Some time ago, I was contacted by an ADC trapper, (who shall remain nameless and) who although was a pretty accomplished trapper, had a beaver job lined up where several trappers had been after the same ol' sow beaver for years without any success.
This was an educated beaver no doubt, that had castor mounds and other such tricks thrown at her and with 330's set year round, she knew just where to go and what to avoid!

So, in the spirit of having to be the trapper who has to go in to do cleanup or has to get the last one, regardless...I hope you will share some of your techniques you've used to to the job right!

Buzzard from N.C, had some great pictures awhile back on snaring beaver under water.

Anyone have any great beaver stories or tips from ADC work?
LATrapper?
Vinke?

Foot holds and check with bino's.
bait stick no lure.
channel set w/pole NO trap done after a storm has moved thru.
cut tree( ASH) with Muskrat lure.
bob

No secrets I am sure. I use footholds and snares only in my adc work for beaver. Check from a distance if they are "spooky" and keep the noise while there down to a minimum. Winter and spring castor mostly, or blind sets. Late spring through summer, blind sets and food base lures/baits. Over all for trap shy or heavily pressured beavers I have the best luck with blind sets.

I looked for, but couldn't find Buzz's pics of under water snares. Anyone have a link to them by chance?

LT, I would use a snare first. That would be the one tool that they would be least likely to be afraid of. I'm kind of a novice when compared to some beaver trappers but so far I've always done the job. Even when a beaver knocks a snare over, they aren't scared because it didn't do anything.

Here in Ca. we can't use foot hold traps But as a lic. A.D.C. trapper I can use snares and bodygrips. The worst beaver I ever had to catch absolutly knew what a bodygrip was and wouldn't go near one. This trapwise critter also recognized, belive it or not, what a snare was! I would set up a snare where he was coming out of the stream and he would "chest" it and knock it down and walk on into the orchard and cut some more young prune trees down and basicly make me look inept. I honestly thought I may not be able to catch this thing. After giving it a lot of thought this is what I came up with. I took a snare and found about 5-6 very small(about the diameter of a tooth pick) short forked sticks and using the small sticks to keep the snare round and about an inch off the bottom of the stream. I placed them deep enough so his front feet and chest would pass over it but when he put his back feet down to walk out of the water he would put his foot down in the snare and because beaver kind of "shuffel" when they walk I hoped he would pick up the snare and get caught before he realised what had happened. Basicly a leghold set but using a snare instead. I also went ahead and set a snare in the crawl out as always just to give him something to focus his attention on. Next day, one very unhappy beaver caught by one hind leg!! Thank God they don't come like that very often or I'd have to find another line of work!

Bob

Snares would sure be a heck of a lot lighter then 660's and ts 85's...................

Dave..... Slightly off-topic, but check out the beaver pics on my Twitter site:

twitter.com/thebatguy

FUN!!!!!!

You got beaver pic's on a twitter site?

Apparently, there aren't any real ADC beaver men on here or either they're not posting!
Easy to trap the dumb ones...not so when they've had a few traps snapped off in their faces...

Hate to say it, but I sure miss Buzzard!
Now there's a ADC beaver trapper.

Sorry LT. The only beaver that I ever took a foot off ( she got hung up before the deep water) I caught not twenty feet away, two days later.
DUMB TRAPPERS PREFER DUMB BEAVER!

I love going behind our state trappers ... we get to charge double when this happens because of all the "educated" beaver left behind.

Here are a few from the past ...

!!!!

Interesting set-up with the stop shock !

Ha!.....

Thank you Buzzard.
I'm going to use that one later tonight!

Better pics at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015149&id=1213268781&l=ada9a5a167

Note: This is only the 2nd beaver I have ever relocated in over 20 years of this work. Usually too costly, and really tough to find a property owner who will give permission to do so!!! Besides.... they usually don't go far when I "release them" from a 330.

Ok traps???? you must be the only one using long stabilizers if you can catch pursued beaver with raw steel sticking out of the water on a regular basis...lol good job!
I do use stabilizers.....But I attach grass and sticks with wire (in follow up trapping situations)to camo them in.

Lt!!!!!! Quit Sukking up to Wuzzard..... Ha!
And call me....the number I have does not work anymore....

