I'm thinking about getting a kayak to trap beaver out of. Got some big swamps that are almost impossible to walk in. Also, will give a little room between me and the moccasins. Anybody got any advice? Pros? Cons? Thanks

My concern would be the payload. I've about sunk Jon boats with beaver. Maybe if you're skinning on location?

Wear a life jacket.

Marsh Rat

Ask Vinky how stable they are ...he trapped out of one

I've trapped out of a small canoe in the past. Old town pack lite. The biggest issue is weight. Once you have some gear and a few beavers & or otters, you can quickly end up with too much weight and may need to make more than one trip. A kayak would probably be even worse in that respect.

I trapped out of a kayak for a few years and loved it. I've got a canoe now which can certainly hold a lot more, but it's a pain in the butt to carry. I could just through the kayak over my head and go, the canoe requires either a cart or two people.

Sit on top is the way to go, less tipsy and easy to haul gear and beaver with. If you can afford the pedal drive yaks, i would definitely go with one of those if you've gotta do some miles. Paddling sucks, but always have a good paddle.

Gotta do some weigh management with a kayak, I primarily snare when I trap out of the kayak but a half dozen 330s fit well in a milk crate. I found that about 4 beaver is about the max you can haul on a yak before it starts to get unstable. Balance the beavers, at least dont put them all on the front or you might submarine your yak if get any waves.

How possible is it to make sets from a kayak? Or pull a beaver in from say a deep channel 330 set? I've never been on a kayak, so I'm not sure of the stability. It would primarily be for transport. Some of these swamps are very large, and the bottoms are just goosh. 3ft of water over 3ft of sticky mud.

I have an Otter Outdoors duck boat that i have used for years to trap a river. Easy to get in and out of the truck bed and drag to and from the river. Sturdy enough to not get torn up.

Its not too hard to make sets out of the yak as long as you dont have to lean out too far to do so. My favorite set to make out of a kayak is find a standing tree or a downed tree and nail a devils hairpin type snare support(a nail with a length of #9 wire welded to it) smear some castor on the tree, set snare and go. It does get trickier to make the sets the heavier your kayak is loaded, you cant lean out as much. So try to make new sets or deal with touchier sets before checking your traps or pick up the beaver on your way back .

Lot of kayaks here for fishing and duck hunting on the bay and creeks, somehow the guys mostly get away with them but I've rescued a few,and know of horror stories of others that didn't make it, usually because they didn't respect the situation...I won't get into one....If you think it's a good idea, get the most stable one you can find, tie your paddle to the boat ,and wear a life jacket.

a small canoe will have a lot more capacity than a kayak

randomly picked a decent looking 1600 dollar kayak
https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/kayaks/fishing/sportsman-120#learn-more-anchor
it actually looks nice much better than the walmart type cheapy
415 pounds usable weight
85 pounds to put it on your roof rack
12 feet long.

a canoe by the same company
https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/canoes/recreation/discovery-158
1063 usable pounds of capacity
87 pounds to put it in on your roof rack
it is longer

if you are about fast and light
https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/canoes/recreation/discovery-119
it is 3 inches shorter than the kayak 35 pounds lighter and carries 450 pounds

and offers a lot more storage space

most of the cheaper kayak don't even have the weight capacity for any one who wears a XL or larger shirt.
if your not a real small person you would know if you were you would have room to spare in a Medium Tshirt.

you need a BIG kayak or a normal canoe

you can find some very usable used canoes between $250 and $500 in lots of places
have room for a bunch of stuff

Think outriggers with some storage if that’s possible

You need a Mokai with a pull behind, I've seen guys using them for moose hunting here in Alaska.

I have used mine for removing beaver on a friends lake for him
It was a pit lake and high wall near vertical up to 60'except on 2 ends. So instead of climbing the hill to check sets I took one of our kayaks. Now I was only checking a few snares one 330 and 2 750s. With the traps and drowning weights on that few of traps it was enough weight. Add the beaver and it was riding low, handeled like a brick. So if your wanting to put a lot of gear and traps out it's not what you want. You don't want to put a half dozen beaver in it either.

But for a few traps and a light easy to get in pack around method it's ok.

Also I'm guessing you don't get a lot of ice. Well we froze up and I had quite a time busting through the 1/4 to 1/2" of ice to check the sets. Leaving as far back In the boat to get the front end up having the paddle through the ice to push forward untill the ice would bust then repeat. It also is bad when you swamp it on the day your busting through the ice. Especially when it's bottom is so steep. The rifle I had with me stayed on the bottom of the lake for 2 weeks untill I went back with a magnet fishing magnet and found it. It took a month before ethe stock went back to it's normal size from swelling. I would prefer as wide and high of side walls and short combo of a John boat as you can find or canoe with out rigger.

I used what I had but if buying something for the purpose I would want something stable I could put weight in safely. Have a good day and get 12 beaver then have the wind pick up and or weather turn wouldn't be good.

Plan for more than you need not the minimum. I have done a bunch of dumb stuff and have just been lucky it turned out ok. But I learned from it.

I like to fish out of my sit on top kayak. But for me, stability and the added weight would be a problem

Thanks for the information. Very helpful

i use a jet sled.as a trailer have it on a rope just pull it along side of me to load/unload then pull behind me