Howdy Yall! Got trap wise beaver problems. Big beavers rebuilding 3 dams overnight. Private property in WI. Caught a 84lb beaver same area 2 years ago. They've seen it all and I've tried it all. Dam breaks with 330's on each side. Dam breaks with drowners on both sides. Caster mounds. I know where there den is but it is inaccessible until the water is frozen enough to walk on. Anyone have any more ideas or tips? So frustrated.

Cut up poplar sticks for bait. Coil spring or long spring set for back foot catch on drowner. No scents

84 pounder! Holy cow what a honker of a beaver!

Good luck Gurdy

Or shoot them

When that happens to me which is rare,

i pull all the 3 30s out and my traps for a week. And a 1 two weeks, and then I go back in only with MB 7 50's, and get in the water and stay in the water. And everything has to be made in the water.

and then I use Papa, Bud oil or beep Birch oil. Nothing to do with unless you have the oil sack. From one of the other beavers in the family that will work too. But you have to go light on the scent. I'm talking 23 drops and appeal. Pople stick up on the shore near the water's edge

How are they getting around the 330s to patch the dam? Get em way out infront and make em dive.
Natural Dive spots set? Channels? Under ice should be a piece of cake, but not sure how long you'll have to wait for "good" ice.
Footholds especially in a tray system whacks em goos.
Every situation is different and it's tough to tell without actually seeing it sometimes.

Shakey ...he spelled Castor wrong...so we're dealing with a green horn.

Footholds with Poplar ...I guarantee

Snares

Once again...two 750-size footholds in a tray attached to seperate drowning rods or chains & placed right where the beaver is in your pic. Beaver swims up, bumps into tray,.....climbs onto tray....

There is nothing above the water for beaver to see. There is no better tactic for shy beavers.

No sticks, no lures, no snares, no 330s......

Try all those and if you catch the beavers...then they were not really shy beavers.

Water behind the dam is over my head, ask me how i know. After the dam the water is about 4 inches deep. Not deep enough to put a legal 330. Had 330's on either side of the top of the dam under water. Even had one right in front of the dam break. They just set them off with the sticks and (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) they're carrying. They also seem to set off the drowners too. From the top of the dam there's only a 4 inch shelf then it drops off. I've tried setting on either side of the break and in front of the break. They are B-lining it for the dam break instead of using the other channels. Thank you for the bait stick idea! Not a green horn BTW, been catching beavers the same way for 4 years, sorry I misspelled castor..........

If snares are legal..... try this. https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/13186/beaver-leaning-stick-snare-set#Post13186

The situation you're describing is perfect for trays.

No such thing as trap shy beavers....I used to say.


Until I finally encountered one on a damage complaint. When you're just a lowly fur trapper they don't exist though...

Get some poplar ...a nice fresh stick..one inch in diameter ..18 inches long

And just shove that stick into the mud on the edge of the dam...where the water is like 4 inches deep.

No trap...no lure...and check it the following day. If it's gone..

Replace the stick ( same spot ) .But slide a foothold trap...on a drowner..5 inches ... slightly

Off center....in 4 inches of water. We've all been there..

I've had them fire 330s ....and bury them in the dam...lol..

If it wasn't fun...we wouldn't do it

You’ll get em Gurdy!
Now’s the time you really learn. It’s OK to let it get personal too……..lol
When I run into a situation like this, I smile knowing that it might cost me time & money, but I’m gonna learn something and be skinning a beaver in the next few days.
After a while you start setting for smarties all the time. It seems like I get called after the beaver have been harassed for 3 months and only a couple are left. The truth eventually comes out…….lol

The trays swampwolf is talking about.

Buy this dvd it will help you with the trap shy ones.

Thanks again for posting my pics. I don’t have those on this phone anymore.

Mr. David (in the video) don't use the trays like I do. He support them with limbs that he cuts on site and sets up in knee to waist deep channels with the trays about 6" under water. Same concept as beaver swim into tray...climbs up on it and....

I put legs on the ones I built and use them entirely at soft, mucky dams and in front of mounds that have muck bottoms. My use is 100% as a stable trap platform for the beaver footholds. And it does not matter that the trap may be a little tippy due to being center swiveled and laying on the wire tray. Once the beaver climbs up on that "obstruction", he/she will be all over the traps. Push tray down into mud about 10 or so inches under water. You will need to readjust depth and position as water drops so tray remains underwater and not visible to the beavers.

How deep are those trays? I’m wondering if I can’t possibly combine that with a beaver float, because where I live in the springtime traps must be completely submerged, so traditional beaver floats with 330s are a no go.

