Dukebh40

alright we've had beavers at our pond for years and at this point its just annoying. i have never trapped before and was wondering what traps are used and if any good starting kits out there or if i need to buy some traps by themselves. any good websites for traps. i need to trap in a river 5 ft wide at max and about 6in to 1 1/2 ft deep. also i sometimes need to trap near our pipe which they tend to block up. any help is greatly appreciated. i wish it wasnt illegal just to shoot the dang things. thanks in advanced guys.

bwhunter501

Sometimes if you check ebay they will have good deals on traps.

SPIKEHORN11

Duke traps are good quality and lower on price than most. Buy a book on beaver trapping to learn the basics. Most the books are all the same. I would say for a beginner a to use a 330 conibear.Good luck.

Rockfish1

if they're causeing damage, do what's necessary to alleviate the situation... if the state wants to govern the conditions in which the beaver live, tell the state to get their beavers out of your pond... if they don't remedy the situation, then take things in your own hands and do as necessary...

bambikiller6

traperman.com

Hiawatha

Ahhh the pesky beaver. Get yourself a few 330 connibear traps and some good strong gauged wire. You have a few different options on setting the traps. My personal favorites are bank and dam sets. For a bank set find a spot where the beavers seem to be coming out of the water and onto land for food. These spots will be matted down well, may be slick and muddy cause they tend to use them as slides. Put the connibear down so that a about a little more than half of the trap is above the water. If you set the trap too low they cannot swim into it cause they will hit their head so they go around. If you set the trap too high they may try and go underneath it and knock the trap off. So set that trap height and brace the trap by putting a few sticks in between the springs to keep the trap from tipping. Puch the sitcks well into the bank so its good and sturdy. Tie the trap down to something good and solid, leave enough wire so that the animal can get back into the water and drown but really no more than that. Next get yourself a green peice of wood of some kind, i use a 3foot peice of a young polpar tree. Peel part of the stick off with an axe so that green and yellow are showing. Wet the stick in the pond and push the stick into the bank directly behind the trap about a foot and a half. They see that green stick and cannot help themselves but swim through that trap and get whacked. You may get the occasion intelligent one that goes around the trap and takes the stick, in these cases block off the sides of the trap with logs so the only way to the green stick is through the trap.
The dam sets are a bit different but can be just as effective if not more. Find a dam that is quite live meaning newly green sticks are being added to it. On every dam there is an lane or slide where the beavers cross over the dam and slide down to the otherside. Now you may want to take an axe and widen this lane out to allow water to flow down the dam, this will attract the critters. Clear a clean lane, no sticks or anything sitcking up that may discourage them from entering or using the slide. Don't make the lane any wider than a foot or so. Now you have options. you may either stick the trap at the top of the slide or at the bottom. If your putting the trap at the top of the dam again imagine that the beaver needs to swim into it so adjust your height of the trap accordingly. Brace and anchor the trap as in the dam sets. Once the trap is braced i like to take 2 large dead sticks and lay them horazontally overtop of each spring so that the beaver must go through the trap to go down the dam. Also by using dead sticks the beavers will seldom show any intrest in taking them for lunch.
The top of the dam method works but i much prefer the trap at the bottom. Again clear out a lane on the dam. Place the trap upside down right where the water seems to flatten out and meet the river. Again imagin a beaver sliding down the dam and into the trap so you do not want the trap to high or too low. I have my triggers snipped off a bit so that a speck of the trigger is poking up from the water. Brace and anchor the trap well and your done. I prefer this method because once they are half way down the slide and see the trap it is kind of hard to back out so they go with the flow and continue. Oh DAM. Also you have a good opportunity at otters with this method if you have any in the area. The trigger will catch them right under the chin and give them some motrin pain. If the dam is really smokin with activityyou may set one trap at the top and one at the bottom.
Just a word of caution though, DO NOT REMOVE THE SAFTEY CLIPS FROM THE SPRINGS UNTIL EVERYTHING IS DONE AND YOU ARE READY TO LEAVE. A new 330 has quite a bit of jam and could mess a guys arm up pretty good so keep safety in mind always. Hope this helps, as you can tell i am a beaver killin fanatic.

A mornin of checkin the trapline.

trapperDave

I question advising a beginner to get and set 330 conibears, a VERY DANGEROUS trap for someone with no experience. Buy you some snares if legal in your area, a fraction of the cost and cant cause you bodily injury. Ditto on trapperman.com