Im shooting them more than ever these days on contract work. Lost one a couple weeks ago in a fairly small ditch on a county job, no clue where it went. It thrashed a bit, then gone. It was getting dark, banks were steep and brushy, soft marl so couldn’t get in the water, lots of excuses to not find it. And I have to turn them in to get paid. I came back 3 days later and found it riding high with lots of freeboard bloated tight, and against a logjam about 75 yards downstream. It was greasy and smelly, but I turned it in for payment. Dealing with almost all shy beavers, I don’t waste near as much time chasing them with traps these days. But I can only shoot at one location a day, so traps still get most.

Trap took big mamma,Uncle Buck took care of jrs.

When I was young & dumb I use to shot beaver, always found that if they sink I could go back the next morning and retrieve them, They would float up over night. This was on beaver ponds. Not a fan of the 22 mag. had one and gave it away.

Have used my crossbow on nuisance beaver jobs where shooting a gun would cause issues in suburbia.

Had a call where someone else had educated the beaver, resorted to the crossbow worked like a charm.

You can be old and wise and still SHOOT beaver Gibb. Regional differences for sure but here it’s the best way to get a bunch of you’re on a time limit. It wouldnt be that hard to shoot a couple hundred in a night of hunting. Be nice if the bounty comes back.