drowning systems?

[T-Bar]

The river we are trapping isn't deep enough to drown beaver unless we use some kind of tangle stick. We have our snares running on drowners, but its still not deep enough.

Whats a good way to use tangle sticks or stakes?

Do you need one on each side of the drowning wire, or will a beaver wrap up on one no matter which side its on?

Or do you guys have ideas on how to drown them other ways?

Thanks!!

[Bogmaster]

Thats what I love about only using 330s on beaver,I don't have to worry anymore about water depth.
 If you are using footholds,shorten the chain as much as possible and go for a front foot catch,the same goes for snares on a drowner ,use the shortest cable you can.What type of bottom do you have ,I have dug out a deeper spot for the end of my drowner at times.If I were to use tangle sticks,I would stagger them at differant intervals,one on each side of the drowner.You never know for sure what an animal will do.
 If someone say they know what every animal will do 100 % of the time,they just aren't right in the head.
 Tom

[RdFx]

Toms' statement about someone saying they know what an animal will do 100% of the time is true.  I would say never say never.  You can  use a animals habits to yr advantage but  BUT they  will do the opposite when you figure  the other way .  
     Another way to help drowning with footholds is wire a weight next to trap that bvr  or animal can pull out but will tire animal out quicker and providing your using a front foot catch the animal will expire faster.  Same way with snare put snare on a heavy weight that will slide down with bvr next to his head and it will drown him fast... you can either attach snare to a long cable  or wire attached to bank or on a floating log drag if your on a small creek or pond.   Try it and  come back and tell us yr results.   I know  i was surprised how nice it worked first time i tried it.

[T-Bar]

Thanks guys!!

I agree on the 330's Tom, but we only have 6 of them to use, so we have to use snares eventually.

Our drowning wires run about 12 feet from shore, but it's still only waist deep at the end of them, and I would think that a beaver could get his head above water.

I didn't think about the current, the river moves pretty quickly, and because of that the bottom is all rock and gravel, which makes driving a stake almost impossible, so we are using sacks filled with rocks for anchors. Like you said RdFx, we'll try the weight idea!!

It's our first attempt at drowning beaver, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Do you think the current alone can tire the beaver out eventually?

[RdFx]

A  high current will help tire bvr out quicker.  You mentioned having a gravel or rocky bottom.  Make sure your sack of rocks on end of your drowner is heavy as a large bvr can move that on a gravel bottom.  You mentioned waist deep water and that would be okay for a front foot  foothold catch or snared bvr.

[Bogmaster]

Waist deep water will indeed be sufficient for snared beaver,as long as snares are kept short and slidewire is kept tight.A beaver on a 60 inch snare could be a problem.
 Tom

[cotton1]

i snare beaver high and dry all the time,don't worry about making drowning sets with snares. i have never,so far, lost a beaver that was caught by a snare on dry land. maybe your conditions wont let you keep em dry?
i use 7x7 3/32 snares 60" long with surlocks and a end swivel

[Bogmaster]

LOL--who made those snares for you Tony?
 Tom

[RdFx]

Cotton how do the bvrs hide hold up  to snare damage on dry land?  Ive heard stories where in long checks bvr had hair wore off on snare line  and then again that they didnt fight much but chewed everything off they could reach, LOL>>

[T-Bar]

The 4 beaver we snared last year were all high and dry. We saw some significant fur damage on all of them and as a result they were all damaged at the auction, so we only got $19.50 for all 4 of them together!!! The locks dug into the hide, and you could see exactly where the snare held the beaver, thats why we want to try and drown them.  

Plus like you said they chew EVERYTHING they can get ahold of. We had our snares tied off to a large stump, and after the 4th beaver in that same set there wasn't much keeping that stump from going into the river along with the beaver!! Not to mention we were faced with the dispatch of some 40+ pounders!! It made for some entertaining video footage!!!

I also was wondering what is the shortest piece of cable I can get away with using for beaver when I make our snares?

[cotton1]

tom i wonder who made them snares lol
fur damage has not been a problem for me but i run on a 24 hour check here, and yes lee ifin they can reach it they chew it lol