Higgy15jh

Me and my buddy were hunting this weekend over a creek, and we saw 2 beavers. We are going to get rid of them so they dont flood the bottoms like they did many years ago. should we trap them or just shoot them in the head with a .22mag? if we sould trap them.. info on that would be appreciated.

gadwall

First off why do u not want them to flood the bottoms? Abeaver pond provides excellent habitat for many species of wildlife. In most states shooting beaves is illlegal. At best impractical due too their divers reflex. Wait till they prime in the pelt usually Jan. then trap them then you can get cash for the pelt.

TEmbry

im the buddy and the reason i dont want to let them flood the bottoms is because if they start to damn the creek the ENTIRE bottoms would flood and would ruin my deer hunting setup this year. when the beaver is on the bank....would a .22 mag get the job done? i dont care about the pelts being prime....the only way i could wait till january is if they for some reason dont start flooding the bottoms...if his happens, ill have to clear teir dam and remove them immediately.

crew

where i live there is no close season on beaver. so if i see on i aways shoot it with my 22 lr. because if i don;t they will bust the dam of my ponds . to your question a 22 mag will work great and if you want to trap them i would suggest getting some conbear traps in size 330 you need to set them were they go into there dams or where they have areas damed up

canis_lupus

not to step on toes but a 330 on a damn is iffy at best ... will get alot of fired traps due to beaver carryin debris to work on the damn .... explain the situation a bit better .... do they have any channels cut into the timber ??? swamp land?? may help if ya tell me what state ya in too ... have trapped quite a few states .... but what im tryin to say is ... every situation calls for a diff method ... do ya have access to #3 - #5 footholds?? .... 3/32 snares ??? 330 conis ?? ..... i have shot alot of beaver with .22 mags tho .... make sure ya check ya regs before doing anything at all ...would hate to see ya get fined for killin a dang beaver !!

gadwall

Yes a 22 mag would do the job if the beaver is on the bank. i grew up in kentucky and trapped most of my life there. unless the law has changed only the landowner can kill wildlife that is causing damage to the property. just being present isn't causing damage so legallyyou can't do anything till they build a dam.otherwise you can be fined forillegal taking of wildlife.
I trap 30 to 50 beavers a year a 330 at the dam crossover is the best set i have found.l

canis_lupus

used to be legal to hunt em here ... not sure anymore as i dont shoot em ... but used to when younger ... would use a .22 mag and a canoe ....was hell on em durin high water ..... as far as the 330 dam set .... there are ways to catch em at dams ... and sum are awesome .... just statin that if not done right ya will have alot of fired traps .... im not tryin to act like i know it all ... or say that ya wrong .... best sets i have seen for beaver are crossovers, castor mounds, and a few others that i was shown by charles dobbins and hal sullivan .... as far as catches i have caught 20 beaver in a day ... not braggin ... just throwin a number out there .... anyhow .... good luck with any method ya use