts, huts etc.
I tried scouting with a short kayak, but that was so so, there is one main channel, the rest is smaller runs where maneuvering a kayak quickly becomes close to impossible. I am pushing my way through cattails there.
footholds on slide wires have not resulted in anything yet. I noticed a clear run approx 1 ft wide at one side, turns out that's turtle territory, with a turtle or two every morning stuck in my 330's. Anybody want turtles??
I managed to set 2 conibears at somewhat of pinch points in main channel, after first night I had a muskrat this morning.
Suffice to say that so far I am getting my butt kicked. Luckily the 90 degree weather is about to let off a little here.
I did poke a small hole in the dam to lower water levels and to get beavers moving, they have been back once to patch the dam. there's a raccoon visiting the dam every night. (timestamp is off).

The lure and bait appear both to be not allowed, I find the regulations not very clear as it muddles all kinds of things in the same sentence, which are actually allowed off season for nuisance trapping.
As far as I can tell, there is one dam.
They don't seem to be crossing the dam, I also can't set within 15 ft of the dam.

As I understand it they are in the process of changing the no bait/lure and dam trapping law.
I've had very good results with aixs kill pole set up catching them in deep runs swimming on the surface.

yes, the dam trapping was in the spring hearings, the bait was also, but for sight exposed bait in nuisance trapping.

what's the kill pole set? any illustrations?

This is a live catch set up. I haven't found a good way to drown with a snare yet. 2 snares can also been used to cover a wider run. This a 4 ft.

. Not if you run them down a drowning rod. A short snare works best. But it takes deeper water than Aix set up.

got it, thanks!

Thanks Aix, this is very educational! Guess I need to pick up welding now too!

I think Aix’s torpedo set would be perfect for your situation, as long as you could use the castor. It self adjusts to water levels so you could break the dam to both lower the water and get the beaver heading that way. Not sure if he sets it up for drowning , but it sure seems to fit this setup

Aix's torpedo set?

Aix, thanks for checking. Long story short, no, I have not caught them.
I caught a good share of turtles and a muskrat. With my trail cameras, I was observing beaver coming in to fix the small hole I tore in the dam, but they managed to avoid my traps. We had a lot of rain during that period, the water level dropped very little, and the beaver showed up roughly once a week to check on the dam and do repair work. Really got some amazing pictures of the beavers, raccoons, all sorts of birds, etc! One morning I got there and somebody had moved in with heavy equipment to take the dam down, dropped water levels a good foot. My client had no clue this was coming, neither did the neighboring business. As you can imagine, all my traps were now out of the water, and I decided to take them down and find out what's going on. I still don't who did it, but I suspect the construction crew at a new subdivision going in at the top of the swamp.
I agreed with the client to pull back for now. He does not want to deal with it at the moment, not upset with me, he called me and asked for his invoice, thanked me for my for my efforts and for responding very quickly. Even if not catching the beavers. I gained permission to trap there in winter and we'll see what else happens. I suspect the dam is fixed by now and the relief was very short term. Right now, licking my wounds a bit, learned a lot and looking forward to the next adventure.
If I get around to it, I'll post some pictures of all the wildlife on the dam.

Uwe, you'll get them! Might be good to get the cameras back out too.

The dam getting messed with was my thought in suggesting the Torpedo. Worst case you have a snare sitting in the mud. I'd hate to have 330's or #14's high and dry!!!!! Also, steal a torpedo and I'm out about 5 bucks tops= Steal a 330 and it is about 20.

Tom