This thread is going to be all about beaver snaring... What sive snare is the best? What are your favorite sets using snares? Do you snare during open water or wait til' the ice? Feel free to share pictures of sets, catches, and, pretty much any thing that goes along with snaring beaver!

I look forward to replies,
Luke

Hope this thread takes off.
Snaring beaver is new to me..........tons to learn.

? When snaring castor mounds.....what's everyone's preference on snare location: in the water, water's edge....up out of the water...if so, how far?

I am by no means a numbers man. But.....I have cought a few beavs in snares. I have been setting them on castor sets. I set them right at the water line or a couple inches up on dry land. bout a 8-9 inch loop barely touching the ground. fake castor mound about 18-24" off the water in a natural chute to the water. Makes it easier to block off. I don't usually block off real heavy if i can get a chute that looks like the easiest way in.

Tried a set eric told me about this year but could not make it work. Put castor on a tree in the water and hang the snare a few inches off the tree and catch them swimming around the tree looking for the smell.

I see so many sets that look "perpendicular" to the bank......meaning straight out from the bank......

Yet many advise that a beaver will work the set from the "down water" side/approach.......in moving water.??......if so wouldn't it make sense to offset the blocking, approach to the down water side? or am I over thinking this?

I set a lot of snares for beaver my pref on the snares is 5/64 cable with I think its called a mini lock (looks like a small sure lock) with a swivel on the end. I use a loop approximatly 8 - 10 inches and about 2 inches off the ground. as for the sets Ill use a snare pretty much anywhere I can find that I want a trap castor mounds cross overs or some times just where beaver are coming up the bank to feed. The main thing Iv found when using a snare on a castor mound is to place the stake far enough away so the snare will fire before the beaver gets to the mound

My first year snaring beaver this year. I caught three in our farm pond, and I hope to catch some in a family members pond soon. I really like it a lot more than conibears. Less hassle, less cost, easier to carry, etc.

I used some cable as anchors and anchored it to whatever was close by, a 60 inch snare and a stick with wire on it to hold them up and I got them all pretty easy.

The only bad thing is beavers are all you can legally use them for here.

JBR

I really started using snares on my beaver line last year. I was always anti snare because of the fur damage. after some testing last year with a relaxing lock and 3/32 7X7 I changed my thoughts on it. The only thing I have found with snares that is disappointing is that the castors are less full.

I like them but, if you are inside the city limits doing adc work then you have to deal with a live beaver. They are a great tool though.

Yep a live beaver in a snare can tear the neighbors dog up! Would not be pretty.

I've just started this year with snares. Well two weeks ago. So far not bad two beaver both where over 45lbs. I am setting mine on crossovers and any where I can find them coming out of the water. I have found a few trails in the shalow water and set them to today will see in the morring. If you snare with out a kill spring should you check them two times a day.

had that happen n a job back last summer paul snared a big ol beaver had the snare set about 175 yards from there house. lady said she let the dog out that morning and he shot down there like a rocket. he tore that dog a new one think she said took 85 stables to fix him up. what made me realy fill bad was poor ol dog only had 3 legs at the start of the fight

The only way I trap beavers is with snares and I catch quite a few. 3/32 is the size I use with surelocks atm. Make em about 8 foot long and you will be far happier, at least I am because I never carry stakes and wrap em around trees at the base. Most of em come from castor mound sets, slides, and channels. Very rarely do I trap them under ice.

Pretty good so far... but, We need pictures!

I believe all I have is video, starting tommorow my longline begins on beaver ill take 1080 HD video maybe some pics

A lil' off topic but... I heard beavers don't use runs during the spring. But, every spring beaver trapping article I've read say thier feed beds go stale during the winter so there swimming around as soon as the ice goes off. Plus, they like the sweet sap in the trees. Which theary is true?

Thanks,
Luke

Here some pictures from Buzzard...

Awesome pics Bandit. I am new to trapping and that helps me a lot.

Don't thank me, thank Buzzard!

Luke

Sorry didnt catch that. Thanks Buzzard.

I really enjoy snaring beaver due to the simplicity and limited weight. I like 5/64" 7x7 cable but have had good luck with 3/32" as well. I have heard good things about 1/8" cable for reducing fur damage but have not tried it yet. I have used cam locks, reicharts, slim locks, gregerson locks, and sure locks. They all work but I think I am leaning towards the reichart as my go to lock. Its narrow profile and wide surface where it touches the beaver seems to be a great combination. For support I like plastic tubing for a "whammy" but have used the steel as well. I like to support with #9 or 10 gauge wire. A solid support is critical as the only thing that should move on the snare is the lock.

