I've never seen a Victor No.4 long spring with a nut and bolt to adjust pan tension

He's using longsprings and most of the older ones don't have pan bolts.

I used #4 victors years ago. I can't say I ever lost one unless they rung off. The #4 has good reach. I switch to Bridget #5 and a few #750's because they seem to be easier to work with but wouldn't be afraid to drop a number 4 in. The guys that posted before got it right. I listened to what I was told last season and had better luck.

i like the #4 longs for front footing beaver.
trap placement is the whole deal with any trap tho

In some PA WMU's, like the one I trap for beaver (3A), you are only allowed two 330's.

Near home, two 330s is the limit also. These were in 1A, near Ohio line. You can use all body grips , if you like.

Nice, I don't care for the two 330 limit.

Me either. Pa has some odd beaver rules.

They sure do and they vary quite a bit depending on where in the state you are trapping.

You need to read the archives before you continue. Read every beaver thread that’s been archived. It will be well worth the time spent. I’m not sure where you’ve gotten the information you’ve mentioned so far. I’ve done my share of beaver work, and I’ve never heard of 3 ft long chaining mentioned for beavers. Land animals, yes, I’ve heard of people using 3 feet of chain and considering that long compared to short chains of 12” or less. When I use long chains for beaver, it’s 10 feet, and entanglement hasn’t been an issue whatsoever, but I dont use that method around small trees/stumps or other potentially risky entanglement situations. Generally speaking, catching a beaver isn’t difficult, but specific spooked/educated beavers can be very hard to catch and very time consuming. You need to spend time learning about sets.







That’s the truth. I’ve encountered beavers that made me question whether or not beavers could REALLY be that educated/difficult to catch or if a human was having a laugh, wasting my time, and/or interfering with my efforts. Every once in a while, nuisance beavers can be quite challenging, and you remember those times forever.

I trap beaver year round as a business. Pay attention to Aix Sponsa.

I will add to all of that, I agree that doing paid nuisance work is not the time to learn the hard lessons of beaver trapping. Catch at least a hundred before you even take a paying job.

One thing I have not heard mentioned, and this is something I often tell people that gets mixed reactions depending on what side of the coin they come from. And that is - that as the guy who often gets paid to catch the one beaver - the one that the kid who just started trapping two years ago educated to every kind of trap his uncle gave him last fur trapping season, then the kids uncle came and further educated it to the point that it is among the most difficult of all animals to catch, to that I say “Go for it kid, and your uncle too!”
In a way, the fact that neither of them could catch that one old female is what gets me the job to catch that one beaver, and I charge to solve a problem, not by the beaver. So I only have to work my magic once and I get my pay, and if the kid and his uncle had not educated that one they would have caught them all, and I would not be as valuable to the guy who has 30 acres of cropland under water.

So my issue is not with the beavers getting educated, but rather with unqualified individuals getting PAID to ask us how to remove the beaver here on tman, while they learn about beaver trapping. If you are volunteering, fine. They get what they pay for.

Get them to walking into the trap not swimming here’s a pic of a berm the trap is wired off to ends willows hanging over deep water with 15 lb sack of rocks to take him down.

Oh my, that pic is worth a thousand words. THANK YOU!

In hindsight, my trap wasn’t offset enough.

Here is my advice on how to catch beavers:
Yes, read, reread, and the do what Aix suggests. He is very knowledgeable, experienced, and well respected. Others experts here have given you excellent advice about how to catch beavers. Sure, you can learn by doing and using their very valuable advice shared here.

My objection is to your attitude and representing yourself as doing nuisance work, or as a nuisance trapper. It appears here that you are a guy trying to learn how to trap beavers on someone else’s time. Plus, you present a careless attitude about the animals

You are not a professional nuisance trapper. Your lack of knowledge and experience and professionalism can cause someone to conclude an inaccurate negative view of professional trappers.

You may recall that I said:
If you do not understand the traps very well, and have never before trapped beavers, then you should not be doing nuisance animal trapping.

Providence Farm explained by saying:
He said that because you educated the beaver and ADC guys get lots of calls to clean up after guys that were not experienced and educated the beaver making the job very difficult.

