Beaver under ice

I posted this on the main forum,but thought some of the guys on this forum may be interested in our under ice beaver methods.We spend about 20 minutes or less setting up a beaver house.These houses were located by aerial survey in Nov,and the trails were made in advance to setting and houses checked to make sure they still had beaver.
We set 6 houses in just over 2 hours on Mar 03 and checked on Mar 09.
On the march 09 check we made it an educational field trip for trappers,conservation officers and the general public and kids.

THE SET UP

THE CHECK

The ice was thicker than normal this year-about 14 inches in the runs.We wound up with 14 beaver out of 18 traps set.
A couple houses were re-set for a second check then pull.

I sure wish that would work here and in some places it might. We tried snaring three different houses this year and nowhere was there less than 40 inches of ice. Must not get as cold or overflow as much in your neck of the woods.

We had lots of cold weather this year White,from early December until about a week ago it was mostly minus 40c all winter.The thickness of the ice really doesn't matter unless it freezes to the bottom,you just need a longer bar and chain.

Or a longer ice pick


We were still making 8-10 inches of new ice a day on the newly opened holes. A real PITA

Do you cover the holes and bank them up with snow White?
Chiseling thru more than 6 inches of ice is a pain allright.

From now until april is usually the best time for under ice trapping as we will soon get a crust on the snow and the ice should not be forming as much at night now.
Maybe you would have to wait a couple weeks later there.
One problem we encounter is the ice hung up near the house and no water near the house.We usually just leave those for seed but if you find water near the feed bed you can snare them there.

How many beaver did ya pull out of the house with the four in front? Did you have all the traps on the same level with them in front of each other? or staggered with some high and some low? Good job!
Nick

Yeah we cover them when we can. Problem this year is that all the snow had turned to ice during the chinook.

We had plenty of water in most places as long as we were near the grub pile. Had one hole that was almost dry. About 8 inches of water after chipping 40 inches of ice

the problem in my neck of the woods would not be the thickness of the ice though I do see some 40 inch thick on a cold year it is the depth of water in front of the houses tends to be as much as 6-15 feet deep where the runs come out. It would be real nice if I could use coni stabilizers like that for sure. I have two stabilizers I seldom am able to use and when I have the proper depth I tend to have them laying at home.
Nice looking catch there though Boco it is hard to tell but the set with four conis 2 in back of 2 others how far apart are they to avoid a set off of all 4 traps by 1 big beaver

3 beaver out of the 4 and 3 out of the 3 side by side.All traps are set on the bottom in the entrance run.
You only need to set one hole as all the beaver use all their holes to both exit and enter the house.
In winter beaver move slow when entering and exiting the house but follow the entrance run.When they encounter an obstruction in the run they detour around and go back in the run.Beaver are caught both entering and leaving.

If you look at the pics close you may be able to see the block sticks between the traps that are set side by side-this prevents one beaver from setting off the trap beside it.The ones in front are just far enough apart to prevent one caught beaver from firing the trap in front.
You can see one house the water comes almost to the top of the trapstands.In deeper water we just use dry tamarack poles as a trapstand,about 10% of the houses will be too deep for the metal trapstands.
Most guys use the tamarack poles,but for efficiency in setting we made some stands a foot longer than the commercial ones that could be used in about 90%of the colonys here.

yup poles is what I tend to use when using conis through the ice but it is spruce trapping the flats we have to haul them with us as there is no lumber out there and the beaver are living on lily roots. I see the blocking sticks just not visualizing it properly I guess

otterman, have you ever hung your traps with wire? Thats how I do it.....seldom ever use poles or stabilizers of any kind.....just hang 330s in the runs just off the bottom.

yukon yes I have done this as well and it does work just not as well as when things are stabilized. I have also done so when the conis were baited which works pretty good too

To understand where to put the block sticks-take two 330's side by side close together,now where would you put a stick to prevent a neck caught beaver from twisting itself around(traps are solid)and firing the other trap with its back leg or tail.Since you don't know which direction the beaver will be going you need two.
I always set beaver traps this way(multiples)whether at the den entrance,a dam break,or a wide channel under ice as well as open water.Why only catch one when you can catch 3 or 4 at the same set at the same check.

Good stuff Boco! My favorite under ice set is snares around the feed bed in the fall when the ice is only inches thick. Like W17 and others here my ice gets to thick to make it worth the trouble this time of year.

When you have the plan,equipment and preparation,it is really quite efficient.The best thing is you don't have to carry anything-ride right up to the worksite and drive away with a load of beaver.
I realize everywhere is different,but some of these methods may be useful there with some modifications.