I like a short snare (around 32-36") with an end swivel. This gets the swivel as close to the beaver as possible. In shallow water I typically add an 8' 3/32" cable extension and either anchor to a tree or use a 2" Pogo. If I have good drowning depth I will put the snare on a slide wire. Sliding them really saves a good set location as a snared beaver on 8-10' of cable can really do some renovation to a wide area.

The last couple years I have gone to a smaller loop (about 8") set about four fingers from the bottom of the trail in a shallow water or dryland situation or about 1/3 of the loop below the surface of the water if they are swimming. My snares are loaded and close quickly. Setting this way gives me a good percentage of neck catches on adult beaver as the bottom of the loop is set to come in contact with the beavers chin or breast. Neck catches really reduce any fur damage. I do find a fair number of snares knocked down so my setting method is far from perfected.

If drowning, I feel comfortable using a larger loop set closer to the ground as fur damage from a body catch is minimized in a drowning situation. Just remember that the longer your snare is the more drowning depth you need...especially if you happen to hip catch one.

I only snare in non-drowning situation if I am on a 24 hour check or less. Even with swivels beaver can really abuse cable if there is any kind of entanglement in the area and your risk of loss and increased fur damage goes up the longer a beaver is in the snare.

As far as sets go...natural crossovers, narrow channels, baited sets, bank holes,castor mounds are all good places for snares. I just try to find locations that naturally lend to funneling beaver through a relatively narrow space. I don't mind adding some blocking but I don't get carried away. Most of my guiding is more of a suggestion than an obstruction.

Wish I had better pictures but here are some from a few years back.

Nice post Judd! I have another questions for you guys... Can I spray paint my snares with Rustoleum type spray paint?

Thanks,
Luke

That is what I have done with mine. I leave them coiled when I paint which breaks up the spray pattern. I am starting to also dip with brown Formula 1. If you dip do not leave them coiled or you will have a gooey mess where the coils overlap and get glued together. You probably will catch plenty with untreated snares but the camouflaging makes me feel better.

Is it really necessary do paint beaver snares. Wont beavers swim or go through almost anything?

"Necessary? Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No, but it's sterile and I like the taste!"
- Patches O'Houlahan (Dodgeball)

I don't feel it is absolutely necessary but it does increase my confidence to have a snare that blends well and is somewhat camouflaged. I have caught them in shiny 330s as well but much prefer one that is painted and camouflaged somewhat with vegatation from the set location.

~ADC~

I wish I could draw like ADC!

it's just a simple drawing using the "paint" program. It's already on most computers LT. It's pretty easy to figure out...

This was not easy to do. How do you transfer from "paint" without saving to photobucket?

What's your favorite method of dispatching live beavers? PM me if you have to.

Thanks,
Luke

I can't. lol

Good post Judd. Get that snare loop up out of the water so that only about an inch and a half is in the water and your head catches will improve. The 5/64" 7x7 will help alot with head catches too, but are less forgiving when you get a body catch.

Like Judd mentioned I too am a big advocate of the Reichert lock, for the reasons mentioned, on 3/32" cable. I find it leaves little to no bruising when used, and even on a body catch it doesn't pull hair and cause fur damage like many locks will do.
The real difference in snare damage will be realized when you learn to head snare beaver. It really isn't that hard but requires your snare be placed the correct heighth on land or a crossover, and the right depth when the beaver is swimming.
If the beaver is walking, form your hand like you are going to give someone a Karate chop and place the bottom of your hand on the ground, the snare should just touch the top of your hand when set, or be about four fingers off the ground.Beaver are much taller than alot of people believe, and their nose and head are tapered. This allows the beaver to enter the snare and the snare to close around it's neck, without the cable touching the ground. A snare has to move to work, and anything that touches the cable as the beaver travels through the loop is going to cause the snare to slow while closing and allow more of the beavers body to pass through the snare. If your snare closes slowly(not loaded) or the lock drags on the cable(poor design or incorrectly positioned when made/bottom stop bears on the bottom of the lock)the beaver can again travel farther into the loop or even step through it resulting in a body caught beaver. If you position your snare too close to the ground,the bottom of the loop can touch the ground as the beaver passes through the loop, catching on leaves, twigs , protruding dirt mounds, etc, and the snare goes dead (stops closing), allowing the beaver to get farther and farther through the loop until it's physical size actually closes(pulls) the loop somewhere on it's body. Usually that loop will settle on or just behind the shoulders, but it usually closes just infront of the beavers hind legs(hips) and ends up just behind the beavers front legs as it struggles/backs up/or rolls. Proof of this can be determined by looking at a body caught beaver and matching the hair that has been wrapped in the cable and the lengths from the different parts of the beavers body, particularly the back. If you set your snare too close to the ground you are ensureing that you catch a beaver behind the front legs and you can also expect to get the most fur damage. By snaring the beaver behind the front legs or hip catching them, you have cut the usable amount of fur in the plate(area of fur between the four leg holes of a stretched beaver) by some percentage depending on where or how far back on the body, resulting in you getting less for your fur. If you are getting paid to snare ADC beaver, body snaring them wont cost you any money, but if you are fur trapping, snare amrks in the plate area are costing you money. By learning to head snare the beaver you are going to have more knocked down snares and misses until you get the correct combination of snare speed, height,solid support, and lock and cable. There is a dramatic difference in the physical size of beaver in different age classes and in a single colony. It is tough to get the hang of head snaring beaver if you don't give it a real try, and even then you are going to still get an occasional body catch. There is no reason though that you can't get around 80% head catches.
This picture is of two beaver I caught the last couple weeks under ice. The largest is 84" and the smallest is 37". This is about the extreme difference you can expect. Tough to do anything as far as setting for all sizes, but you can greatly increase the head catch ratio on your majority if you really try.

