Called it a season yesterday as I made my last check headed down to our local fur sale. I was going to pull traps last Tuesday, but as I was pulling a castor mound set on a creek I've trapped for several years I saw three otters swimming around a beaver lodge. They saw me and went into the lodge. So I put a 280 and 330 in pinch points downstream. I also put a 220 in a land trail leading into the lodge and a 330 in the underwater run to it. Next check I had a beaver in the run coming out of the lodge and two muskrats in the pinch point sets. Reset everything. Next check one more muskrat in a pinch point and a beaver in the run. Yesterday I had an otter in the lodge run and a 58 lbs beaver in a pinch point. I have heard beavers and otters will share dens and lodges as long as they don't have young. This showed me that is true. Good way to finish. It was a pretty tough year with lots of snow ice and freeze-thaw but I ended up with 8 coyotes, 7 beaver, 33 muskrats, 1 otter, 1 mink, 1 coon. Did better than expected on coyotes at the sale. Averages for me were $50 coyotes, $31 beaver, $2.25 muskrat, $2.25 coon, $21/lbs castor.

Looks like a good profitable season, kudos!!
I love what I’ve seen of Idaho. Don’t think I’d want y’all’s winters, but Spring time is absolutely breath taking for a guy from the flatlands of the South!

Very good job, I never knew that about beaver and otter share a Lodge.

You did good on coyote price

Those rocky streams sure don't look like beaver habitat! Good job man!

I agree, yet I've caught I think 6 beaver in this necked down pich point, including one by a front foot in a Bridger #1.5 single long spring. Upstream is a deeper part of the creek almost stillwater. Rocky spot is a pinch point and downstream about 200 yards is a huge lake. So I think maybe they use it as a travel way from the lodge to the lake.

Great pics!!! Great season!!!!

Congratulations Eric on another great season my friend ! With continued success next season !

I miss trapping beaver in the small creeks of Southeastern Montana .

Great season ..very interesting to me the otter observation an the sets an catches you got there thanks for sharing

Great pics. Your creek looks a lot like ours do here. And to think guys stabilize their bodygrips with sticks! Lol

Not to derail or take anything away from Eric's thread but I once found a elk shed in a beaver dam then another time in a beaver dam on the other side of the county I found a bull buffalo skull in a beaver dam with big rocks used as part of the material to build their dams along with mud and sticks , go figure !

You forgot to mention the 1,000,000.00 in therapy you got with the price of the fur! ! ............................... the mike

Yep creeks like this I stabilize with rocks on the springs. A lot of our river trapping is soft sand/clay though.

Nice variety of fur. Congrats.

Love!

I sometimes use sticks braced against rocks, or a lattice of sticks brace against each other and rocks to stabilize. Amazingly some of the best stabilized body grippers I have are sometimes accomplished in these kinds of places.