Ope never mind read the post above mine that said how deep

As deep as you want them to be.

I push them down in the mud about 10" in front of a small dam break.

I am learning as well with trap shy beaver. If you are using 330's they need to be under water especially in deeper runs with dive sticks on the surface. Otherwise foothold traps or snares. Steel needs to be under water and sets need to be as natural as they can be. I found out with dam break sets the break needs to be small.

Quit breaking the dam. Pull all your traps and leave them be for a week or two. Then slip back in there and make one or two blind sets without a lot of disturbance. Footholds on drowners at dam crossovers (not breaks) if they are square shy, which it sounds like these are. Or deep submerged 330s where they are already diving under something, if a place like that is available.

Im going to do something I don't do very often, and that is to disagree with swamp and the others saying to use trays. If that beaver is being careful and looking for anything unnatural, a tray is a big underwater horizontal square. Especially in front of a dam break.

If it appears to be avoiding dam breaks, I would do as others have said, back out for a few days at least. Then come back with whatever biggest legal foothold you have and really look things over - treading lightly and being sneaky - to find where it is entering and leaving the water. From there, hopefully you know the routine - blind set. No lure, no bait, minimum disturbance of any kind - you are putting that trap where the beaver is already planning to go tonight. And not just any blind set, carefully and solidly bed the trap with the minimum possible disturbance to the set area and conceal it with whatever blends well with the bottom type. If you have to, bring a sifter and a pan cover - I almost never have to do that because I have soft mud and leaves most places, but the point is to make that trap disappear but still work properly like you would a coyote trap on dry land. If the water gets too muddy to see if the trap is well concealed, give it 15 minutes to settle so you can be sure. And no rods or shiny cables - use a chain or darkened cable for the slide rig, I like the chain because I can lightly press it into the mud and conceal it easily.

Educated beavers are one of the things that keep me in demand. I get the call after the guys who try all the high volume fur trapping methods get the “easy” ones. My methods are not intended to get a lot of beavers, they are designed to get the last beaver - the one that is looking for anything out of place and highly aware of any sign of danger. And I charge as much for that beaver as would have to remove the whole colony.

Thats my advice.

Wicked light and a gun!

lol……I had good ole “Trapper Ben” who used to trap for the big city tell me that one evening as he drove by one of my jobs. I told him I don’t have time and my traps will hunt all night. Also told him that a lot of my private jobs are after the moonlight dam break hunters have “cleaned” em out.
Dave’s tray system is pretty crazy and labour intensive, but it’s bloody effective for any beaver. It cost a small fortune to get the DVD to my place up here, but well worth the cost. I don’t use his system often, but it’s a super tool to have in your bag of tricks.

Shakey, it's got to get BAD before i baby sit a beaver dam at night but sometimes it's the best method. We have jungle terrain here so there isn't any walking around and finding the perfect spot, lot of times it's a beaver dam and that's it, deep water and tangled up vegetation on both sides making it impossible to explore any further upstream.

Night shoots go either really really well or really really bad, lol.

I used to sit at night to kill beaver when I was young and bug resistant. If the beaver is eating or fixing the dam he can be caught. I agree with shaky let the traps do the work for you.

David doesn't sell the trays. Im not sure where the "fortune to get one to your place" comes from.

Can u buy a few pieces boards, saw them and screw them together in Canada?

This will work ^^^^^

But, in the original post there is a pic of the beaver NOT avoiding a dam break.

The dam holding up water levels around the lodge or bank den is the one to set. Beaver that are spooked will stop maintaining outlying dams they don't need.

Yessir!

True...too hard to tell you specially

I like to use drowning rods with a CDR7.5 set in front of a dam break. I camo the trap if the water is clear to hide it and make it blend in with the bottom. The CDR has enough power to come up out of the bottom through almost anything it's covered with. I'm a big believer in hiding the trap at most of my beaver foothold sets.

I was referring to getting the DVD across the border to my door........lol. Looks like I didn't reference that in my post.

Gotcha.

Unless you just want the DVD.....my pics are posted.

Find where the beaver is getting material to fix the dam break and catch it there.
There is likely a haulout or channel. Use underwater footholds only.

The other issue i have is the land owner.......he'll get a wild hair and smash all the dams down, then constantly ask me why i haven't gotten anything. Even when my traps are up he'll just come down and rip through with his chainsaw. He's just worried about the culvert and road washing away. It's hard to convince him to stop, when it's his property.

Tell his sorry (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) ..that you need that water level to drown the beavers...

If he doesn't like that...then pick up...and as Shakey would say...

Move down the line ...