Part time beaver and predator control

I've been thinking about doing adc on the side as I work full time. Plan on mainly beaver. My question is how many traps would you think I'd need before doing minimal advertising? I don't want to have a couple jobs lined up and only have enough steel for one. I doubt I'll end up with much work but I'd like to be prepared just in case. Thanks for any response

Twenty.

Twenty-one. A real trapper ALWAYS sets in 3's. Come on Boco! Jeesh. Kinda old to be a rookie ain'tcha?

Once you start you never seem to have enough. This is something you will learn as you go. If you just do one job at a time you may be just fine with a few. You will find you will be adding to your inventory as you get more involved and reinvesting your much of your profit.

Could always boost your supply with snares to start since they're cheaper. Granted they're most likely a single use item, but if you do well with them and make some good money, you can then supplement your snaring with body grips and footholds as it becomes convenient.

Thanks for the advice. I want to give a go at building my own snares to save some money and the enjoyment of knowing I built it. Thought about getting the Dakota Line snare building for profit video for some guidance. Only problem with snares here are I'd have to check every 24hr. I can go 48 if need be with footholds on drowners or body grips

in my opinion, please buy good commercially made snares, just got to make sure they are legal for your area. And please check every day. you don't want something fighting around a foothold or a drowning set that didn't work for 2 days.
you can always play with making your own equipment later, once you know what you're doing.

At what point do you know what you're doing? I mean no disrespect by saying this but does one have to catch 10k beaver before he knows enough to build a snare? I feel like no one would ever truly know what they're doing without trial and error and even the most experienced snare builder had to start somewhere.

I get using a commercial snare for paying jobs just starting out as I definitely wouldn't want a mishap. I have commercial snares on hand but have been playing with the idea of building my own. Again I was in no way trying to be disrespectful in the above post. I appreciate any and all advice

No worries, no disrespect taken.
If you like building snares, go ahead, more power to you!
Nobody said anything about 10k beavers, what I mean is when you start catching a few, you will learn a lot and know more about what you need and what to look for.
Of course it's live and learn. Just get started and you'll see how it goes. Good luck to you!

What Bob said is right, it always seems like you need a few more. I'm only talking beaver work, but it really depends on your own style. I prefer 330s over footholds, but I wouldn't be prepared if I didn't bring footholds along. Sometimes, they're what you need to use for ADC work. Depending on how big you're wanting to start out, I'd be comfortable with:


If I were having to start over from scratch right now, knowing what I now know, I'd buy a dozen (or more) quality 330s and make sure they're strong, and they're tuned.

1/2 dozen 48" H-stands and a dozen regular length H-stands

I'd also buy a half dozen (or more) large, strong beaver footholds. I'd also be prepared to run all my footholds on drowners, whichever system you choose for that is up to you.

Couple dozen snares.

If you buy 3/32" 7x7, you can build your drowners, extensions, and snares out of 1 type of cable for cost savings. I prefer using 1/8" 7x19 for all extensions and drowners, but that's something I already had on hand.

You'll find that this will more than cover your needs when doing a job. I just don't want to get a chance to save some driving on short notice. You may have someone that has multiple pairs/colonies that are close to each other that the client wants removed pronto. By having plenty of traps, you're able to make the most of your trips by setting traps on multiple jobs.


ADC jobs aren't the time to see if "a #2 will work so I don't have to buy more traps." Get the gear you need and do it right the first time. As it is, you're going to have to improvise in a pinch from time to time, so there's no need to handicap yourself right off of the bat.


If I were fur trapping, I'd be a lot more willing to let some things slide. When I'm being paid to catch specific beavers, I want to stack the deck in my favor. Just my opinion anyway.

Thanks Aix. Right now I have around 1 doz 750s and 9 330s.ive only done work one job at a time for friends and word of mouth and that amount has been more than enough. But I don't want to get caught with my pants down if 2 or 3 jobs come up,especially if I get a good sized timber company job which is what I'm hoping for

LD08, I found a nice video instruction on snare building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8arMDCghlM

Thanks uwe

Here in my state I can not use foot traps for anything. So my beaver work tools are snares, 330's and cages in that order. Snares make up 75% of my sets, for me just easier and faster. Theft is almost never, as folks just plain do not see them hanging there. They can be used anywhere you would put a 330 above or under water. under water those H frames are great for hanging cable for beaver. and work great at the waters edge at slides / mound sets. Also, most important, even though the sets , baits and lures are the same for fur or adc the mindset is totally different between the Two.

Do y'all all use just coil springs foot holds at this point like 750s, CDR, Bridger #5 etc? Or does anyone still use double long springs?

Also do y'all all use drowning cables or does anyone have any traps rigged up with chain in case the waters too shallow to drown him?

I saw a very interesting demo at the national trappers convention this year by Tom Morelock, he said he uses almost exclusively long chains and no drowning sets.

I mostly use coils, but I'll use a double long on occasion. I enjoy using DLS. They're easy to set and easy to bed in muck.


I carry 15 foot adjustable drowners, and I also carry a single adjustable drowner that is 25 feet long or even longer. This gives me more options. If I want to make a set in a particular location that doesn't have deep enough water, the long drowners shine. The only time I use any sort of setup like a long chain is on the rare occasion that I use a 10 foot chain with a sharpened rebar drag on it. I'll wrap the chain around a log or tree and hook the drag or even wire the drag to something. I do this sometimes, but I don't really like to. I like my beavers like I like my hogs---doa.