Beaver Float Question

Do any of you find it necessary to put a piece of wood on the underside to deter the beaver from diving under the trap?

No. Like many of us beaver look for the easiest route in life!

I used to have a problem with some beaver taking the bait from the side without going through the trap. The side boards should help prevent that. Nice idea!

Never had a need. for a bottom piece...make sure what ever trap you use that the jaws clear the float when it fires..

Not an issue

I never needed sides. My design with 3 wood layers and foam makes it ride high enough.

Also Anchor it away from vegetation or trees so they can't climb over

330 could you post a pic of your design ? I will be honest I built one several years ago and never had any luck with it , may have just been the spring they didn’t travel up my creek .

I'll have to look for my pictures...they're in the Archives

same here

another scenario is to shove it into bulrushes so nothing can go around

..and I like my platform a lil longer so when I want to make a castor mound on it, it is more visible

don't forget the hole for shoving skint sticks as food attractants

i put wire mesh on mine,pretty sure i saw that on here last year when i built mine,maybe dont need it but didnt hurt.and what traprjohn said

I cannot find my pictures
3 layers 2x4
Pink or green closed cell foam between. Front has a triangle mud mound shelf with a 3/4" hole for a peeled branch

I'll look again

Larger platform and holes drilled.

I d use another layer of foam then wood

Test float it with a 330

the uprights on the sides are a good idea. Too often I'm building up the sides with available debris.

That's a great idea.

The low hooped folding garden fence(green) makes a good side barrier when one is wanted. A liitle grass, etc can be throw over it if more camp wanted. I put a pair of smaller fence staples(half wya in, one over other) to slide fence ground legs into(like a stake truck). two sections fit my floats on each side(the narrow end is too close together to have beaver climb over).

I also have some floats that I have made a 1/2" clvc or pex hoop under the BG end and covered the under side with plastic rain gutter guard. I have a few moving waters that are always full of trash in spring and even if I check everyday they are plugged or sprung). With guard they work fine. Obviously beaver can't come up from underside with these but it makes them to cumbersome to do every float.

Mnman has pictures of hid shoved on cat tails

this is how i do mine.

Nope that was not me but I do have a picture with some blocking sticks on the sides:


It sits level with the trap in place. There happens to be a beaver in this one. You can see it floating on the left.

This is how it looks when set:

Nice the pipe for lure or eye appeal or both

Make sure and test float some of those need another layer of foam and 2x4

This is when I wished Iowa didn’t have the 100 percent submersion law.

both! plus lure in the pipe doesn't wash away as easy.

Do you guys make a planer board to keep them out in the current or do you just stake out in the creek ?

No, I often cable to an overhanging Limb or a log that is out in the creek or river. But you must pull them before heavy rain.

Nice the pipe for lure or eye appeal or both

This property is a hay farmer’s field that the beaver have been flooding for years and it was nearly impossible to get a steel trap permit. I’ve been running snares only for the last 6 years since moving here. Thank you all for the advice.

Mn man I used your setup on mine it’s a little more work but works

I used to use black pipe on mine to hold the lure..but never thought of white

If i can ever get it figured out how to upload a picture here..I will show you a folding float i make

have you not invested in (or got free thru the book/dvd club) Newts Master Beaver Snaring dvd?
here:
http://snareone.com/videos.html

your holes need to be large enough to hold thumb diameter skint sticks.
I say thumb size since larger skint sticks show up much better
A wood like maple or poplar works best for me.

i always found out I did better with float pulled into brush or weeds ,

That's a lot of work for a $6 beaver.

They are $50 beaver in the ADC world.

Why? Just curious as this was one of the main reasons I made mine, water levels changing several inches from day to day.

I should have said IF high rain prediction............when attached to a log in river/stream, since 1" of predicted rain is usually not a problem, unlike 3-4" rain that could float your log into the next county.

IF I'm anchored to overhanging limb, NO worries.

TraprJohn: I haven’t seen that one but might have to invest soon.

