I'll take the same amount of beaver I always have for the last 40 years on my lines.
Its all about keeping the trapline healthy.
You dont manage beaver based on the price of the pelts if you want to have a productive RTL.

That's a nice advantage you Canadians have. Around here if you don't kill em somebody else will

For me big beaver catches mean I have to do a lot of traveling. My motus operandi is to set a stretch of 15 miles of river with maybe 20-30 traps, do three checks and move on to the next stretch of river, or another watershed altogether. That way I always leave plenty of seed for next year. But when I set my mind to it I can catch 500+ beaver in a season. And the next year too. Just more territory to cover.

BP, given idea conditions running the river line how many do you think you take on a 10 day run?

...and no knowledgeable nuisance beaver trappers.


Well that's even worse when you have to go clean up their mess, lol. Had a couple of those last winter, got less hair on my head now than before if that's possible, lol.

Under ideal conditions (which rarely align in my experience) about 10-15 beaver per day. But I rarely trap a straight 10 days without taking off a few days in there to catch up on skinning. I'm usually too tired to skin after running river all day. Not a youngster anymore.

As long as your trapped fur prices are dependant on value-added, finished, durable goods, your fur prices will always be cyclic. There are any number of sources available from which felt can be manufactured from. When the market for high quality, high priced goods becomes saturated, prices will either fall and/or beaver will be replaced with more inexpensive alternatives until the next fad comes along.

Just my thoughts, snares are inexpensive (relatively) so for the upcoming season; yes, I'd build some snares for beaver. Not sure I would be putting big $$$ into additional traps for beaver. Beyond the upcoming season, I'd watch inventory and price action within the markets.

Lets hope

Enjoy trapping beaver where and when you can, here in WA there is a movement to ban not only trapping beaver but trapping period

Jingles is right. There is a movement right now that identifies beaver as critical keystone species that improve drought stricken areas, restore wildlife habitat and reverse global warming. In Oregon we have been doing our best to fend off new legislation brought by these groups. We already lost one battle about recreational beaver trapping on private forestlands.

The market will hold strong unless I decide to hit beaver strong, then it will collapse!! Maybe someone should start a “go fund me” page for me to keep me from trapping!!

The anti's argument here in Colorado used to be that if you trap them, they become more prolific and have bigger litters, thereby creating bigger problems for landowners, public land road culverts, cutting down more trees along river banks creating more erosion, etc. Now they don't want them trapped at all so they can have more beaver to preserve the environment??

Cause you can only trap with live cages right?

Just got off the phone with a guy who talked to GFW today. He was told beaver would be “lower” this fall due to the Yellowstone TV show ending. Didn’t say how much lower.

Don’t kill the messenger, just passing on what the man told me.
I hope it’s BS as well. Lol

I knew a buyer that never failed to tell me in the off season to expect lower prices next season for reasons X,Y and Z. I always figured he wanted my fur for less and was brokering a better buyers position.

Probably got flack from end users for overpaying for the flat summer beaver,lol.
Avg down.Like I told you.

^^^They couldn't possibly end up happy with flat southern beaver felt yields compared to the northern stuff. Eventually the felters will demand that beaver get graded according to how much felt they will yield.

My source says yes, the market will hold.

GFW makes his own felt, so he is the end user. He just adjusted some existing machine to the felt setting.

Possibly.

But, that don't mean the market wants those northern heavies any more than they do today. So, the prices at auction will drop too...

My nuisance trapping service charge ain't dropping.