Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
#6023057
10/11/17 11:37 AM
10/11/17 11:37 AM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087 Wright county, Minnesota
Birch Tree
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087
Wright county, Minnesota
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So this summer I had a call about a beaver job but the guy didn't like the price so we agreed that he would wait for the season to open and I would fur trap them. I would be the only one to trap this huge swamp and I can have all the beavs, muskrats and otter(limit of 4 otter) in the place and I can come back every year.
Today I get a call from him, the beaver have kicked it in high gear and are taking several trees a night and he is wanting me to trap them now, he will pay, then he says that he went out last week and shot a bunch of beaver after dark and blew up two of their dams and a lodge. WOW, now I am explaining to him how much harder he just made the whole thing for me. Is it going to be as hard as I think?
I plan on setting out a parimeter of traps/snares around the outside and shrink it in till I get to the main lodge in the big area. There are several lodges and bank dens in the channels before the main swamp. Any suggestions would be very appreciated! Thanks!
Mark Skokan, Buffalo MN.
MTA and NTA Member.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023152
10/11/17 02:27 PM
10/11/17 02:27 PM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087 Wright county, Minnesota
Birch Tree
OP
trapper
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OP
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087
Wright county, Minnesota
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That option does not exist anymore Bob, He is losing too many trees every night and he doesn't want to wait the 2.5 weeks till the season opens. He claims to have only done what he did on one of the channels away from the main colony but if I don't trap them now he will find someone who will. I explained everything to the guy in our first phone call this summer, he said he could wait another 4 months since it has been over 10 years the beaver have lived there but now they have his backyard flooded and they are cutting down his shade trees by the house and pond and he is madder than a hornet. Truth is that I way underbid the job and he still didn't want to pay, now he has to pay and he will do it to save what is left of his trees and before they can flood his basement.
Mark Skokan, Buffalo MN.
MTA and NTA Member.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Bob Jameson]
#6023347
10/11/17 06:42 PM
10/11/17 06:42 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,165 Central NC
traprjohn
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,165
Central NC
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As a result of his interference I would certainly reserve the right to bid additional monies due to the mitigating circumstances that you must now contend with. If not I would pass on the job personally. Unless you don't work for profit then its all good. ^^THIS, since he made it more difficult, the price had to go up a min of 15%, explain it ahead of time to him. If he doesn't go for it, oh well. In the long run you'll be better off. I'd trap the surrounding properties if possible, too.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023419
10/11/17 08:20 PM
10/11/17 08:20 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,648 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,648
james bay frontierOnt.
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After scaring the colony like he did,tell him he will have to wait until fur season now.Explain to him it will be futile to go in right away when they are on high alert,and will only make them even harder to catch later on. If I contracted that job,I would wait until late winter and clean them out under the ice when all the beaver are concentrated around their houses.
Last edited by Boco; 10/11/17 08:52 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023850
10/12/17 08:34 AM
10/12/17 08:34 AM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087 Wright county, Minnesota
Birch Tree
OP
trapper
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OP
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087
Wright county, Minnesota
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I am going in Friday morning to scout and look things over and will have him show me where he did the shooting and explosives. He said they have fully repaired the lodge and dams already. If I do it I may start clear on the other side of the swamp away from the area he did the damage. I am also thinking of setting the areas where they are actively cutting the trees down but I don't want to run the risk of them seeing other beaver in traps and "educating" them.
I need to find out what bank owns the deed on the other 1000+ acres of land behind his, it is an old abandoned golf course turned wild over the years. Has anyone talked/worked with banks for this type of land management before?
Mark Skokan, Buffalo MN.
MTA and NTA Member.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023887
10/12/17 09:12 AM
10/12/17 09:12 AM
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 8,302 Louisiana
Aix sponsa
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 8,302
Louisiana
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If he blew up 2 Dams and a lodge but "didn't mess with the main areas", and you're saying multiple lodges and bank dens in this swamp, it sounds like you were bidding on a major job even before he screwed things up. You said you way underbid the job----don't do that. Be honest with him and tell him what it's going to cost for you to solve his problems. If you don't, you can almost be guaranteed that you will come out on the short end of the stick. Also, I'll say that you need to be wary of this job. If beavers have been colonizing this swamp for over 10 years and they've been messed with well, it's probably going to be a huge job. Make sure that you charge enough and both understand how and when you'll be paid or don't take the job at all, because if you way underbid the job and he didn't like that, well, he definitely won't like what it should cost. Be careful.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023903
10/12/17 09:36 AM
10/12/17 09:36 AM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087 Wright county, Minnesota
Birch Tree
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087
Wright county, Minnesota
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For 9 of those 10 years the colony has been left to do it's thing, it has only been this year that he did anything to it and that was just the one time. At least that's what he says anyway. I gave him a ballpark bid of 1000.00 for a 7-10 day intervention this summer, it would have saved him a lot of trees and hassle. This was over the phone and I stated to him it was a "rough" estimate based on what he told me and the perceived numbers in the colony but that I needed to see the area and the damage before I could give him a solid answer. After he hemmed and hawed and thought about it he said he could wait till fur season so a month later I came out and looked over the place, it isn't a nightmare to get at the beaver but it will take some time, at that point I was looking at it as a place to trap for fur (not as a job) but was thinking I underbid it as an ADC job due to the difficulty of access to the lodges and dams. He has cut a path to open water for my boat in the main section so it is easier now but then he goes and shoots the place up lol.