Pay attention!!!.......Being able to "Age" sign at and below the water line......
The Beaver will always shows you were to put the trap......
A boat can be an amazing tool////
Often a "Comfort" Food can do the trick.....

Vinke, I'm not suckin' up to Buzzard...but I do give credit, where credit is do!
Buzzard does ADC beaver work...and you don't do that very long, if you aren't good at it.

Now take you for example, you're doing more and more ADC beaver work...I don't see too many "how I caught a sharp ol' beaver that someone else had chased around before" photos on here.

Buzzard showed one version of a snare set...that quite frankly, his way keep raccoons out of the snares that might have caught if it were set on the bank. That image will help me take beaver under conditions that otherwise might cost me time and money to produce a certain animal.
...and that is the whole purpose of this post!

I know how to catch beaver. However there are some that during warmer weather, that do not respond to traditional methods/sets and lures.
Sharing that info, of how you caught beaver in those situations is also what this post is about.
If we're not sharing information of how we trap animals in the ADC field, then why are we even on here?
We should just go over to Trap Talk and talk about the current events of the world!

This is something I have found is a problem for summer beaver work. I had one that broke one of the trigger wires, still managed to catch another snapper in the same trap a day later. The traps in this picture were removed the same time I took the turtle out.

I haven't been here in awhile, but found this post as one I can relate to.

Over the past 17 years of trapping beavers full time, I've encountered the occasional "experienced" beaver. They can be a formidable challenge.

Here are a few things I've learned....

A beaver doesn't have to experience the smack of a body grip trap to know it poses a danger. I've encountered pairs of beavers that have never known a trapper's tools. In this situation I've sometimes caught a single beaver in a body grip when I had multiple sets in that colony area. The other beaver would not come near a body grip trap. This second beaver had never been subjected to the whack of a body grip, yet it knew the danger it posed. I'm sure the second beaver was in the immediate vicinity when the first beaver was caught in the body grip. It saw its mate in distress and also was aware of the body grip that had its mate in a death grip.

As was mentioned earlier, beavers will sometimes also ignore snares. I don't believe these beavers know anything about a snare, but rather, are fearfull of anything new added to its environment, such as a pole driven in as a snare support. These beavers will go around anything new added to their environment, whether it was introduced by man or nature. After a time of seeing it there, it will become accustomed to it, but it may be months. I've heard of people who left a body grip in the same place for months, and eventually the educated beaver will go through it. I think that it eventually saw the trap as a natural part of its environment and was no longer fearful of it.

One of the tricks I use on a lone smart beaver is to first drain its pond. Then I will drag a log over the main channel, if there's not one there already. With the pond drained, I'd set up a snare so that it will eventually hang in the choked down channel, however the snare isn't set. The beaver will go about repairing the dam and when the pond level is right where the beaver is still going under the log, I'll merely postion the snare that was there all along, but not set. I've caught many a smart beaver with this technique.

I can vouch for that.........the old fart walked me thru it a few years back.........lol

.......If you won't sukk up to Wuzzard...I will...lol.....

Thank you Paul Dobbins.
I greatly appreciate you taking time to answer this post, as I know you are extremely busy.

Like many, I learned much of my beaver trapping techniques, from Paul's dad, Charlie Dobbins in the many years I knew him.
Over the years, conversations with Charlie helped improve my methods in both fur trapping and ADC work for beaver.

I also own many of Charlie's books and tapes, including his Summertime Contol beaver tape, featuring Paul.
Hal Sullivan has a nuisance beaver tape out. Clint Locklear has out two, as do several others.
There is something to be learned by each of these, if you watch it with an open mind!

I get calls on beaver that have had trappers either, catch and lose it, miss with a fired trap, misuse lure and/or wrong type of set at the wrong time of year or D) All of the above.

The one thing I do, is not try to "fur trapper catch" a spooky beaver. I always have the mindset, that I only have one trap and/or snare that I can only place in ONE LOCATION!

I sic myself into picking the only perfect 8" on the entire creek, pond or lake.

Although I may set several more sets, that's the one, I always set first!

I have found that spooky beaver can at times be quite challenging, unlike some of the others, that are easy to catch as a muskrat.

Vinke, your camara must be broken....I hear you're slammin; some nuisance flat tails up in the Northwest...

