Was deer hunting this morning. Nothing was moving, pouring rain/freezing rain/ ice pellets...so quit early and went home at lunch. Sitting at home, remembered driving past some beaver sign on the way to a snare site last week. With the warm weather I have been waiting till snowmobile season begins till I set, but I couldn't help myself and jumped on the ATV.

Tough to drive by sign like this!


Beaver was swimming around, but the sights got knocked off a bit on the 22, so watched him till he showed me where a bank hole was. Awful nice of him. Set one there, and another set with Woodchipper. This spot is on a small Creek, bedrock bottom. They can't dam it up because there is a small waterfall and they can't get the mud and sticks to adhere to the bedrock. It's at a funnel point between two parts of land, and I have no issue taking all the beaver out of it because it never freezes. Meaning the beaver will be active all winter and the coyotes will easily oil them. I am guessing only two, but I have been surprised before.




A bit further down the trail and checked the snare site. Nothing there, but I figure no fewer than four fisher and numerous fox have had at the beaver carcass. I was there five days ago and the ground was literally beat flat for fifty yards in all directions. Snares set for coyote, so nothing in them. I will trap the fisher once it freezes up. Tough to see, but these tracks are withing the last day or so. No bait left, just poking around.



On the way out, saw a spot where a small beaver had been taking advantage of the warm weather. Had to set a trap of course. Only one more day of warm, so if he comes back tonight I will get him. If not, oh well. Also set an otter slide nearby, but I will pull it in a couple days. Not much hope, but worth a shot.


On the way out, this owl kept a watchful eye on my ATV skills navigating the mudholes.


I will check tomorrow and see what happens. Not a bad way to kill an hour and a half. Beats sitting on the couch!

A few snares. Note the critter tracks everywhere.





Real tough to see with all the rain, and the critters are running on top of the snow now, but it's looking like it will be a very good fisher season here. I can't go fifty yards in the bush without running into a set of tracks.

Looks like you got a bit of a thaw happening.You should be skinning soon by the look of it.
Cam locks are the worst when it thaws then freezes again.

Hope you score nicely and soon!

Ya, I am not worried. It is going to be above freezing long enough without rain for the locks to dry out. The waxed snares help also.

I wish it would hurry up and freeze. Getting tired of going nowhere fast on the ATV with all the mudholes, and the hills suck with the greasy snow.

We will see what happens tomorrow.

Nice looking spot... looks like you spent your day same way I spent mine.

Bowhunting and trapping? Not a bad way to spend a weekend. Sometimes I like just futzing around and setting a few traps here and there instead if putting out a solid line. Kind of relaxing.

Nice write-up and pics Hutchy, thanks for sharing.

I am very good at one thing "futzing " Thanks Hutchy !

Well sorta... grouse hunting with my dog and water trapping. And yeah I am with you... I'm an opportunistic trapper. Set traps where I see a need for them... did a half-arsed line today. Set coon, mink and beaver sets.

Nice. I keep flushing grouse and seeing a ton of tracks. I really should bring a shotgun. Heck, you know what would.be great? Like a Sherpa golf caddy type person to follow a guy around on his adventures bringing all the gear heneds! Walking through the bush and see a nice balsam thicket with grouse tracks all around it..."Ithaca mod 37 with number six lead please". Or spot a perfeft otter slide. "gonna need a 280 Belisle here Francis..."

Fox hunting mice on the other side of the haymarsh? "Cz455 in .22 mag please"...

Perfect largemouth pond..."hand me the st Croix and quantum smoke with a weedless frog!"

Man, wouldn't that be great? Like an outdoor caddy...

good read waiting to see what you get hutchy thanks for sharing

Yeah, Good read...I enjoyed the photos! Good l
LUCK!

Great pics Hutchy. There is no way I could go past the beaver sign on top of the snow without setting traps.

Especially because there was a ton of sign I didn't show you. They were fifty yards from the water at one point. I'd rather them in my shop and snare bait pile rather than in a coyotes belly!

Hard to believe you have open water! We have 12-15" of ice everywhere!

That is what wives are for …. LOL!


Garry-

That's basically a creek. I can walk most places. -12 tonight should stiffen things up

Lol is right! I mean...crap she is coming, gotta go!

Went out right after work today. Was a bit colder last night than I expected. Got about two inches of snow also.

Got to the bank hole and found this:



Pole knocked over, and a good beaver in it. I didn't really anchor the trap that well, only using the cross pole to anchor it. Worked fine.

A good catch right behind the front legs.



I reset the trap. Here is a good shot of it in the water. This is our classic under ice, creek or channel set. A pole goes through both springs, and a cross pole is added that catches the corner of the trap jaws. It stabilizes the trap rock solid. You don't need mud to use it either. On rock, a second heavy stick wired to the main pole keeps the frame stable. Usually the trap is wired to the big pole, but I forgot wire so I used one of my cable anchors. You can see it sort of ok here all reset. The trap jaws hit from the side, and if you set the wires a bit to the bottom you catch them right behind the legs. Perfect Imo.


The second castor set was iced in...


Which was ok, because I crossed this on the way in. Looks like a good one.



With all the rain, I am going to wait to set for him. He won't be eaten by coyotes likely. Too much water to set, but when it calms the best spot is right here