Mark Skokan, Buffalo MN.
MTA and NTA Member.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6023961
10/12/17 10:27 AM
10/12/17 10:27 AM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377 New York
Jim Comstock
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 377
New York
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You hate to miss out on a beaver job, but sometimes its not the worst that could happen. Boco is right about the beaver being on high alert. Once the beaver knows he is the target you have a mess. Ideally you would like to let it cool off, but when the beaver are still doing damage it makes it tough because the land owner doesn't want to loose any more trees. When there is land owner involvement, dam pulling, shooting...not good. If he has to have you there now I guess your idea of a certain number of days for your fee would be the only way you could go, but with no guarantees. Had one a few years ago where the land owner had shot two beaver just before I was to come out. Told them "You don't need me, you have it under control." They told me to come anyway, against my better judgement. There was a mismatched pair dead in the water with nothing touched on the dams after they pulled them with a monster track hoe so I set no traps as it looked like game over. Said call me if you have an issue, which they did not. After an hour there I had an hour of cleaning clay mud from cage traps, a real mess. Sent them a small bill for coming out, which they complained about, but in the end did pay. Bottom line, wish I had never gone. Sometimes its o.k. to pass. I used to have a printed sheet that stated that "I will perform no work in conjunction with any other effort by any other party or parties, trapping, shooting, dam breaching, harassing etc." You surely don't want anyone else out there "helping" once you start.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6024013
10/12/17 11:24 AM
10/12/17 11:24 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,635 NC, Orange Co.
QuietButDeadly
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,635
NC, Orange Co.
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I never discuss money on the phone, not even ball park or theoretical numbers. If they insist on pushing for numbers, I ask if they would give me a price for mowing my yard sight unseen. That usually ends that discussion.
Better to deal face to face after seeing the situation first hand IMO.
Life Member: NCTA, VTA, NTA, TTFHA, MFTI Member: FTA NRA NWTF
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6024136
10/12/17 01:26 PM
10/12/17 01:26 PM
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087 Wright county, Minnesota
Birch Tree
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,087
Wright county, Minnesota
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I realized I messed up with pricing things on the phone, I admit I got excited because of the size and scope of the job and the permission to come back every year for fur season. Honestly, I was surprised he passed at that price, he owns a company and huge amounts of land. Lesson learned on that front, I will try and talk him into waiting another 2 weeks if I can, that will give the colony time to cool down and fur season will be open. There is a lot of beaver in there!
Mark Skokan, Buffalo MN.
MTA and NTA Member.
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Re: Beaver job with a mighty wrench thrown in the mix!
[Re: Birch Tree]
#6024182
10/12/17 02:16 PM
10/12/17 02:16 PM
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Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 609 Desert Southwest-CA
DezertTrapper
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 609
Desert Southwest-CA
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I just walked away from what would have been a large job a couple of weeks ago. PITA client who kept trying to tell my why I should only charge XYZ amount, and TOLD me how I'd need to set my traps, stating he knew more than I do and I should be done in two days or less. (Why'd he call me in the first place?)
My gut was screaming at me...RUN! I didn't even ask for my inspection fee, said I had an emergency call and left. What a train-wreck of damage he's allowed to happen. So bad that he will need extensive foundation work on his house-just for starters.
After running into a couple of this person's "drinking buddies" at a meeting last night, I'm so glad I listened to my gut...some jobs just aren't worth it...not to me anyway-especially when dealing with an idiot for a client. He's called me back several times, I stated all my traps are in use-I'm booked solid, and will be for some time-yet he continues to call-leaving messages stating I HAVE to work for him.
Uum....NOPE!
Member NTA Member NRA Platinum Member: School of Hard Knocks
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