Vinke? Vinkeee? Vi....
Ah, nuttin'!

LT Grey, charles dobbins taught me to use sac oil to get the last ones or the hard ones . use sac oil from beaver that aren't from the same area .

1 drop is all it takes .

I dont have to clean up after others often, usually my own messes which, thankfully, are few. And the beaver pic above is my latest mess-up. Had this guy snared at a castor smear set with a snare, not sure really what to call it as it came off Paul's nuiscance beaver trapping video. Ground was softer than I thought it was and pulled my stake.

Soent the next half hour after I checked that set having to blindly poke around the lodge for anything that felt like a run and with a the pond raised and me being limited to land...was a pain. Awkwardly placed a 330 and job complete.

Satisfaction at it's finest!

The Last One?
Any one have a Muskrat lure (cherry) made by KEN PERKINS of NY?
If you have any or know the formula Please Contact me?
Best lure I've used for BEAVER get's that shy one.
Bob Evans cwcp

Bob, I have a cherry paste with real red cherries and cherry extract...might be similar, not sure. I've seen several other cherry muskrat lures around.

Because I love ya LT!!!!!! i took my camera .....

This is the remake of the set.....The creek is "tide affected" so the trap is set to the left in the hole...that is "blocked by a slight mound of mud...
The mound IMHO help prevent a miss fired traps in fluctuating water conditions....I have a front foot, back foot and a dry set...
I also found that i have to replace my rubber often using long chains and now wrap it with friction tape...



The result using apples.....In the spring I find that Apples will take the female when nothing else will...
Is she lacking vitamins?/// lol.......



milken emmmmmm......



My version of Charles and Halls stump set........
Ruff up the area...
****set should be made were you think a beaver would "Naturally " look....sharp bend in creek, intersections,high area of straight stretch



The edge is lined with cut branches to simulate small saplings that have been eaten....
The tops of the branches are use to simulate sapling waiting to be devoured.....
Works best on banks that do not have Lots of trees...
Add wood chipper and you will pick up every passer by...



No lure..........

Dave, did I ever give you any of my "rottin' red apple" lure to try...It wasn't made for beavers. but I have guys catch beaver on it all the time!

Anyone else on here. doing summer beaver control?

I have been trying. One place the beaver has been holed up for 2 months. I have had a pair hole up for 5 weeks, prior to this one. I am glad that the owner is able to help with trap checks.

I feel that where most adc beaver trappers, that come with the fur taking mindset of the job, mess up is that they actually don't know that their is that last one. 2 weeks after they have gotten paid more trouble arises, the customer loses all confidence in their trapper and hopefully calls me. With me saying that I was wondering what kind if any guarantees you all offer. I deem my jobs complete after 2 weeks with no fresh sign but i may have already been there a while because i want to be sure i'm done.

Summer beaver do not move as much as they do in fall and spring.
Something to consider when doing this type of work.

Black berry vines and Woodchipper is a pretty good combo.....

You drinkin' again Dave?

Strung out on Starbucks.........LOL.....

Well the more things change, the more they stay the same!

LT
Beaver I was after ain't been back. heard today some trees were peeled 1/4 mile or more down river on someone elses property. me and the boy might have buggered him up messing around.
when could I call you?

JOHN

Always set the "escape routes" as pressured beaver will return to earlier inhabited area.......

Beavers often have a winter and a summer home here.....

John, sorry I have missed your calls. Been a whirlwind around here lately...just try back, sometime during the day, I guess.

Thanks VINKE
I know very little about beaver even less about summer beaver

LT

no problem on the calls things been busy here to. may try you one afternoon from work.
THANKS JOHN

Keep trying, you'll eventually get me.

