This golf course owner hired 3 different trappers last year. They each said that the guy before them didn’t know what he was doing. All caught zippo. He asked his brother to kill the beaver and he shot over a dozen last year. There was 2 left, big and a smaller one according to sightings and trail cam pics, that were proving difficult. His brother works out of our office and he asked if I wanted to try before freeze up. Small pond, bank den is on the neighbours property who has his own sets up. Ole Shakey set last Saturday, got a mink 2 nights ago and this 56lb female. No lure used except at the end and I tried to keep the 330s hidden in deep runs cuz I figured the big one was onto traps. I wonder if it was patients or it was coming to investigate the mink smell wafting in the north wind.






Not sure if it’s the slight current, the coloured water coming from the campground across the road or that it’s fed by a spring, but it’s still not frozen after -15C over night.

Here that would be the big one.

In the end, when they have seen it all, all you have is your ability to read sign and use your toolkit accordingly. There is no magic other than your ability to figure out where they will go that you can completely hide a trap and do that with skill and your available legal tools. Concealed footholds, sometimes well camouflaged snares, and deep run body grips are all possible. I go with carefully concealed blind footholds most often, but that is me.

There was a spot that’d be perfect for a foothold.
I’m pretty sure Mbcooner wasn’t one of the trappers cuz he woulda cleaned the ponds out. Probably just guys that hunt and have an old 330 that say “yea, I’m a trapper, I’ll get em”. 2 years ago I was one of those “trappers”. I didn’t realize that there’s more to trapping than putting a wiener underneath a #2…lol

Never start with a dam brake

Skin it and freeze it for Christmas dinner!!.

Yup, and patience to let the set work and not booger things up with constant traipsing in and tinkering with things. I swear some of them spooked beaver can hear the truck door close.

It's a fun Game

The course marshal was removing it every 3 days or since early fall. Figured I’d throw a bunch at em. Took almost a week.

I think them bank beaver got a peep hole.
Hardest to chase IMHO because they usually have other holes every were

Especially those pond beaver. To much ground to cover. Usually have my best luck at the feeder stream and spillway if they're blocking it.

I remember I got a call one summer from a guy out in Brooks. Said I heard from a buddy of mine you are pretty slick at beaver trapping. I told him I’d give it a shot. After careful inspection of the pond I could tell he was dealing with an ol rogue. He said a few other trappers had tried to nail him but failed. I found a suitable spot and set up a mock castor mound set. A few days later a dead beaver in the foothold. The guy was tickled. Said man I been trying to shoot this thing for 3 years and you got him in 3 days. I never will consider myself a great trapper but it does make me feel good knowing I pleased a few people every once in a while.

Its easy to take the smart ones after freeze up.
Once the ice is on it limits their movements and a snare pole will take them at an entrance,feedhole,or right off the feedbed.

Good job! I'm surprised they let you put a castor mound on a green!

That is what I love about hearing from experienced folks in different regions. I would have never thought about under ice because we don’t get enough ice here to freeze up the runs or even the area around the dens. We do get cold enough to freeze the lakes and even some flowing water. And once that happens they aren’t going more than about a few feet from the den and the food stash under the ice. So what that means is that unless you come up with a way to drag a boat across the ice, and then enter the water around the den, and then more importantly get that boat back onto solid ice (I’ve never done it because I dont want to be the subject of a body recovery mission), you aren’t going to be getting many beaver after freezup around here. Basically after freezup it’s over around here.

I was going to talk to the property owner where the den is but the golf guy said their relationship was a little tense this summer. He kicked him off the course after patrons complained that someone was fishing one of the ponds. But this guy wanted them gone too, the west side of the pond where he has his dock and a nice fire pit area has lost a lot of mature poplars, and many more that are chewed. I was going to ask him if he was going to set the den after freeze up and if his sets had any luck.
Wonder if that mink scent would’ve driven the curiosity of the momma to come check it out, or just coincidence. Dick Marcinko said he doesn’t believe in coincidence.

Is there a widest tail contest this year? All I found was the one for last spring.

get some old rejected construction stucco wire and present yourself with a little sweat equity in guarding the remaining trees with that owner, remember to go all 4 feet in height as sometime they come out when frozen out and walk on the snow to chew.

Nice job Shakey! Sometimes leaving them alone for a bit and then going back in Ninja mode works!

Vinke ....what’s a dam brake ? Is that what you say when you put the E Brake on....and the pedal stays on the floor ?