You requested that I clarify, so I clarified:
What I actually meant is that this guy is not competent or qualified to do beaver nuisance trapping. Therefore many negative outcomes are possible. Instead of outlining them all and giving ammunition to anti-trappers, I will say this is a very bad practice.

Loosanarrow said:
I will add to all of that, I agree that doing paid nuisance work is not the time to learn the hard lessons of beaver trapping. Catch at least a hundred before you even take a paying job.

So my issue is not with the beavers getting educated, but rather with unqualified individuals getting PAID to ask us how to remove the beaver here on tman, while they learn
about beaver trapping. If you are volunteering, fine. They get what they pay for.

Operating a professional nuisance trapping business require much more than having a few traps, and placing an ad for more traps, and asking for advice while you try to learn on someone else’s time. It requires a license, certification, liability insurance, capital investment, integrity, determination, dedication, business savvy, people skills, creativity, problem solving skills, and yes trapping skills.

Several professional trappers with a lot of experience have give trapping advice and nuisance trapping advice. Think about the realities of the situation. By representing yourself as a beaver nuisance trapper while not knowing how to trap beavers you may carelessly and recklessly damage the reputation and image of the true professional nuisance trappers. We already work hard enough.

Don't be discouraged. Keep at it, study up and ask all the questions you like. That is what this forum is about. Many folks are here to help.
You don't have to catch 300 beavers ... before you ever set a trap for a beaver . You will learn as you go, just like all the others have.
The beginning stage of learning anything is the most valuable. Right now, you could use much more help, support and encouragement that the criticism.
Hang in there, we all have to start somewhere. I envy your initiative.
Cheers

Yes, entanglement on a 10 foot chain can be an issue. Stumps, brush, roots, etc. can be a problem. You must choose a location where they can't wrap up. Use plenty of swivels close to the trap because rolling in swamp grass can clog them pretty tight I stake out in the water as far as I can and make it so the beaver can either not make it to shore or can make it to shore but barely and not in a spot where it can wrap up. I only use this system in rare circumstances where a drowning system or use of a bodygripper is not possible.

Lots of good info here. You probably did jump in over your head but I wouldn’t say you have damaged anybody’s reputation, other than maybe your own a little. Info and traps are readily available on the internet and most people that end up calling a “professional” have already come to realize it ain’t easy. Finding out they have screwed the pooch when they talk to “the professional” often gives plenty of chain for the expert. lol

I have trapped my share of “free critters” however the recent jobs I have worked has me about to change the business name to “Last One Trapping”, cause that’s when I’m getting the call.

The issue of pan tension on the older Victor #4 dbls can be fixed a few ways...one is to keep it simple and bend the tip of the dog upwards a bit. Set the trap and position the modified dog into the pan notch and using your thumb from the backside of dog push in deep into the notch to level the pan. Typically this easy modification can increase pan tension a few pounds, level the pan out and aid to fixing a problem. Second,
go online to Paws-I -Trip products and purchase a pan and dog kit for your #4 trap. Ed Medvetz makes a great product to help trappers modify their traps. Third, if you are concerned about spring strength, get a piece of water pipe that is slightly larger than the spring end of you #4 traps. Using a heavy hammer, position the pipe tight against the spring end and pound the curve of the spring ends against the pipe. You will need a solid object to hold the pipe steady as you pound on the spring. This will change the spring ends shape and increase your spring strength. Finally, when most trappers use a long chain rig to drown beaver they are using heavy traps and added weight. Try using a longer 6-10 ft piece of HEAVY chain or add weight to your chain so that the beaver tires and drowns in deep water.
Hope this helps.

You will always get an occasional toenal in the longspring traps. Even on the end of a drowner with brand new traps with proper tension. Just is.

Most of us who do nuisance work quit using the longsprings for that reason. I love my longs but not for beaver work that you HAVE TO retain every animal.

Well now you have an educated beaver...and that's a mess. Prepare to pull some of your hair out trying to kill it.

It’s bad but not quite that bad. lol