All really depends on the depth of the water and how tight your drowner is if its wire or cable. Fiberglass/rebar/steel rod drowners have minimal play. If your water is shallower than 48" you probably ought to forget about using drowners. You could use tangle stakes in shallower water to shorten the free cable

I've trapped alot of beaver, never snared one.With today's market would a snare rub on the fur really detract from the price?Our laws demand a drowner of some type but it would seem to me that's easier said than done.

Buck I don't think you could get by with any snare much shorter than 40" maybe 36-38" ... an 8" loop takes up a little over 25" of cable, so in order to get that loop high enough off the ground you will need another 12+ inches of cable to get that loop 2-4" off the trail/slide. As for the snare marks in today's market, they make no difference at all if you're selling to the hatter market, like most are. However neck snaring beaver I find easy to do, up until a little dink beaver comes through.

For a submersion snare, I build them 38” - 40”.


If you build a quality snare KP, 48” of water is more than enough to have em. 2 1/2 feet deep would be fine too if the crosspieces are a foot above the substrate. I use 1/2” rebar fo build mine, but you could also use beaver sticks to build something on-site for reliable entanglement. You’ll just need to find what works for you and is legal.

Well,this isn't my thread and I certainly didn't mean to steal it but I've certainly been given lots to think about for the upcoming season.I've cabled some Fox and coyotes,when it comes to beaver I'm a foot hold and conibear type of guy.Snaring beaver,under our regs is going to be a new experience.

Any pictures do how y'all set your snare up on beaver slides or baited sets and so on?

Depends if ya have deep enough water.
That’s why I like a 36” snare. Usually down a drowning rod.
And with a extension cable if not drowning.
Don’t waste time and money with whammies just use Paul’s trick bending a W in the support wire.
Oh and 5/64 or 3/32 , 1x19.