Barely Missed a Beaver

[KYtrapper17]

I made a castor mound set where I found a beaver cuuting on a maple tree. Yesterday when I went to check it the trap was set off with some beaver hair in it. The bank where I set the trap flattened of at the top, but there was a ridge where it dropped completely down to about 2 foot of water. I put some sticks at an angle in front of the trap to poke the beaver and make him put his front feet down. The trap was in a bout 3 inches of water where the bank was level. What should I have done? Will he be back? By the looks of the height of the cutting he is a small beaver. The cutiing is about 5 inches up the tree. I would just like to tan him out.

Thanks,
Zach Ellis :wink:

[Bogmaster]

Zach,your miss of the beaver,is the exact reason I tell trappers to use a 330 at their castor mounds.I learned how to trap beaver using footholds,but there are so many variables to take into consideration when using them.
 Even novice trappers that have called me for advice,catch beaver the first night after setting 330s at castor mounds.
 It has been said that:a 330 has made poor beaver trappers into fair beaver trappers.Fair beaver trappers into good beaver trappers,and good beaver trappers into outstanding ones.
 Good luck on your beaver venture .
WARNING----Beaver trapping is addictive----there are no 4,5, or 6 step programs to get over this addiction.Once you have triumphed life as you know it will never be the same.
  Tom

[RdFx]

Yep once you catch a bvr  as Bog said your are shot for life, its bvr and more bvr .  You will spend endless hours setting and checking traps and if your an old coot like me you look for a partner with a strong back to haul out all the bvr..... Now that isnt the least of it now you have ALL that skinning and ALL that fleshing and then you have to put them up on boards or hoops.... Scare ya yet  :eek: !  But boy when you look at all those plews  ya get a warm feeling and you dont even remember when you fell in over your head  and yr waders brought you back up to the surface and you were sputtering and splashing like crazy for the bank LOL..... JUST WARNING YA  :-D

[snaresonly]

Thats OK I just barely missed an otter with a 280. I set a perfect run. 5 or more otter use it everday. Stabilized trap, made a good extension so when caught he go to the bottom out of the way. Cut the extra wire I used on the springs as extra safety. went out to check say the fresh tracks going in. Yup got me an otter. Trap was tripedand sent to the bottom.
BUT I FORGOT TO UNDO THE NORMAL SAFETY

[adkguide]

Zach-  Tom hit it on the nead.  330's make beaver trapping a whole lot easier.  
Snaresonly- get yourself a $5 conibear safety tool.  One otter pays for 20 of these handy little tools.  Then, you never have to worry about safety hooks and safety wire.   If there are that many otter using that spot, it may also be a good idea to set more than one trap.  Hope you get him next time through.

[snaresonly]

I am only allowed 1 otter. there where only 3 permits given for an area that is almost half the size of rhode island. Guess I could say I am lucky. The state has know idea how many otter are around, same goes with beaver. Only allowed to have 3 otter traps out. If I get more then 1at the same time I have to call a game warden they come out and remove them from the trap and leave me with 1. So to save that hassle I am just setting 1 trap.

[RdFx]

I would advise you to set all three and if you do catch extra so be it... Otter can be finicky  so  put the odds in yr favor...  With snares if you dont put on drowners you can  let otter go..... I know this isnt easy but it can be done .  I have a adc type neck cable stick and it works good  from wolves to  coons ect.

[snaresonly]

rdfx. I would use snares, but it is an entanglement area big time, not to mention my trap is exactly 5ft8in off of the road. Do all of my work at this set at night. I really do not want anyone to find it, cause I would loose my trap and catch. I am legal, you know how it goes, common thieves. So if I snared the animal it would end up tangled around the guard railing, or everyone would see it. I should have 1 in the AM. They use this crossing everyday. Nobody has ever trapped this slide.

[RdFx]

Good luck , hope you get a big male. unsinged and prime.   I thought there were more otters  in Jersey along the shore and meadows.... i will have to talk to Newt and see what he says...... Happy skinning

[steven49er]

KYtrapper17, trapping beaver with footholds is an art and takes some mistakes to master.  I would suggest setting your trap deeper.  If you have a big trap like the 7" inch jaw spread traps i would recommend trying for a back foot catch.  I like to put the trap in about a foot or even a foot and a half of water.  Put it off center a little and back from the bank a bit.  Make sure the trap is stable.  If you are using smaller traps I like to put the trap in about 6" of water and dig the bed lower than the bottom where your trap lays.  

Remember a beaver is a big critter and can take alot of water.  The problems most associated with missed beaver I think are traps not solid enough and not deep enough.

[snaresonly]

rdfx there are alot of otter, I am seeing more and more each year. saw 5 together this past summer in a pond about 4 miles from where I am trapping. The problem is the state does not know how many we have.
I checked again this AM and didn't have 1. kind of frustrating knowing they are there. If I don't have 1 buy next thursday, might have to try something new. thinking about a snare with some sort of drowner.

[RdFx]

Otter like mink take patience , ive had sets out a month before they connected... most connect before .  You have to have sets out before the animal comes thru and sometimes that takes awhile... Also another trapper may catch the otter before it returns to your set.  PATIENCE  :wink:

[snaresonly]

I got 1 of 3 permits 400square mile area, really don't have to worry about someone else catching them. just frustrating when I know they use the area every day

[KYtrapper17]

On the 330 castor mound set I need some help. How much water should the trap be in? How far back from the castor mound? Do I need some guides? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Zach Ellis :-)