leave/ abandoned an area if pressured? Or will they just den up?
Around here. They will den up for up to two weeks. They are there. It just becomes a waiting game here.

So, what are thoughts and experiences?

Sarge

They can be easy to catch but if pressured then become extremely cautious and elusive to the point you think they are gone. Even had some go to the extreme of moving my conis on dive sticks and avoiding every snare. Possibly picking up on the metal odor from being above the waterline. It took an underwater blind set foothold get that beaver after several attempts by others that’s a beaver you don’t forget.

occasionally they den up or disappear when pressured had a nuisance beaver call last spring went in set traps tons of beaver sign except the land owner had ripped the dam out caught a 50 lb beaver the first night and than nothing dam wasnt fixed only water was in the stream and in the channels traps sat for a week and nothing pulled the traps the farm called a month later and said they where back and had flooded his field out again he proceeded to tell me he saw 3 little ones while pulling the dam and i was like great but caught two 40 lbers that first night again never did catch any little ones and they never rebuilt anything have also found sometimes they will leave an active hut and move into an older hut or bank den

Yep, they become spooky for sure when members don't come back. They don't have the intellect that their being trapped. That danger is in the immediate area. Predators. So, they change their routine just like we would do when we know an immediate danger persists.
Then when they get adjusted to no more disturbances. They slowly start moving around or move back in.
If they do leave, I don't think they go very far.
A waiting game when doing ADC work. Hit them hard and keep traps in place such as blind sets, dam breaks, floats. Lure almost becomes useless at times.
If you have access to lodge or den. Job wraps up fairly quickly.

Sarge

Stay away from the lodge or bank dens with traps.

If you must go near them as you access the waterway.....be as quiet as possible.

Swamp, I only go near or set up on them when down to last one or two. Usually I have the water down low enough to set all entrances. So, no escape.
Sarge

I have had them do both, but most common is for them to become very cautious and or den up for a while.
Most often when one does abandon a location, it was a pair and after the first is removed the other one leaves.

I had one a few years ago in a small lake that actually stopped coming to shore. The lake was shallow and it built mud/lilly root “islands”. This was at a water bottling facility with zero tolerance policy on beavers, so after a couple weeks running cameras and watching for sign, I figured out what was going on and the scattergun took care of that one.

Main reason I never trapped a lodge, until it was a last resort, is they become aware of you.
Always set on slides, runs and mud pies, away from the lodge, as far as I could.
When I was younger and not very wise to beaver trapping, I saw where they left the pond, and the tracks were in the snow.
Followed them to a river.

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I found setting snares ( 1/2 in the water) well away from denning areas worked well where others have messed them up. All blind setting

Up here...I have taken the male...and 4.. two year olds...then the traps go quiet

For 2-3 days. I had a feeling that big mama is holding out .

I then ...whip out Bob Wilson's Green Beaver lure...and the very next day...got the last one .

Have done that many times

Are you running a castor based lure when you set up? Or do you bring the castor out to trick the last one?

What's different about this lure that they seem to come to it ive never used it or heard of it before.

On the coast here they will leave. In fact they will move with changing water levels so sometimes it doesn't take a trapper scaring them.

I tried that wilsons lure, it was runny like water and never caught a beaver on the bottle.

went I was a kid my dad would grab every kid in the neighborhood, and bring them to camp and have everyone break a hole in the dam, 2-3 times a week, then he would bring us all for ice cream, they never left