There are a couple lodges I can't set because they are too close to houses or the entrance is under snowmobile trails. Do these beaver travel anywhere besides the food pile? Do they maintain dams after freeze up?

They'll stray a good ways away from the lodge under ice. I'm not a beaver and I don't know what alerts them to a opening in the ice near a dam but they'll investigate it and use it. The feed pile on this pond is less than ten yards from the lodge. This opening at the dam was probably close to fifty yards away from the lodge. I find deep water between the lodge, feed pile and dam and set it.

They move around some under the ice but most of the time it is between the house and the feed bed.Sometimes beaver will stash feed away from the house up or downstream in the pond,and there will be feed holes nearby.If you cant set the entrance,set some snare poles in deep water where they travel.If your not sure of their travel pattern,you can auger a few holes and drop a green pole in each one.check in a few days to see if they have been cut off,then set the snare pole there.

Great! Thanks guys. That should keep me busy tomorrow.

I normal would set about the deep part from the dam. Also not far from the lodge all on snares on a pole set.