Catching the last Beaver

Okay guys, so I've got a marina owner who has me trapping a colony of beaver out of there. It is a super challenging spot to trap. There is a floating restaurant that sits on floats surrounded by a labyrinth of docks and boat slips. The beaver lodge and feed pile is under the restaurant in very deep water. I have trapped 4 beaver and an otter out of there so far. Got 2 beaver in castor mound drowners on the sandy beach. I have also snared 2 beaver in shallower runs going under the docks. I did not have luck with 330s under the dock so switched to snares. I also found the toenail from the hind foot of a beaver in my foothold drowner about a week ago and none of the ones I've caught since then have had missing toenails, so there is at least one more beaver in there, possibly 2 based on the sign I've been seeing in the snow. I haven't had any luck recently on catching any beaver. I got rid of the castor mound where I had caught 2 and pinched one since I think they are shy of it now. I moved it to a different area that had beaver sign in the snow. I used a change up castor based curiosity lure (Beaver Plus) and added crushed up apples on the mound for scent and sight attraction. I know that they are going under the docks and swimming around in the marina. I have a snare as well as a 330 under the shallower spots under the docks so if they go through there they are done. But there is about 60 feet of open dock that is deeper water where I think this last beaver or two is going under. I also think they are snare and trap shy and shy of castor mounds. I don't want to hang snares on the deeper dock because one of the beaver that I caught behind the front legs instead of the heck chewed the heck out of the 2x4 on his dock where it was snared. I was thinking of securing pallets to the dock hanging down in the water and putting 330s in between the pallets to make their only way out to open water through the 330s. However the water is deep enough that they could probably dive down under the pallets, assuming they truly are trap shy. Anyone got any ideas to try? I've been racking my brain. The marina is on a big open water lake and does not freeze over, so baited sets with snares is probably not an option, especially since their feed pile looks like it is doing just fine in terms of how much they have left.

Attach your snares to a slide lock on a cable anchored in the deep water. That will eliminate the chewing on the dock boards and keep them out of sight as well.

And have you ever tried using sections of cattle panels to funnel them through 330s? Sounds like the area is easy access so that might be an option as well.

Great idea on the slide lock drowner set. I will give that a shot. I haven't tried cattle panels just because I don't have any... but that is something to think about. Thanks!

Wondering how deep the water is and if you can see the shine where they are traveling on the bottom?

I've never used them but beaver floats may be an option for you. They could be placed most anywhere on the outside or even up under the restaurant near the lodge.

This is good advice. I would much rather use panels than pallets.

Torpedos and/or floating log snares would be another trick to use...

It'd be interesting to hear more about how to make such sets, Aix.

Have you used the sac oil from what you've caught to attract the rest?

Have you tried 330 floats?..I'd drape a vine or 2 over the 330 to break it up a bit.

if the log is long enough, you can hang 2 snares on each end for a total of 4 and I've caught up to 3 at a time with this...…..gota secure it good.

On this 'floating log set,' how do you coax the beaver thru the snare? We need a picture and/or more details.

Well guys, I gave that place a rest for 6 weeks. Did not set a single trap there. Then I went back yesterday and placed two very subtle drowner sets with a completely new lure (Keg Creek's Silver Creek Beaver) that they had not smelled before. Very minimal guide sticks, just a small stick or two barely poking up above the surface with some lure smeared on a couple sticks on the beach, 10 feet behind the footholds. Got a call from the Marina owner this morning that I had good luck and got a double on beaver in those drowners.

Giving the colony, a while to settle down, after taking several beaver, is a good idea. Usually works . old243