My son caught his first beaver this week A 47 pounder in a 1.5 pocket set he made for a mink. We skinned it out and it is in the freezer. Probably will get it tanned since it is his first one. My question is the farmer has a bunch more he wants trapped when should he go after them? I read where people say wait until spring but I also see people are trapping them on here now. So when should he set for them? He has 6 bridger #5 coil, 1- MB 750. And a couple Belisle 330. He has had 3-4 farmers wanting him to come trap beavers so I might need to get him some more traps. Open to suggestions on that.

And What are some sets to start with? Castor mound? Blind set? Just wondering if you were wanting to clear some out how you guys would start the whole thing? One set is in a pond and one set is on a shallow river

Obviously, use drowning sets with all footholds.
Look for slides and make foot hold sets at the bottom of those, with the trap ideally 8"-12" under the surface. Also set any haul-outs the same way.
If there are small ditches the beaver are using, set the #330s there.
As for castor mounds, they are most effective in early spring. However, I have caught more than a few in winter using that set, especially mature beaver. Bachelors in particular tend to fall for it.
Beaver that have not been trapped or pressured tend to leave a lot of sign and will pretty much tell you where they are working and thus where to put your sets.
The biggest thing with foot hold traps for beaver is setting your traps deep enough. It is always tempting to the novice to set the trap too shallow. This results in a beaver setting off the trap with it's chest, and an educated, wary beaver.

Spring up in this country is easier in my opinion, we are not chopping ice. But don't know when your beaver prime up. I would think they should be close. Get after them now I guess its time to learn.

They are prime enough now I wouldn't wait until Spring just for the sake of waiting. If the weather is not conducive to you trapping them efficiently now then wait until it is. On beaver jobs where the objective is clear them out I like to set heavy, mixing it up with whatever equipment the conditions allow for, snares, footholds, bodygrippers. Hit them hard and fast, leaves less chance that they will start to become educated before you are done trapping.

Thank you guys. We will do some scouting and start getting on them. The 20th my sons Christmas break starts so he will be setting heavy for everything

Awesome job getting the kid outdoors and trapping

I have never caught a beaver but should be plenty of reading on here and there are a ton of videos on utube.

Give him an early Christmas present of supplies to catch beaver (or just buy him some stuff). Lure, cable to make drowning rigs (or some other form of drowner) etc

Hopefully he builds his skills and his relationships with the locals. May lead to other opportunities for him to trap/hunt

I just sold some beaver that I caught in Oct. I got $20.00 for the large beaver and $6. 00 each for the small ones.
I would start right now. All my beaver were put up.