Wherever otter season is closed in NY we need to use the triggers as shown in the picture on all 330 traps for beaver. Because many beaver get too far through the trap before it fires, I get hip caught and tail caught beavers and lose too many. It's forced me to stick with foothold traps on drowning rigs. Any suggestions on upping my percentages with 330's?

Have you tuned up your dog/trigger engagement for minimal trigger movement before firing?

Here is a classic example of what happens. This beaver was not held but probably injured badly and lost.

No but that's a good idea. Kind of like presetting triggers for mink.

Here's the dog/trigger tuning info

Large body grip trigger adjustment

Sad solution but something a trapper has to deal with...IF anything I would add extra swivels to my cable/chain rig because of the ADDED chance of poorly caught beaver/otter fighting the trap.
How about ALLOWING the use of bigger sized body grippers for trappers during this time? This research could possibly help trappers in the future??
John Kulish developed the Species Specific Body gripping traps in the 90s with an ADJUSTABLE trigger for this very reason ...trap beaver and ATTEMPT to avoid the otters. Just my thoughts

Thats good stuff. I just checked my trigger travel and its insane how far it moves before tripping.

I was suitcasing otters in most instances before I tuned mine. Now I get good head catches on them. That's in 220, 280 and 330s. I even tune my 160's for coon sets on dry land.

I use a natural twig that goes from trigger to spring eye acts as an aditional trigger if you will

I was just thinking same as David. Also, could you block the opening on the side opposite the trigger by shoving a stick down between the too and bottom jaws? Not a lot, just am inch or two less opening the animal has to squeeze through. Those suggestions combined with a well tuned trigger may help a lot.
Worth noting that it does not bother me a bit to catch otter. We are overrun with them around here, so while I would want to stay within the letter of the law, I would not be terribly upset if an occasional otter ended up on losing end of my setup.

This.

Wouldnt that defeat the purpose?

We don't have an overabundance of otter yet. Some but not many where I am. That's why they supposedly have the restrictions. When you catch one there a whole lot of bs protocol your supposed to follow.

Another thing his diagram doesn't show are that there's no four way triggers allowed

Suit casing small beavers are inevitable with these regs

I've tried the twig technique but it only works where there is zero current. Otherwise it gathers leaves and branches and sets the trap off.
I asked the game warden about using the twig one time and he said if it's attached to the triggers with anything (wire,glue,rubberband etc...) he would issue a ticket otherwise he said it good to go. The twig sounds easier than it is to do also. I gave up on it and went with hip caught small ones. Usually there hit in the back well and expire fast anyways

Only other thought I have is to place something either side of the trap that forces the beaver to turn when it is partway through. Im thinking 2” dia stick maybe12 inches away, one each side that is placed so the beaver has to do a bit of a turn - maybe 1/3 of trap width from in line with one side of the trap. Good and solid stuck in the mud so it wont move and impede jaw rotation. This forces the beaver to bump the trigger. Maybe. Never tried it. Might still allow an otter to get through since they are more slinky than beaver.
I would expect to still get suitcase catches but not as many full misses or rear end catches.

Run 280s, that’s mostly all I run for that reason… catch 50+ lb beaver in them without issue…

move to a trapper friendly state.

There isn't many of them anymore.

Could you get away with having your triggers 2” long?I have a friend that cut all his that way and really likes them.Wouldn’t work with Chinese traps being they are only 8” tall.

Archer guy is that reg only Southern Zone?

Anywhere there is no otter season

What I was thinking too. I thought the op wanted to miss the otter.

Trapper tip of the month: you cannot catch every size beaver and miss every otter in a bodygrip...no matter the trigger configuration.

tt

That’s how I set most of my under ice sets and some of my open water sets with good results. Wonder if yours is a tuning issue?
The stick thing to activate the trigger sounds like a loop hole in the law, kinda circumventing it. A zone to the west of me is a no go area for otter. I don’t have to, but when I set there I put it way off to the side…..but there’s not really any otter there, more rats than here though.

I have not set my first BG trap for anything other than barn rats so I can't help

Good info on the trigger adjustment

Good luck archeryguy, sounds like a lot of frustration

Move to northern NY.

Good one Squash.

Yup !!!

X 2 !!!

No otter/beaver trapping trigger restrictions in the northern zone
and no otter bag limits up here either.

w

This trigger rule only applies to southern zone trapping in NYS.

After encountering an alive beaver caught at the hips last year, I ditched my 330's and went to 280s.

I do enjoy my footholds and downers for my creeks the most though...

Northern zone NY also has no fisher or bobcat bag limits.

No bag limits for either in southern zone either. Only a 6 day fisher season though for fisher, and only specific WMU's for cats..

Saying for a friend, Be glad you can legally use any BG or leg hold traps

Amen to that Jingles

When Neil Olson and I trapped northern NY together for spring beaver and otter I learned a ton from the man. I always thought it was interesting that he set his triggers to target otter specifically and to also catch every beaver that came through just like how the NYSDEC has the closed otter zones set their triggers to avoid otter. Neil catches anywhere from 200-600 beaver a year in Maine and other various states and 50+ otter.

Took the advice of several posters and fine tuned the triggers. Set two 330’s yesterday and had these two this morning. One was caught right behind the head, the other one was suit cased but they did the job.

Great! Glad to hear that it worked out well!

Thats great. Did you happen to note which way they hit the triggers? As in, was the trigger on the jaw they entered, or the far jaw? I could see even with a tuned trigger, if they came in from the other jaw first they could get in a ways further.

Far jaw on the neck caught beaver, near jaw on the suit-cased beaver. That one came from the opposite direction that I though he would travel

Huh, exactly the opposite of what I had in mind. Back to the drawing board, as they say.

I couldn't get the trigger to trip in the same amount of travel one way or the other.