Beaver

Set some Foothold and ended up with a toe in one trap.they have been avoiding them since which is no surprise.rocky bottom so almost impossible to set 330s.what do I have left for options.these were castor mound sets.

Made them shy that’s how these critters work now the fun begins for you lol , if it were me I’d pull up and come back in a few weeks if possible you have till the end of March I’m also in Illinois and we’ve all been there so I’m not laughing at you

Leave the castor at home and go with blind sets. Get creative stabilizing 330's if necessary. More than once I have used nothing but rocks to hold bodygrips in place.

Snares and underwater feed bed sets

I deal with wised up beavers year round, and my advice is set more footholds. Different location, no lure - blind sets only - trap fully well concealed. The disadvantage of footholds for beavers is that you will occasionally get a toenail. The advantage is that you can fully conceal them and catch that same beaver the very next night in another foothold at a different location. If they are avoiding your foothold, either the foothold is not well concealed or something else like lure, a particular type of set, or other disturbance to the set area is alerting them. Don’t just hide the trap, hide the stake, any slide wire or chain, everything. Don’t use a rod if you used a rod when you took the toenail unless you can figure out a way to conceal the rod under the mud and still keep it working. They are most likely just avoiding your castor mounds. Blind sets are how you get the wise ones.

Figure out where it is leaving sign and fully conceal a foothold there. If it won’t go through a snare or body grip, footholds are all you have left, other than shooting it if that is legal. The wisest beaver, one that is missing two toenails from footholds, with a dent on the forehead from getting smacked with a 330 miss, and wearing a broken snare can still be caught in a well done blind set foothold.

I’m also not sure I understand why a rocky bottom stops you from setting a 330. There are supports and other methods that can hold a 330 even on concrete or riprap, and for that matter a rocky bottom that makes supporting 330’s difficult also makes bedding a foothold difficult - I use a magnebed for footholds in those situations if I am not able to bed the trap properly otherwise. A poorly bedded trap is also a leading cause of toenail catches come to think of it. Make sure your footholds are rock solid AND fully concealed.

Edit: deep water and feed beds as others mentioned while I was typing may also be possible depending on the situation. Boco recently said snares around the feed bed under ice, and I believe that 100%, we just don’t get enough ice.

Snares for trap shy beaver. No lure little to no blocking. Go back in the morning see where the wet climb outs are and set there

Until you get the ones that avoid snares, then back to footholds. I actually encounter a lot of snare any beaver around here. Footholds are the final solution. If they are well concealed and no disturbances or lures, beaver simply can not avoid them.

loosanarrow is spot on and he has the nuisance beaver experience to back it up.

I will add to ensure your foothold's pan tension is stout...at least 5 pounds. You want that foot planted with the beaver's weight on that pan before the trap fires. Coyote-weight pan tension is way too light for beaver footholds.

I have a lot of gravelly or rocky situations where I trap too. I use 3/8ths pieces of rebar as supports for my 330's and pound them into the gravel with the back of my hatchet.

Big foothold traps

fake feed set with peeled sticks on bank.

or a baited 330 hung from 2 Wires and a cross stick across ice hole

I would go totally blind sets long leads to anchor so they cant see any change. I just got one of those guys two days ago, it makes you feel good when you win but does not pay you one penny more. Dumb one pay the same so some times it is just best to run and gun for the dumb ones.......jk