New here. Rookie trapper as well. 1st post. I'm trapping a series of islands via boat. Beavers are raising heck on the mainland on my friends property. They are thick. Must be 20 of them. The other landowners are having the same issues. They want them gone. I volunteered. Anyway, The lodges are on the islands. Problem is there are geese are nesting up high up and down the bank. They are everywhere. Right now I have 330's set under water on the runs in 3 lodges. Got 9 so far. There are several castor mounds and slides up and down the banks. Ideal spots for drowning sets. However As soon I set a foothold, I know one of them is going walk on the bank and get in there. This is a very visible location. I don't want some ""Karen from across the river seeing it nor do I want to catch one. I put one foothold under a tree w/ branches on both sides of it. The geese don't seem to go in there. Got 2 beavers and a coon there. Is there a way to set a foothold to keep a goose from getting in a trap?

When a beaver bumps his chest at your set it will drop its legs. Go for a back foot catch. When I want to avoid non targets I set back 15-18’ inches and about elbow deep. You will have no problem catching beaver.

MB750 elbow deep at a castor mound has been a killer combination for me. Pencil sized sticks poking out from the bank can prompt the beaver to drop the back feet into the trap. Be sure to offset the trap to where a back foot will drop. Shouldn’t have to worry about geese that deep.

Dates or cable restraints at slides and castor mounds put them on drowner slides

Be careful with beaver snares and geese. Geese are easily caught in snares, although in most cases they just knock the snare down - its that one that comes through with head held low that will be the one in 15 causing you to get a good splashing while you send it back to its flock. With my setup the geese are not harmed, and they are relatively easy to release in general. But it is not a scene you want in a customer’s yard or in a public area. Even though it is not dangerous for the goose it looks bad.
Footholds around geese are common in my world, and agree 100% with the above advice - set deep for back foot. I like about 10” deep, that is still shallow enough that a beaver will plop a back foot right down, but geese and ducks wont try to stand up at that depth. They just swim right over it.

Great advice by loosanarrrow.....geese, ducks and don't forget the swans can ruin a guys day. Unfortunately, they are every where. My advice, take info posted here and check traps in those people areas early in the am.

Herons have longer legs, just saying.

No non targets

Thank you. I was thinking that I need to set them deeper. Just didn't know how deep. I would've thought 10" would be too deep. I was gonna jam a couple sticks on each side parallel w/ the water line too keep them from walking down the bank. Thought that affect the beaver also.

Agreed. Don't want any of non targets. I saw a swan yesterday in the area. That would be bad. Been checking at sunrise before work.

I would consider snares where a possibility of non targets exists.

Herons - my method is to shove an angled stick in so the top of the stick is about 2 feet above the surface of the water, and the end of the stick is just plumb over the far edge of the trap. Beaver will go under, and often even rear up to sniff the stick. After the ones that do that are done doing that, if they aren’t caught in the process, they typically proceed with working the set. Herons do not like to walk under anything that makes them duck (see what I did there?? ) and will walk around the stick. So far this method has been 100% for me for about 5 years since I started doing it in spots that herons like to hang out. I have a whole folder on my computer of herons walking around the stick in this type setup and then later a beaver being caught. Even have one where a heron catches and eats a minnow then minutes later a beaver shows up and the heron leaves and the beaver is caught. Middle of the night too, herons can hunt fish at night apparently.

No non targets! It is a mantra in my business because I would not last long in my region if customers see collateral damage. Sometimes I pass on a location if I think the risk is too high. I think it is important to be able discuss techniques for avoiding non targets. But if that is not acceptable to the mods then hopefully they will delete anything out of line.

Haven't seen one around but I'll keep an eye out. Usually see them here in the summer. I was thinking of putting a stick over the trap as well.

Well, learn something new everyday. THANKS

I also have video of ducks and geese bobbing right under the stick, but for some reason herons always walk around. So far anyway.