Ok guys,
Just landed a "bev job". I told the guy I'd do it for the trapping rights this year. I never did summer beaver before.He told me the beaver on his property keep plugging up his culverts. The property is swamp land with a road going through. I'm bringing ALL my beaver stuff, don't know what I'll run into. Any quick advice? I'm going up next weekend. I'll post pics when I get home!
Tom

An anti-aircraft gun for the mosquitos is the first thing that came to mind.

thermacell works great to repel the mosquitos

I have to say that I fully agree with the line of reasoning in the first post. I am certain that beavers have learnd to avoid my trap becuase they were they either when thier mate got gagged or because they accidentally tripped the trap while trying to repair the break I made in the dam. I know this becuase I have made sets where I caught a beaver on the first night and my guide sticks were knocked down where another beaver made a route around the trap. The follwing night, they would be knocked down in the exact same spot and manner. I've even had them move the dive stick up and over the trap where I had it hanging with wire. Either way, they are intelligent enough to figure out that the trap represented some sort of danger when it went off.

A couple of things I did to prevent these things from happening:

1.) Now, instead of wiring the divestick to the tops of the last 2 guide sticks and letting it hang, I make sure those last 2 guide sticks have a knot or small broken-off limb. I push them down to the point where I want my dive stick in the water and then wire the dive stick at each end around the 2 guide sticks, right at those 2 knots so it can't slip down or be lifted up and flung over.

2.) Instead of 1 trap at an opening, I use 2. I used to make a small break in the dam to get the water moving, then do my set parallel to the dam-not anymore, and especiall if I've already had one burn me. Now, I make the break and place 2 traps at 90deg. to the dam. In other words, I make out a 3-sided box, the dam being the 4th side, and place 1 trap on each side of the "box" perpendicular (90 deg.) to the dam. When I get a beaver that does not want to go through the trap and just tries to repair the break by letting debris go into it with the flow of water, the debris cannot collect in the trap. Eventually, he bites the bullet and has to go through on one side or the other to see why his crud just ain't stopping the water from moving. That's when he gets gagged. Also, this leaves the other side open to catch a follow-up beaver should one of his buddies come over to help. Also, because the first beaver is trapped on the other side of the "box", the second beaver doesn't feel like there is any danger in the route he's taking. This set up works very well. It's more work, but I've come to use it in places where there are large colonies and/or the other beavers figures out after the first night or two of seeing thier relatives getting snagged that there was something dangerous going on. This also prevents the occaisional burried beaver becuase thier buddies cannot stop the flow of water by just letting the debris go.

3.) Move the trap to the other side. If I'm in a place where I don't have room to set 2 traps at the same break and I get a beaver and can't seem to get his buddies, I just move the trap to the other side of the set-up. Sometimes after catching 1 or 2 the rest know what's going on. In this situation, I jsut move the trap to the other side of the setup and "kawham" I'm back in business.

I think I got a pick of the perpendicular set-up somewhere on my computer....

O.K., here it is. I don't know if this is new to anyone or not, but I hope someone will benefit from it. The green line is where the trap is. In this situation, I only had a trap on one side because the water was too shallow at the bank. I could have moved the setup further down the dam, but then it would have been too deep as this pond was about 5 feet deep. The red arrow is pointing at the dive stick. This is the first beaver I ever trapped. I had this set up parallel to the dam the night before and the beaver clogged my trap by just letting go debris in front of the break and letting the flow of the water carry it into the trap. The next day, I turned it 90 deg. to the dam as shown in the pic. This way it won't clog and he can't clog it without going through it to try to figure out why. Later, when I started catching one and missing one is when I started using this set-up and added the second trap. Again, if it were in this picture, it would be set up 90deg. to the dam just like the one in the picture, but on the other side of the "box".



Here is the result-63lbs. of beaver meat. That's my size 10.5 shoe beside him. Who's hungry????

Very nice...love the 'art work !'

il cooner, you might some info on here worth reading!

great set up never thought of the 90 degree idea learn something new every day... thanx everyone

When you got one cloggin traps, this will get them nearly every time.

Not sure I understood what he meant by that!

what beavernator meant was, if there is a beaver clogging a set by a d a m, place another set at 90 degrees alongside the d a m youll catch MR. Beaver... thats how i interpreted it... just another tool for the tool box.

A red head.........watch out for that one!....

Ah, but don't ya love em!



Caught these beaver (and more) on lure made by Dave Vinke, by the way!

That was some good lure........I made some more..but it not the same without a years worth of "aging".....

One thing I carry on my beaver trailer is a 2x to use a a bridge...This allows me to get out and over the ditch and place the double 660'sw in the channel of our deep peat bottom drainage's....

