It might not seem like its ever coming here in MN but starting to gear up for a spring river run for beaver. We've done it a few years now and each year we are learning something new and the river does something different. When my buddy stabilizes the traps like he knows he's supposed to and I remember to take the safety's off we are fairly proficient beaver trappers, but you can never stop learning.

So the scenario we are dealing with is right at ice out we will be trapping a river that will be flooding over its banks roughly 7-10ft. There are a lot of willow flats that will now have 4-5ft of water in them that we have chased beave out of in the past when trapping. Because of space and weight limitations we are thinking of running mainly snares. My question for you guys that have this situation, can you rub castor on a willow 15ft back in the flooded area and set snares around it as the beave come in to investigate? Thinking we would find the runs and set the natural openings and if need be cut a few below the waterline to get them to take that path. Thinking 3-4 snares per location depending on sign.

Also, for those location we can throw in a 330 what do you do for staking and stabilization when the bank is completely froze and maybe still ice covered.

We will be running some MB750's also but mainly interested in the flooded willow snaring and 330 stabilization. If you have any other tips or tricks we are always looking for something to try.

Thanks,

if its easy to get to I would use floats with 330

Floats aren't an option because of the amount of debris and ice that is still coming down the river. Along with the space limitations and there aren't good drop off point. If it was easy to access i would stage drowning wieghts at different locations to pick up as we go.

1/2" nut top rebar stakes will.make it through frost with a big hammer. Sometimes when it's time to pull, they come out easy and sometimes they will not come out at all of you put them through a big root.

I also use rebar for gravel where I trap.

Your gonna get a lot of chewed up beaver,lol.
Spring+castor+live beaver=swiss cheeze.

Like Mike has said you can pound rebar through the ice with a big hammer for staking and you might try KB stabilizers to stabilize 330's under frozen bottom conditions.

Yeah you want them Under!

I admire your dedication but I can’t imagine trapping a river that’s flooding as you described. I’d have to think your traps would either be high and dry, or unreachable in deep water. No stable conditions in this scenario.

We have to watch the river levels constantly and watch what they're predicting and set accordingly. Yes we do have some traps that end up being out of commission but vast majority we are in great shape as long as we watch what the river is doing. Also if it takes a dramatic drop we have had to run our line again the same day 2 remake sets

The biggest thing is when the rivers flooded they're pushed out of there dens so we can see them on the banks and sed rate where the Beavers are and have a rough idea how many sets we should make to try to get as many of that Colony as we can

If it were me, I would wait for the river to drop closer to normal. You would be able to see more of their activity and set accordingly. There's no rain in the next 7 day forecast. The river will drop pretty rapidly. Your sets will have to be adjusted every day if you set now.You still have close to a month left to trap beaver in MN.

The longer you wait the more bit up the beaver are going to get, plus this is the only weekend that works for the two of us to make the trip. We are running a 3 day line pulling and moving to a new area each day so we will be checking and adjusting traps already.

Based on that, your best option is to make random castor or bait sets and hope the beaver get caught before the river drops too quickly which it will probably do since there isn't any chance of rain for the next 7 days.

You must be trapping well up north, as I have a place on MilleLacs lake and the frost has been out at least a week now. I wouldn't have any trouble anchoring a trap in the ground there.
Another possibility is using cable or heavy wire on your traps and anchoring to a tree or heavy brush. I have 10' of cable on all my 330s, so anchoring isn't a problem in almost any situation.

If it were me I’d probably make some floating snare sets. Floating logs, beaver torpedos, beaver bobbers, things like that. Out of the channel of course. I’d also make sets that use some sort of entanglement, like a rebar KP or even wooden tangle sticks.


The idea for torpedos came from wanting a snare set that handled fluctuating water levels while being able to easily carry them.



Good luck

beaver torpedos?

Torps are PVC pipes filled with spray foam with weight added to act as a ballast to make it float correctly. Snare support wire is wrapped around the pipe and the snare hangs off of the end. Lure is smeared on the end of the torp, and beavers circle the torp until they get just a little too close. Can be made lethal if you want.



Basically it’s a floating log set that a person can carry in instead of having to cut on site. Can pack a dozen or more in a bag. I make mine 9.5” plus the two end caps with a 12” OAL eye bolt from fastenal. When I shared it, I was sharing the idea—-not the design. Reason why is because it can be made quite a few ways. It’s whatever works for you. I prefer 2” pvc

Aix sponsa I tried searching for it but looks like it had been deleted. if you wouldnt mind could you post a picture or send me a pm of it. Im really interested in this and so is my beaver buddy trappertom!

Smear some casture lure on the end, set it where a beaver will pass by, and you’re in business. Personally, I preferred using them back away from the dam. I wanted their focus to be on it and nothing else. It’s a very useful set when water levels are fluctuating. Many uses out of one, they’re not disposable. They can be staked, extension cabled, or my favorite way—earth anchor on the end. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again——I’m sharing the idea. You can improvise and come up with quite a few ways to do it.

I’ve been meaning to create a step by step tutorial with photos. Until then, here ya go....


Good luck

Good feeling when I see someone taking the idea and running with it. I have always felt that torps had incredible potential.


Thanks for sharing DDT