I posted this on the other thread but think I will get better responses over here

I’ve got a land owner that called last Sunday said water was backup again , last time was 7 years ago . So I looked at it last Sunday afternoon and found one big dam and set it up on Monday so far I’ve caught one big female that was nursing and 3- 2 year olds . I’m going today and make a dam break set , I guess my question is should I hold off on it and continue with the blind sets.

Just got back from checking seen the first sign since last Wednesday . The dam break I done on Saturday has not been touched but I seen a set of tracks by some sticks that I peeled and left a 330 guarding them but it went around it . I’m thinking it’s the male that’s left , thought about putting a castor mound somewhere on the creek up stream for him to find . There is a small stream that runs into the creek that I blocked down that I was going to dip a stick In castor and let it take it down stream hopefully he will come to it .Any input I can get to help would be great .

You got the oil sacs/castor from the big female? I would use it.

Patience....

Great advice concerning using the castor and oil from the female, and patience. This year I ran into a similar situation. The small lake was about 20 acres, about 1/4 mile of woods on one side till you got to another small pond. The other side borders a swamp, which goes to a river. Needless to say the beavers had a large territory. First day I set heavy with a dam break, castor mounds, bodygrips on runs, etc. Next morning I had a big male and a bunch of juveniles. Next day nothing. I knew there were more so I waited. Three days later nothing. So I pulled the old sets, got in my pirogue and reset new sets on the newest sign I could find, which was on a couple of small islands. I used the castor and oil out the beavers I caught. Nothing the next day, and I was starting to get flustered as I saw a big beaver across the lake in my bino's and I knew there were still some in there. Day 2 of the new sets and I had a big female and a juvenile. The only thing I can think is the female was traveling their entire range looking for pawpaw and the kits. Got to remember you have just turned that beaver's life upside down, he is traveling to find something familiar, he will circle back. Give him something he knows and wait him out.

Since you did not mention what traps you used or if you used castor on the ones that you already caught, besides the dam break set, I would use blind sets with footholds on drowners or maybe using just a little mud with a few drops of sac oil from the female in conjunction with the foothold on a drowner. Forget the 330's for now. The dam break set should eventually produce if you have used footholds that are not too obvious. The last ones are pretty hard to get as you are discovering. Good luck!

Right now just got 6 body grips and one foothold that I set yesterday on the dam break . I haven’t used and lure yet just blind sets .

x2 on everything except the dam break. Never cared for dam break sets myself, but then I barely ever used them, because they were illegal most places I trapped. But a dam break is a big, obvious disturbance. I would have recommended a blind foothold set in every spillway/crossover on the dam first, and then if you didn't catch them a few days maybe try the dam break set. But you go on from where you are, so set the dam break and any other good blind locations you see. Then if you didn't come up with him in a few days, I would try the sac oil and/or castor from the female.

We have no restrictions for setting in the dams.
I end up using a lot of dam break setups, because especially on drain ROW work and flooding complaints, the obstruction (the beaver dam) is the problem. Now mind you, I often start by catching all that I can in a two or maybe three day initial effort away from dens or the dam. But in the end, what determines if my job is done is whether the dam is repaired /rebuilt. So I tend to get what I can quickly and “easily” and then breach the dam. If that breach is not repaired, problem solved and move on. If that breach is repaired, it gets a foothold in front of it.
Also, if beaver are dependent on that dam for safe water, they either have to repair it or have exposed den entrances which they will not tolerate long around here, so there is basically no better attraction than a nice notch draining the water away.
Some beavers can be spooked enough to stop all damming activity, mainly in lakes where they are not dependent on the dams for deep water.

Here in PA we cannot set within 15 ft of a dam or house.
I have had luck on the last beavers by setting on fresh sign or creating a false trail with fresh bait on bank

Every place I've trapped them there is no restrictions to setting on or around dams, but many places it is illegal to destroy the dam. Thus the dam break set is illegal. Now I'm talking public ground here, private ground and nuisance control would be different and something I haven't did much checking into.