Anyone set specifically for beaver on land using footholds? Say using a 1.75? Was the trap offset? How long a chain?
I'm not talking about long chaining beaver. I mean holding them on land like you would a coon or yote.
Thanks

Only with bodygrips. Well camouflaged 280 on a dry crossover whacks beaver, bobcat, and otter. I figure a 220 would work well also. Of course most States don't have the option, and even where legal you must be in a suitable location to avoid non-targets.

Snares work real good on dry land.

Snares or cages.

I guess should have specified footholds.

Short chain beaver in small foot hold on dry land is a recipe for catch and release.

Are you speaking from experience?

No! I would never make a set like that. If I have to catch them on dry land, there are much better methods.

But I have seen what happens on front foot catches when something gets tangled and they do not go down the drowner. Consider the size and strength of the beaver compared to the small front foot. Long chain on dry land without entanglement, you might hold them but I do not think you will hold many on a short chain.

Thinking "out loud" here, what if one were to use say an offset, laminated 1.75 coil with 10-12" of swiveled chain with no entaglements?

If you are only speaking of dryland footholds for beaver I would think that there are more efficient tools out there.

One way to find out is just give it a try. Too my way of thinking I would want a wide jaw face and lots of swivel points if I was going to try it. I think I will stick with BG's and snares.

It may would work better if you could consistently target the back foot, but then you would need a larger trap which aren't legal on land in a lot of States.

I believe Clint Locklear mentions doing this in his book Beaver Blitzkreig.If I recall right he used 1.75's and stressed lots of swivels.

The problem with holding a beaver by the front foot is that their front feet are not held on very well. If you score the skin on a beaver with a knife, you can easily wring the front foot off by hand.

I actually bought his book and only just started reading it. I Found the spot where he mentions he caught 137 beaver with victor 1.75 offset and laminated, short chained. He lost 4 beaver, 3 of the 4 were caught in non-laminated traps.

Interesting concept, seems u could put in two small traps to one drowner set up

While I have no desire to do this,as you said its an interesting concept.

Caught more than a few and held them like that while coon trapping.


So I ran a fun little experiment with staked short chained NW 1.75, held 66 before one loss.

I’ve managed a small pile of incidental beaver in 1 1/2’s short chained. No issue with footing them. I don’t believe a beaver fights a trap very hard until it tangles on something or it goes down a drowner, but I’ve only watched 1 get caught in a foothold. I’ve caught them high and dry and at the waters edge with no issues, but I haven’t purposely tried like pwc.

I have held one short chained in a 1.5 while trapping rats, but most of the time if one gets in my rat traps I just have a toe.

I used number threes or fours on 6 foot of chain with a drag the way Paul taught me.

You trapped beavers using drags?

I don't recall how many back foot catches were involved if any ?

All these were caught on dry land just above the waterline though, steep mud banks, easy to control the foot placement.