Beaver under the ice

Is not nearly as fun as it says in the brochure.

It's a Job... someone's got to do it...LOL. It was more fun when I was young. Ha!

Did the brochure show only 3" of ice and no two foot of snow to shovel first?

If you read the brochure, did you take not of the * on page 3? The disclosure for this * is found on the back page in fine print. It reads "Wait until spring, dummie."

Nothing to it.

There's an under ice Yeti peeking at you through the hole.Better get some bigger traps.

It's Jason Voorhees

Ch Ch Ch Ch ch... Ah ah ah ah ah

Mike

LOL.... It took me 1.5 hours to move 1 set 100 yards today. The ice was a good 5" thick. Tomorrow, I take an axe instead of my hatchet.

Finster, forget the axe and bring a spud...

Yup, I don't have one. I'll have to get one.

5 inches ???????????????????? LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol. No offence dude but I think here it made another five inches last night.

I like through the ice. Way easier to have the ice as a steady work platform to set traps. Heck with the spud or axe, bring a chainsaw. Also accessing many areas by snowmobile or even snowshoe and sleigh is a lot faster than numerous boats, canoes etc. All depends on the area I guess. A lot of lines here are totally inaccessable unless in winter

Yea, yea, yea,....... You Eskimo's up North don't count! 5" without the right equipment SUCKS!

I can only remember a couple years when we needed a chainsaw. This ain't Alaska. The problem here is we rarely get solid ice that lasts. Watch out for those runs with next to no ice over top. Not worth taking a polar bath for $10 beaver.

Polar baths are all part of the fun. Whats wrong with you guys...

Any of you guys use a ice saw instead of a chain saw to cut threw the ice? I heard they work real well. So I ordered a Fish's Ice Saw today. www.icesaw.com

I've used an ice saw, they work amazing. Need to get myself once (was trapping with a buddy). 5 inches ain't bad. 12+ gets real fun in a hurry. Ever sweat at -25F? Sucks when you quit sweating afterwards.

How do you get a hole open in order to use the saw????

we use ice saws to cut our spearing holes. I would never go back. We use an auger to cut holes in the corners ans saw the rest out.

Some are designed to be able to open their own hole. Others you spud a starter

A Spud

Throw away all that junk and do like Hutchy said and get a chainsaw,unless you want to be (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) around all day instead of setting traps.

x2! I usually set 3 snare poles around every feed pile I can find or know of, plus any obvious or known trails in between. Just setting 4 different ponds that is a minimum of 12 different holes to cut through anywhere up to 30" of ice- I will stick with a stihl or jonsered myself.

If you have 6 inches or less of ice I would just use a spud. I don't break out the chainsaw for thin ice.

I can swing an axe better then a spud....I have a spud, it's heavy and can't get the job done for me like an axe...jmo
If your remote on foot like me, I'm not dragging a spud for a mile....chainsaw sounds best if your walk is close or on a snow machine.
Or wait till spring

I pull a sled with a spud, axe, trap setter, 330 or 2, 1.5 coils, 1 longs, 110, 120, mink lure, wire, pliers, snares, and depending on the area, 220 and bobcat box. Doesn't take much more to pull and I'm ready for most things I find on the location.

Axe is what i use all year chainsaw can stay home if youre on active runs it never gets to thick

When Boco Is All Jacked-Up On Poutine and Tim Horton's Coffee, He Doesn't Need An Axe, Spud, Or Chainsaw.

He Just Tears Open The Ice With His Bare Hands !!

w

6" of ice was a month ago , it's 12" to 18" now .

Now you have two additional tools to haul around with your chainsaw while trapping. Doesn't make sense to me.

The chances are very good that I'll catch my first under ice beaver in the next few days. In Alabama! Huh?

The fish's ice saw cuts through ice very well. I've used it up to 20" of ice. I've used it for beaver and now the spear shack hole. I tried my chainsaw last year and didn't care for it nearly as much as the ice saw.

You CAN use the ice saw to start the pilot hole...but the blade is somewhat flexible so I've always used a spud to start the hole. If you twist the handle when cutting, your cut will angle quite abit. So making a football shaped hole is pretty easy.

to be fair, the last few years a chainsaw hasn't been needed. We have had lousy weather up here. No cold, thin ice. And close to the house, you could kick a hole open with your foot. I used the chainsaw for a few baited sets though. This year though, it has literally been colder than twenty below for three weeks now. Ice is already thicker than it was all last year. I foresee some chainsawing needed!

one problem is that with an axe you get splashed when you break through the bottom of the ice. That SUX !

Also, in over 40 some years of looking...I have NEVER found a beaver run...where the ice was thin.

I don't think the frozen levels of overflow are prevented from freezing by beaver activity under the initial layer of ice.

Some places you get three layers of ice a few feet thick with water in between.Too messy to set those,leave for seed and go to the next one.
Some just thick shell ice and no water-same thing-leave em and go to the next house.

Boco "Some places you get three layers of ice a few feet thick with water in between" that is about the time I would be finding another winter activity and planning a spring beaver trapping trip!

White has been searching for that next house for 40 years maybe it will be the next one.

Problem is when every house is like that. Long ago I would use an ax for the first 12” or so then finish with a chisel. Now it’s chainsaw with no bar oil.

No two are ever the same.It even changes from month to month.End Feb and March is prime time for under ice beaver trapping here.Good snow cover and less ice being made at night.Best conditions and the pelts are peak prime.Dec/Jan lots of ice being made every night.

Anyone ever see beaver coming out from under 2 feet of ice and chewing on spruce? Starving!

I found a old house and the ice was 3 feet thick and when we busted through there was no water. It smelled kind of like a barn and was active. I met the guy who trapped that area in the 50's and he called that colony his dry farmers.

True. Bum freeze up for me this year and when I left camp 2 weeks ago every puddle had overflow. Didn’t think I was going to get out. Gonna be thick ice for beavers this year. All there is to it.

If we don't get a good snow cover soon we are on track for another freezeout like the one in the early 90's here.
Yesterday we had a frostquake here,shook all the houses.Frost is going deep this year with the long term frigid temps and no snow to speak of.
Last freezeout,after doing an aerial survey one line went from 65 live houses to 8.

I don't remember what year the regulations changed but prior to change you couldn't trap closer to a house than 25 feet and could not start till February 1. IMO waiting till February is Like Boco said February and March beaver are the best.

LOL !!!!!! God !! I hope not !!!

I've seen exactly that same thing !! They finally chewed up out of the cut bank. A 330 ended their misery

[quote=Oh Snap]Anyone ever see beaver coming out from under 2 feet of ice and chewing on spruce? Starving![/quote

Its pretty common here late winter some will chew thier way out and go on death march looking for willow thats under the snow drifts. They are skinny with pieces of thier tail eaten from thier housemates who are also starving. They dont last long.

We have a overpopulation of beaver here, no limit and no closed season.

When they start on the tails it's serious. Rats do the same