This picture is of a few beaver I took the opening weekend of season, in some county ditches, that were causing some problems. The otter and coon were just handy.If you look close you will see that all but the beaver with it's tail hanging out the back have been head snared, including the coon and otter.You'll have to take my word for it on the coon as it can't be seen very well. All the snares were 5.5' long with just an end swivel. Snares I had in my "office" (a Tote Tub) I carry to conventions, and where some of my demo snares end up at after my snare making demo.If you look close at the remnants of the snares, you will see why I recomend an inline swivel. I just vowed this year to use up what I had made and this is the honest results. I gave a buddy of mine the remaining 64 snares after that day, and use most often the same snare pictured in Buzzards pictures posted above.


To increase your head catch ratio when you place a snare in the water, and the beaver is swimming, try to place no more than the bottom 1.5 inches of the snare in the water, and again use a solid support system/wire. A long split stick works well also. When a beaver is swimming their front feet are tucked up under the chin but slightly behind their jaw. Their "palms"are facing down and their toenails are facing forward, their front feet are cantored slightly inward. What I am aiming for by placing my snare that depth is the notch forward of the front legs and just under the chin. The beavers body is at an angle with the tail being slighly lower as it swims on the surface and it's front feet remain tucked into the body as it swims on the surface. When it swims on the surface it's back feet are being used solely to propell it, and it's body is very fluid. As it slows it often alternates the back feet moving, kinda like riding a bicycle. As it approaches an object or the bank it starts to lower it's front feet to aid in stopping it, just like we do when we are swimming and get to the edge of a swimming pool.The front feet come down at a slight forward angle not straight down but more in a "levering" motion with their toenails leading. Sometimes like on a steep bank their front feet are "paddling" like a dog, until they make that first contact with an object/bank. These are all things to consider when placing a snare, foothold or conibear, as you need to know how it approaches a set and what it's body is doing.When the beavers first foot contacts an object with it's leading foot, the second foot then also comes forward, much like our arms do at the edge of that pool. Ever have a conibear that was set fairly deep at a set , snapped and nothing in it? Ever caught a small beaver by both front feet? Ever have a snare set close to the bank, and just hanging straight off the support wire when you came back to check it? Now think about the beavers front foot movement as I just described above.
I want my snare to catch that "notch" just forward of the beavers front feet, and tighten around it's neck as it progresses forward. If your snare loop is say half in and half out of the water, and you are using say a ten inch loop, the beavers head, front legs, and at least to it's front shoulders, is already through the loop, before the bottom of the loop is touching the beavers belly. If it is a real small beaver, it can most likely even swim almost completely through your loop and if your lucky, it's back feet will hit the loop as they paddle to propell it, and maybe tighten on it's hips. Also consider that even a loaded snare has to be elongated about two inches before it will fire shut, and a regular snare has to be pulled closed.Also consider the beaver is wet, it's fur is slicked back,it's body is quite fluid,and when swimming it's body is much wider than deep. Lay a beaver on the floor sometime and measure how deep it really is, and then the next time you dispatch one, lay it on the bank while it is still warm and measure how deep it is. Fresh dead they are kinda like jelly. All things to consider when snaring them and where the snare will end up at.
For snares on bank beaver (non drowning)I like the snare pictured above in Buzzards pictures. It is a 9' long snare with a Reichert lock, vinyl support collar,center swiveled at 42", and an adjustable loop end. I prefer the long snares for anchoring options are greatest, being able to be used with a T-bar, Birkshire,sharpened pole, or wrapped around a tree.The inline swivel I find is as important as anything I can do to help eliminate both fur damage and cable seperation due to the way a beaver rolls both on land and in the water when caught. When I use a drowning rig,which allows me a 72 hour check in MN.,I use a short 42" snare with either a Reichert or BMI Slide Free lock on 7x7 5/64" because it increases my head catches, due to the more subtle cable, and I use it as a combination rig for otter. I have used 1/8" cable for beaver but head catches for me were non existant. I atribute it to the cable being too stiff for head catches no matter how hard I loaded it. I have several customers who use 1/8" cable to body snare beaver and they report good results for body catching beaver. They also are using the Reichert locks in 1/8" size.

