I just recently got into beaver trapping because a friend had some damaging their property. I would like to continue trapping them, but I am not sure how. I live in north Texas (lake Texoma area) and there isn't public land. I have googled it to death and haven't come up with any reasonable results. Not asking anyone to do my legwork, just point me in the right direction. Is knocking on doors for private property access my only option? Thank you for any advice. Mitch

Check your laws.In a lot of places navigable waterways,up to the high water mark, even thru private land is open to the public.You can set traps as long as you can access the waterway from public land.

Be known to local authorities, farmer hang outs,etc.

Exactly right. I've got my eye on a beaver pond that looks to be untouched. It's right by the road but I don't want to ask the homeowner who lives nearby for permission to access it across their land. I don't want to draw any more attention to my traps than necessary. I'm hoping they don't hear my chainsaw when I tear into the ice.

I’m not in Texas but can’t imagine you would have any trouble getting access to private property if they have beaver. Especially if your in an agricultural area !

Knock on those doors, good luck !

I agree with golf ball most farmers want beavers gone ten minutes before they arrived! Leave a flyer at your local feed stores and coops. Make your self known! Dealing with farmers do every thing to a T ! Word will travel fast

Once people know you are willing to trap beavers and are capable of removing them you'll get more land than you can trap. If you get one landowner happy with what you have done they will tell their friends. I have one guy that has gotten me onto probably a dozen places and thousands of acres. And most of those owners are doing the same thing.

To my understanding ponds are not considered navigable waters. They are private property unless on public land. I would ask permission you might end up better off.

This will vary by state.

So I tried finding navigable water laws for lake texoma. I found the visitor center number and called them. They sent me to wildlife refuge. After i assured the lady eight times that I wasn't trying to hunt in the refuge, she gave me a game warden's number. He said he would look up the info for me. He called back and said there are no regulations against beaver hunting on the lake. He also said he gets calls about nuisance beavers and he will call me the next time he gets one. I did a Google earth search and found a public boat ramp 2 miles from my house. Went and checked it out and there are chewed sticks all over the shoreline. I think I'm in business y'all! I also knocked on a ranch owner's door cause I can see some beaver sign on one of his tanks. He didn't answer, but I'll try again. Thank you everyone. I'm going to try it out next week and I'll let you know how it goes.

^^what Tony said!.....and any bulletin board that farmers go to , ya know, those lil mom n pop convenience stores in the middle of nowhere.

lol don't try to hard or you might have to quit your job! I've yet to meet a land owner that wanted beavers on their property

word of mouth.. I got rid of several beavers for one rancher, then he started telling his friends I've gotten 4 other places to trap.

my advice is:

do what you say you will do.
go by their rules no matter what
respect their land like it's your own
really is common sense, which isn't so common it seems.

like in my case..
if your gonna do beavers then dont set for other animals unless he agreed to that. he also didnt want the dams torn out below a certain spot.. (something about keeping the water UP to irritate some nosy neighbors). and dont tear up land with atv etc...

he then told ALL his rancher buddies and I've got 12 traps out now in 5 locations..

chris

There are a few guys around with duck hunting properties that want the beavers there as they help keep their spots flooded, but they are few and far between. I have a few of those places scattered out in between the places I have permission to trap on. I just consider them as beaver production areas. Once the 2 year olds disperse they are generally going through the places I can trap. Also, every time there is a flood the beaver move around quite a bit and I end up catching many of those beaver that way.