Yardstick added

3 layers to float the 330 half in, half out of the water.

Excellent for ADC jobs.

Yardstick added
Triangle shelf in front with hole for peeled branch or white pvc. And mud /lure

Front has 2 locations to cable off to. One cable to trap, one for anchoring float.

Can they be made effective in states that require the traps bigger than 220's be completely submerged? I may have to look through my scrap wood and see if I can make a few to hold 220's.... nothing to lose.

Its possible, a dive stick model

Watching

Moosetrot

Here's one of the 6 l put together. Guy on you tube gets credit for it. Said he had problems with rats crawling up on it. So I modified it to slam some rats or mink at the same time. 330 is a little over half submerged with the addition of two 110's. Getting ready to put em to work next week to see if does the job or not.

Interesting concept ^^^^^^^

I screwed up one, front was too low. Glued a couple plastic bottle lids to the front bottom now and if it's too low then just screw the bottle on. Acts as another quick in the field fix to make the front float higher.

ADC, I think you could make one work with sub 330 if you fence sides and back well to help direct them into trap. They naturally approach float from downstream in moving water(which is the way trap end faces). I would modify open end with as thin a cross bar as possible with a coni clip attached to hold trap just below surface. I have one float that barely holds my heavier 330's about 1" above surface and take as many beaver with it as those that ride higher(which is why I haven't added float to it). Try a couple and lets know. I find them a very useful set in LG culverts under major roads with lots of traffic(no body sees them tethered below road. Against outside wall of slowest current produce best.

Jaime, 220's will work-I've used Duke 220's(They are a little wider than tall) in the same float that I use for 280/330's when I lived in WI where half submerged is legal. Push trigger wires as far as you can to one side and from the bottom or cross them in a T shape on the bottom so they are just under water. Since they don't have to be submerged you can change your float construction slightly so they ride higher in the water where trap is positioned. This is a 330 but the same float was used with 280's(actually preferred them because they weren't as heavy-rode higher in water/current) A 220 is lighter yet so will ride higher with the springs just above the surface effectively blocking that part.



Eventually I changed my construction by eliminating the styrofoam from the middle and placed it between the 2x4's on the sides . Used 2" foam then so that block where the springs goes can be placed differently depending upon how high or low you wan t the trap to sit. Only need the top of jaws to be 3" or so above water. The other changed I made when using these floats in still water situations/no current is the placement of strips of plywood sticking up on the sides so beaver don't go over the sides to get the bait.

My later versions were like 330 trapper posted above but with one piece of 2" foam on each side, plus I put some plywood on sides to stop them from going over-just high enough to match up with the height of that 2x4 in front of float.

Once many years ago I caught a beaver in a muskrat set with a 110, albeit a young of the year so I know many can be caught in 220's if that is what you are limited to.



Also a big trout in a 330.

I stapled a rope on the outside edge of the float from the front around the back and back to the front on the top 2x4. This creates a "holder" for the blocking I want to use. Sometimes it is sticks squeezed between the rope and the frame sometimes it is cattails or other misc stuff. I got tired of looking for stuff that fit the holes I drilled.

I like the hole in the front ...sometimes for an ADC job I use a leafy 4-5' branch.

Beavers reslond fast, like a New tree just popped up overnight. Great for Private ponds.

Just curious if anyone ever tries a snare on a beaver float

Not I

Kinda what I figured. Setting up the drowner system for a snare would be an extra step.

Not needed ...built for a kill trap

I'm kinda surprised there's no vendor that sells beaver floats

Good stuff guys. I’m not a water guy but taking notes. Thanks

The ones I have made are very crude but work just fine.

What, no barb wire Snowy???

I’d just be happy if mine were not flipped over every single time I check them...

Cheechaco,

If you'd put your fun noodles between the side layers.
It might float. Mine don't flip.

LOL! I think I must of used some electric fence wirah. I have some styrofoam built into mine and I don't have a problem with them sinking or flipping either.