Pretty soon ill post some video how tos on snaring, still running the beaver line, so not having any time to upload any of the video yet. Plus being forced to run out of a canoe because the tilt and trim is out on boat and the shop keeps making excuses not to get around to working on it.

Interesting thread fellas! Keep it going!

Great post Rally! That sheds some light on issues I was having this fall. It has been my first year trying to snare beaver and in trying to experiment to find the right 'happy medium', I had started to feel like every time I lifted the snare a little I ended up having it pushed off the wire - when keeping them extra low, I would often find them empty and closed. Having it explained sheds a lot of light on the subject.

Thanks Rally. I will try lifting them a bit on the ones in the water.

Do your guys body snaring with 1/8 report much fur damage? I know Bob Wendt is a fan of that size. I was thinking it might be an option to try as well.

Judd,
They aren't skinning them. Both do strictly ADC urban work.The larger the cable the more surface area against the animals body and less fur damage all things being equal. These guys are also using the same snare for urban coyotes,so kill two birds with one stone.

AKtrapper26,
If your snare is pulled off the support wire with nothing in it,after raising the heigth, the animal was caught in it and probably realized it was caught before the snare was tight, and threww it off possibly with it's front feet. Your support system may also have some flaws. If the animal can knock your snare off your support system without being caught it most likely is not holding your snare tight enough or the animal was caught and threw it off. Your lock may also be dragging and loud as it closes. Was the snare pulled in one direction of travel or was it laying behind your support system?
Most often when your snare is laying below the support wire and pulled to a small loop, often in the direction the beaver was traveling, the snare could have been catching on the ground cover, like mentioned in my first post, and physically walked through your snare. The snare rides down the beavers body and off the back, often times catching on the latter half of the tail, some times even holding the beaver by the tail briefly. Best way to tell if that happens is by looking at the shape of the remaining loop. Often it holds them by the tail long enough to kink the cable at the locking hole of the lock, and forms a small elongated loop and then closes to a smaller loop as it comes off the beavers atil. If you pick up the snare and back the lock up to the small kink in the snare it forms that small elongated loop, that I just described.
When I first started snaring and had a snare knocked down or pulled closed, I'd just say a few words my Mom wouldn't have been proud to hear, and reset the snare. Often times straightening any kinks with my thumb.Shrugged it off and went to the next knocked down snare and did the same thing. I caught enough to peak my interest, but my hit/miss ratio was not anything to brag about. I tried various sizes of loops/cables/locks/support systems and just got better. After messing around with straightening alot of bent up snares I figured out how to load them, by chance, from a ship builder/rigger, after a deer hunt we were both involved in. That was a real eye opener as far as speed and shaping them. I think this is what caused me to start actually looking at a snare after a miss and figuring out what caused it, in an attempt to increase my hit/miss ratio. Head snaring came later. What I'm getting at is that, the snare even when empty, most often will tell you what happened, hit or miss, if you really check it out. There is most always indicators as to what happened if you really look. Different hairs in the cable or lock, size the loop was pulled to, direction the snare was laying at the set after being pulled down,where the snare is hanging, even above or below the support wire in brushy situations. If there is a kink in the cable, back the lock up to that kink,an indication of at least a minor struggle to kink the cable,and see what shape the loop is. Now match that to the body part of the animal you believe was in it, or have evidence was in the snare.If it shows that perhaps you caught that beaver by the front foot, and held it long enough to kink the cable, you maybe should find out how that loop got on the ground for that beaver to get it's foot in there! Did that beaver just reach up and put it's foot in the snare and walked on three feet until it tightened on that foot in the snare, or perhaps the first beaver walked completely through or under your snare and it fell to the ground in a small loop, then the next beaver up the trail, or even the first beaver leaving picked that snare up on it's foot and got caught or pulled out.
Ever consider how a snare you set and come to check gets swept off to one side of a trail, sometimes even up off the ground in some adjacent brush? If that beaver is dragging a piece of brush he just cut,like a small limb with smaller limbs abundant, and a good portion of it is infront of it as it encounters your snare, guess what happens to your snare.I've caught the butts and limbs of many branches just like that.Could be you missed the beaver the first time through, or could be it came up the bank from a different trail and exited, the trail you had a snare on, with a limb or piece of brush. Kinda helps makes the case for gang setting an active feeding location doesn't it. I've even had beaver chew off limbs I caught below the lock and keep going with it. The fresh chips were laying right there! Check out your locations when you miss, it can be a real education.