Finding strategics areas to place your assault will increase your productivity.
I will bring in drive material if needed...eye appeal.....aswell
When working yearly contract jobs....I find I usually take the new beaver in the same spot as last time....
The "set area" is constructed in a location that requires minimal effect( once established) to set up and check

These are are left "stocked" meaning the dive poles or Blocks needed to construct are left from year to year...

hey vinke could you post a pic of the 2x2 660 site?

Vinke, where's our picture of the 660 in action?

You've been trapping a lot longer than I have (since Jan.) and have taken waaaaay more than I have (51) but I can say from first-hand experience that you are 100% correct in your assumption. I have actually witnessed this with my own eyes.

I was trapping a spot for a farmer where there was a huge dam all the way across this creek bottom. This dam in total was about 80 yards long and close to 6' tall. The only place I really had accessible to make aset at the dam was in each corner. On the far corner there was a gum tree that the beaver themselves had fallen. They had chewed it nearly in-two, then let it fall over. It was about 10" in diameter where they made the bite. As it turned out the tree was fallen, but still attached at the bite, which was nearly level with the water. I made a pretty good break in the dam and drained about 10" of water in 30 min so that the bottomof this log was right on top of the water. I sticked off an opening behind this log and hung the 330 in the opening. The next morning as I approached the dam from the far corner, I heard and saw lots of splashing at the setup at the other end of the dam. I could see water splashing around in front of this log, so I figured that a beaver had just hit the trap and was struggling. After observing for a few minutes, I actually saw a beaver start to swim back & forwarth up & down the edge of the water. I thought it had slipped my trap, or knew what it was and would not go through. This went on for about 10 minutes. Patiently, I sat and watched this beaver spalshing and making noise all around in the water in front of the trap. Then, the noise stopped. 10 seconds later a beaver popped up in the water about 10 yards in front of me. As I was already in the "ready" position with the Beavernator 2000 (12ga. with 6 shots of 00 buck) one big bark from the beaver cannon and she was finished. I thought I had one beaver. As it turned out. There was actually another beaver caugt and already drowned inthe trap. The trapped beaver was alreay stiff, so I know it had been there for a few hours. However, it is at this point that I realized that the beaver I had just "beavernated" was the one making all the comotion for the past 10 minutes. Her mate was caught in the trap and she must have been there for the previous couple of hours trying to get him to come on home. She didn't want to leave the trapped beaver and was not about to go around or over the log to repair the dam. This beaver relaized something was wrong and I am sure that there was some sort of traumatization taking place. No doubt in my mind that this beaver would not have fallen for this setup had I not already shot her, reset the trap and left it there for her the following night. This beaver was no doubt affected by seeing her mate gagged. Good thing I always take the Beavernator 2000 for oppurtinistic shots. i know some guys on here don't like shooting beaver in water, but the guys paing taxes on the property like dead beaver and don't give a flip how it's accomplished as long as it's legal.

What you say isn't just a theory-it's the truth about beavers. I've seen it with my own eyes.

Nice add on to this post.
Thanks Paul and beavernator!

good tips on here. Sac oil and footholds have saved me more than once.
good tip about hot weather beavers not traveling too. I have heard Kirk De. say it as well. Very true.

Summer Beaver trapping ended today........,,,,, BUR

we're just getting "warmed" up around here-not the weather I mean the beavernating...

HA!........... I was just telling LT G and Kirk D.....That this little guy was giving me some grief! ~
(***notice the Iron in the water***)

Got em in a natural blind set 3/4 mile up stream from the "problem area".... at the end of the drainage......(you can run but you can not hide)....

And yes Kirk,,,,I did the Highlander Thing,,,,,,,,, There can only be One.....

Nice work Vinke! Love the beaver buggie!
Who's 660 kill traps are those?

Sure beets walking...lol.... Started a New job today...
Step one was to cut trails to the swamps...Making access for myself and the developers that own the property...
Managed to get a 4 good sets in before dark...
Tomorrow is BTTW.......

These Marsh rats boats are AWESOME....Stable, Durable and Light

Here I an using it a a trailer........

What is the weight limitations of that marsh boat , Dave?


Would it hold 600 lbs?

Not that I weight that....but with gear, and some trapped beaver, I could!

How is your "swamp' trapping going?