Opinion on pond beaver trapping POND CLEAR

Ok my brother and I just set this pond. Owners want the beavers gone. Its a small pond at or just under 1/2 acre, kinda shaped like a boomerang with 2 lodges. I didnt want to start out to aggressive with with scents or set locations, no slides but plenty of castor mounds and some trees being chewed. So we stayed away from the lodge and set drowning rigs with woodchipper as the lure and a couple 330s in necked down ditches with food lures. Figure zget the easy ones before we knock on their doors and set the lodge entries, to hopefully keep from spooking them and making them harder to catch. Is my thought process atleast somewhat correct?


Giant on the first check using woodchipper and some apple oil. And he is wearing a NO BS Beaver Trap for a bracelet. Thats a size 13 boot on his tail for size reference. Havent weighed it yet.

Well looks like it was just one beaver in this pond. Caught him on the first night and there has been zero activity since then. Told the property owner to call if he saw anymore activity but pretty sure we caught the lone one.

One lodge is probably dead...or a spare not used
I usually set everything up right away...Gangset- sometimes you can clean them out in a night or two.

Dont know what you mean pushups. Thats muskrat

Meant castor mounds dont know where my brain was typing that. If nothing when we check tomorrow we will probably set everthing. Only 3 seasons chasing beaver and one of those was an isolated slough and the colony had been shot at for years needless to say they where highly educated and we caught nothing. So that steered my thought process of not wanting to spook them. Thanks for responding, its good to have a sounding board of other trappers to bounce thoughts off of.

Oh ok

Take a picture or two when you are out there again.

Kinda hard to imagine any location with trees being cut with no slides or pull outs. But then again, thats why pond trapping beaver is a pain.

Heres one from when my brother initially went and looked it over.

My experience with pond beavers is this, I catch one to three beavers and the rest of the colony shuts right down for a while. I usually pull the traps and return in a couple of weeks if the owners want them trapped out.

Open water first are lured castor sets don't be shy with the traps.I'll set 4 or 5 of those right off at a good size colony. Second after that is blind crossovers,and submerged channels,then dam break and last submerged den entrance .

That seems to be what we have seen the few spots we have trapped beaver.

I am a gang set person.I rely mainly on usimg 330s and build my own castor mounds.I usually do mot set the lodge,but put several sets on the shore line near the lodge.
Love trapping those ponds and love trapping those big rodents.
Tom

Thanks Boco, only a 3 seasons under the belt here. Atleast at this pond they have the spillway dammed off but there really isnt more than a trickle on the other side that leads through a yard. Didnt see any evidence of a crossover. Not allowed to tamper with dams here in Illinois. Sounds like I am just being to cautious and just need to just let them have it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. This site is the only way to ask questions and bounce ideas off other trappers as there arent very many that I am aware of in my area. Sounds like I am being a little to cautious and should just go after them.

You can make some fake pull outs....by slicking up a mud trail up the bank or out of the water with your boots...just a lot of back and forth with your foot. Put some sticks and branches pine bows and logs on either side of your fake pull out....to help guide them into your 330. Some fresh poplar sticks on the mud pullout will work...unless everything is frozen. Then it’s a whole nuther ball game

hate it,love my river beaver

Over the years I have noticed overall,beaver in the rivers here tend to have poorer quality peltsl-more scars from fighting.

just the opposite here Boco.

do you think pond beaver know their environment better than river beaver and notice commotion easier??

make your own slides, set most blind but 1 with castor and another with sac oil and another with BTO, easy peasy.

ya can use a foothold or 330 at any lil bay in the shore or make one with clumps of grass
don't forget to break up the outline a bit, make it look like limbs fell naturally as opposed to a picket fence

..forgot to mention above that Sullivan Stabilizers or a copy are perfect for these sets, so the jaws DO NOT plow up muck and mud and debris OR lay 2 short dead/water logged sticks to act as ramps and hold the jaws outa the muck

I would say that inland pond beaver stay put compared to river beavers.It is easier to cull several inland ponds for management.River beavers are more nomadic.Medium sized rivers here are basically beaver highways for travelling beaver.Beaver houses on the rivers,especially the bigger rivers,unless in a backwater pond, are almost always obliterated with the spring ice out.River trapping can be very productive numbers wise in spring right after ice out but traps can quickly be put out of commission by constantly rising and falling water,and some years very tough to set as the banks are still solidly frozen.Running the line every day is thus necessary but not unproductive as most sets will have beaver each day.

That may be true in areas that have high beaver populations.

there is a couple week period here around the beginning of March that is like huning buck in the rut and make you wonder where the heck they all came from.

Thanks guys, I will take some more pictures tomorrow when we check if the weather permits.

Good luck.

Bump success picture added to original post.

Good job! Try to get a weight on it or total inches when put up!

Chris

Congrats...You'll learn!! Just keep on Trying!

Way to go.

Dont forget to enter the beaver tail contest....with that tail.

Definitely will, it looked really wide but taped out about 7 1/4 inches.

Hey Partner....really I'll only take one bottle.

A friend once asked me to trap his pond, which was on an old girl scout camp. The dam and lower half of the pond were all concrete. The pond was spring fed. I took a 330 to the overflow and used several cinder blocks to make a runway from the pond down to the overflow point. Caught all the beaver.

Well it weighed in at just a touch under 60 pounds, sure looked and felt bigger but didnt have another scale to get a second opinion.

Good Job!!!

Bump updated