Trappin Beavers Help!

Hiawatha · 01-13-2004, 11:34 PM

Well i've been trappin beavers for about 4 years now in saskatchewan. I have a real problem sometimes with my dam sets. What i usally do is find the slide on the dam and open the top of the dam up wide enuff for good water flow and a 330 connibear. Now sometimes i put the trap at the top of the slide, sometimes at the bottom and sometimes i do both. But about 1 in every 20 beavers just plugs up sticks and mud against the trap to plug the hole and never swims or slides into it. A few times they plugged it up so bad i couldn't even see my trap. Now does this happen to u guys? and how do i catch these smart ones?

sawbill · 01-14-2004, 10:08 AM

Many of the guys I know use leg holds (No. 4 Victor) with a slide wire when trapping off a beaver dam. Probably for this very reason. The Conibear really comes into its own when trapping around the house or under the ice but of course, kittens become an unwanted catch. I did a lot of nuisance live trapping when I was working and beaver filling the trap with all sorts of crap drove me nuts. If you get a chance to watch a beaver repair his dam, you'll see they approach it very cautiously and will almost never use the slide. They'll just plug the hole with mud and branches and of course, this plugs up your set. The only advantage of your set is that you can pick the odd otter as a bonus.

Deleted User · 01-16-2004, 11:15 AM

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sawbill · 01-16-2004, 01:47 PM

Color phases of beaver are usually fairly predictable. What does change however is the overall size of the animal, the thickness of the pelt, and the thickness of the leather or hide. Their fur ranges from red to black, black being the most common or prime. Red is common to a beaver, adult or juvenile in the off season, then darkens or blackens, if you will, as the hide primes up in the fall and winter months. This may vary according to region. Here in Northern Ontario this is the typical situation, whereas beaver living in southern climates such as yours may experience the darker furs for a shorter period of time as a result of longer daylight hours.