MAkes sense Boco I really tend to dislike resets and now I get how your using the blockers. I am sure there would be a little trial and error for someone doing when they haven't before but I can see where it will be helpful with otter as well

Boco is that last picture a dam break??

Yes Yukon,I use that set when the ice is coming on in Nov.No open water but not enough ice to walk on yet.I have set as many as 5 traps side by side in a set like that and take otter and beaver and the odd rat in one check.They are caught coming as well as going.

pretty dang efficient Boco!

One thing to remember,these type of sets are only worth making when you trap an area that has extended trap check laws.
In the lower 48 where you have to check traps every day these sets are hardly worth making.

How often do you have to check in Ont.?? Here it's 7-days for kill sets....5 for restraining traps.

None in the North for either kill or restraint.
In the south I believe it is none for killing traps and daily for restraining traps.
Personally I would not leave a live animal in a trap more than a day.
It is kind of silly to have a trap check time on killing sets.
There is a statute that says it is an offense to let an animal spoil in a trap.

Boco do you have a pic of the stabiliser with trap set and ready to put in? Would save some pole cutting for sure.
Were do you get yours from?

Boco do you have a photo of the conibear on a holder. How it is attached.
I am wondering with using conibears such as bridged or duke, Because they are not as lethal as the Canadian accepted conibear, one would have more problems with them fighting the trap more before they drown and disrupting the other conbibear. Not sure they would work as close as yours.
I tried these similar methods you shared with me last year and had multiple doubles. I did however keep them more spread out. I had better luck with a second set beyond the first. I had to make sure to keep my distance or put a pole divider between the side by side ones.

I will take a pic of the trapstand and traps and the location of the blocking sticks.
I will be away for a week so I will post pic when I return home.
You can get away with weak traps under ice as the stands are stuck in the bottom and frozen at the top so the traps are solid.Same if you use tamarack poles.
SK trapper one of our council members with a welder made them up.They are the same as the commercial ones except they are a foot longer.
FT,once we cut the ice we determine the width of the run by feeling the side banks,as you can see,some are wide enough for 3 traps side by side,some are wide at the house and narrow down - those take two side by side and one out front where the entrance narrows,if the run is wide all the way out we set two or three close to the house and two out in front.The size and shape of the entrance run determines the configuration of the traps.
If you are targeting a small house(a pair) obviously you don't need 4 or 5 traps,two will do.

if the sets are under ice we have no check limit and open water is 3 days here. i like your set up with the H stands

good stuff boco!

I had not thought of that. I use a single pole and when the trap fires the trap becomes loose on the pole and able to swing around. By securing both sides of the trap it would eliminate the problems I had with my one pole, (which I love to use.) method.

I have used similar methods since learning from Boco on this site a few seasons ago.

Tipi set ups tied together with used baling twine

A run on a very active house, no ice under the snow

7 traps set to cover the runs, you can see 6 of them, I had to reach out with my chisel to place them and push them in the mud, then they were all wired to a froze in pole.

Results 5 days later, 6 beaver and 1 log. Had 11 traps with, should have set them all

If I could get a 50-60 dollar average, I could retire early and trap. I did get a 54 dollar average at the earlier FHA auction, but all large or bigger beaver.

Well so much for early retirement, I just averaged 39 dollars on my nice winter beaver, mostly selects. Some didn't sell.
Averaged 54 on fall beaver and 39 on winter selects. Aaargh! Not putting any more beaver up!

must be nice to not have to put up beaver...

Hutch

Hi Boco, did you happen to get a picture of your trap stands yet?

Thanks for the reminder deerstand,I forgot about this thread.


I showed this with two traps only,but in real life I would set one or two more out in front of those two.
The block sticks should be positioned as shown to prevent one caught beaver from snapping two traps.When setting two more in front set far enough in front so caught beaver cannot fire trap in front or behind,leaving them working for the next beaver using the entrance run.You need block sticks when setting bodygrips close together,side by side.One trap is a belisle and one is an LDL.

what's the theory behind having triggers over too the side?

Since beaver are moving slow they sometimes will try to clear the run before entering the trap.It makes the trap fire when the beaver is into the trap a bit,preventing a miss or a foot caught beaver in a belisle.Also sometimes a beaver will be entering the house with a stick.Always catch a few with a stick beside him in the trap.The reason the trigger is positioned on the bottom is so you can feel the trap jaws with your spud,to determine which traps need chopping out if you are doing a two check run.

boco this should be archived as this information would be useful tomany under ice trappers to a great extnt