Rally,
When are you going to write a book and make a video??? Put me on the list for one of each!

Started two about 7 years ago and haven't gotten around to finnishing either. Hard to keep me sitting that long. Maybe if I break a leg I'll get them done.

I'll break it for you if I get a free book or video!

Running 3/32 7x7 with the sure lock has resulted in no obvious damage fro me with 24 hour trap check.

Figured i'd post a couple quick clips from our beaver snarin dvd. Anyways, will take a bit to put each different clip up here because it takes youtube hours to process blueray disc files, and then they destroy the quality, but they were uploaded as 1080P HD video.

This first clip is how we go about doing cross over sets. Castor is completely optional here, and most times, I wouldn't use it at all, just the snare is all you need. In this case they weren't using it real often so I figured I would help draw them to the crossover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk3745QRuuQ

Tried to embed the file so it would play here but I guess that is above my comprehension level today...

This second clip (not done processing, so far from full quality) is one of my favorite ways to do a castor mound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74WGPMDjA58

Nice video.

Same here!

Here is my favorite and quickest set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbQtUz7BgBs

Nice work! Those are some great looking beaver...unless you are like 3' tall and weigh 45 pounds. lol Great to see you have some success!

Fishmax2 that third vdeo with the castor on the tree that is one of my favorite sets as well. I have also used mint and/or wintergreen in place of castor, it has worked well for me.

fishmax- that trapping partner of yours sure is a southern twang hillbilly talking kind of an individual aint he.

Wander who that might be timberchopper?

fishmax, great videos. I have tried the post rub snare thing but have not made it work yet. Now it makes more sence after seeing it. Thanks!

cola, good job!

Well, after making and reading all the great coments from this post I snared my first beaver! I got two in two nights with four snares out!

This is what I like about trapperman. Somebody starts a threat about something and people give information to help others out. Then look at the number of people who took that information and went out and tried it and snared beaver for the first time!!!

Thanks to all. This is what it is all about.

Way to go Bandit!

I caught this one this morning. It was caught in a snare in front of a castor mound I put out yesterday.

WTG fox crazy the first one is the hardest now go get some more and have fun

Thanks!

I set a snare by my house tonight as a beaver watched me. I hope I got one in the morning!

I didnt have one but put in a dam set so maybe tomorrow.....

That should do it! I got one in a dam set with a snare today. 35lber but he was a sack. His fur was just sloppy and nothing to its carcass. Here ya go....





The remake...

Way to go all you young MN boys!!

Not if short and heavily swiveled.

ttt

I had that set writen up in a few trapping mags. Also in my Video MASTER BEAVER SNARING.
My question is.Where did you see it ?

Newt I know I have seen it in one of Pauls videos, several close friends of mine that have been trapping quite a while have also showed it to me as well. Also I have seen it at our state trapping convention in a demo. Ever sense I tried it a few times and its become one of my favorites.

Anybody use snares rigged up on drowners (cable, chain, or rod type)?

no before pics. there are A LOT of deer on this place i just leaned a good sized stick against the tree to right of beaver to hang my snare off and to keep any deer from knocking it down. there was already a slide there and quite a bit of feeding activity on high bank.

yes, my ten year old daughter snared one using a d-rod. they work great.

A snare on a drowner is a great way to preserve a set location and can reduce snare damage considerably on body snared beaver. I have done it with cable drowners but any system would work.

14 year old daughter just snared her first beaver today using a d-rod.

Get em out!

Dchawks, I use a lot of cable stakes

While still in paint go to the top left click file and choose 'save as'. A pop up from windows will give you the option to choose a folder, change the name, and below that you can choose the file type. If you choose Jpeg you can then load it right onto tman and bypass photobucket.

Thanks, Leftlane.

TTT

Interesting set-up.

I really want to try the snare a the drowning rod. I love using snares and making them leathal has its advantages.
Great post.

ttt

I use a 4 foot snare with drowner rods with no problems.

There's ice for many of us now.
Maybe even Rally can find a little time to add.
Lets add on some more snaring .

Before:


After:

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