I snared a beaver last Monday and used 24” T-bars to anchor all my sets. The beaver, a 40 lb male, had the stake pulled up 3-4 inches when I got there. I don’t know how long a beaver will fight a snare but am guessing if he’d fought it much longer he would have pulled the stake. Of course, he fought it pretty hard when I arrived and approached.

The banks and creek (more like a swamp) bottom were just mud. I would sink a couple of inches in most areas and could push a stake in with my hand 16-18 inches but would have to stand on it to sink it the rest of the way. I pulled everything that same morning and with just a little work was able to pull all the stakes by hand.

In conditions like this would you recommend a longer, 30 inch, stake, cross staking or a second stake connected with a short extension cable?

I cable off to trees on all my snares these days. 6 foot of cable on an disposable stake and using a deep water driver is what i used to use on thr rivers in some spots but even then they dont always grab.

Cross staking could be an idea but i would probably never run a single wtake on a snare or really any trap if the animals can get above the stake.

Closest tree under water or as low as I can. If no tree a wolf fang, doubled crossed if in doubt. I still use cross stakes on the top of rods as mine have two rings on top. Have used wolf fangs there as well.

Thanks Sniper, Warrior. I thought about wolf fangs, that might be the way to go since there’s no trees on this creek.

How long was your snare? Longer you can make your snares, the less stress that gets puts on the stake. Again, just watch making sure they cant get up on a high bank on you

Yup, on longer as long as no entanglement. Got to keep things swiveled or you get kinks and breaks.

I figured that out with footholds. Eight foot of chain and a clean bank is good to go. Any entanglement and bad mojo.

If it's real muck stick two or three fangs at various angles and loop off to all.

Fortunately thats rare for me.

I’m using a 48” snare but the high bank may have been the problem.

The vertical stick on the left is approximately where the snare was staked. He could have got up the bank on that same side just enough to start pulling it up.

Get some 11 ga wire,double hitch it to your snare and tie it off to the bottom of a dry beaver stick about half the thickness of your wrist.Drive the stick down into the ground as far as it will go.The stick doubles as a support for your loop,as well as a below ground anchor for the snare and a guide to line up the beaver.Beaver can cut it off but it will never escape.
If you make your beaver snares with a whammy,the same snares can be used for fox or cats,since a whammy allows an adjustable loop while maintaining support directly at the lock.

I only live snare beaver as an absolute last resort for a very wary nuisance animal and only if there is no way to drown it after it gets caught.
Snares set where beaver will drown are much better option.

Wooden stakes... 2x2x24......drill holes in top for support wire and snare ext attachment.

Problem then with be if you can pull it up. Beaver sure cant.

I can understand why, it got kind of exciting there for few minutes after taking that pic, lol. I had enough water downstream to drown the first one I snared but not being real bright I used a snare pole as my top stake and that heifer wrapped herself up short on that pole. I won’t do that again.

I have made some 1" oak stakes 20 inches long. They seem to work ok. Haven't had problems yet.

If in doubt, go long. I often trap and snare in areas where the bottom is very soft and in some instances boggy. For my bodygrippers I use thick wooden stakes about 20 inches long with about 6 feet of cable and have another sliding loop attached at the stake for when it is too soft, I can add another stake or drag. For footholds on drowning rods or long chains, I will use steel rods up to 45 inches and often will double stake in the bog. Snaring, I have used the 45 inch rods and pound them down flush with the bottom so they can't wrap up. I will use an 8 foot extension cable on my snares so they have to pull sideways. The wooden stakes are often very hard to pull and sometimes I have to use vise grips on the metal rods to spin them to get them started up. In my opinion, you can't overstake. It may take more work, but the peace of mind is worth it.

x2

Put a crosspiece on that snare pole and drive it out in deeper water with the crosspiece submerged as deep as you can get it but with at least a foot above the bottom, and you’ll have a great rig for snaring beaver. They dive and wrap up around the crosspiece, and, when done right, become a lethal set.


For anchors, I like using earth anchors. I personally use wolf fangs, but others work too. I rig my snares with a barrel swivel, then 40” of 3/32” extension cable with a wolf fang on the end. It works very well for my needs. If for some reason I want to cable off to something, I just pass the snare back through the loop that the wolf fang is attached with. This setup takes care of all of my beaver snaring needs in one way or another.

Aix, I made several snare poles exactly as you describe to use in 2-3 feet of water and used one for the top stake of this drowning cable. I should have walked back to the truck and got a proper stake.

Your snares with the extension and wolf fang sounds like a good idea. I've got all the fixins you mentioned so I'll have to me up some.

On my other sets on this creek, I spiraled 24 inches of #9 loosely around a T-bar stake. Putting the stake through the snare swivel along with the #9 gave me a stake and support wire in a pretty convenient package.

I can't wait to put all of these ideas to use.