Well it's been two days and not a thing.I know their there.They repaired the dam where I broke it just a little and also freshly chewed sticks.I have two castor sets and a blind set.
These are shallow water beavers,maybe 4 feet at the deepest and muddy stained water.No way of seeing den entrances.Also both sides of the creek is choked full of briars and no way of scouting other trap sites without getting in the water.
And also,there is no crossover on the only dam,now there is a spillway,but no evidence of them using it.I believe they are spooky.
It won't take much longer before I get bent and start ripping holes in the dam to get the water down and to get them coming to where my sets are.They are set close to the dam.Any suggestions? Dale

1) wait and see. get there befor dark and see what they are up to.
2) cut a path out of the briers. A mock slide with a big ole foothold on the bottom.

Never had much luck with castor this time of year. Curiosity lures may work.

Did you have a big foothold set at the dam break you made?

The spillway is a crossover.

they have castor mounds everywhere.On the spillway,I don't see how their using it.There sticks and other things in the way.Correct me if I'm wrong,but aren't cross overs made for them to cross over easily.Just too many sticks in the way for that.No evidence of anything smoothed out over the dam.
How often do you think they check their dam(they only have one)?

Here is a spillway with sticks all over it.


The male will check their dam every evening. Female most likely has kits inside the house.

The castor mounds were made this Spring.

What are you using for traps?

In this heat they are fickle, some im trying to catch live off the property so it's a waiting game for them to return to repair their dam, hate those the worst!

Id cut a hole in the dam and set a large foot hold trap out in front of it, quickest way to get their attention! Just cut it deep enough they have to bring some material to repair it, not just shove some mud into the hole.

Id get the water shallow enough i could walk along the edge's in the water and find their den holes, plug them with 330's and be done with it!

I don't have any large footholds.Only 330's.Do have a few snares that I could set when I break the dam.
I believe after tomorrows check if no action.Then I'll bust a section out of the dam.Once I do that,do you suggest sticking a 330 in front of the break on a H-Stand?
I thought for sure with all of the castor mounds they made,they would be mad as heck smelling castor from an intruder.Just wait and see I guess. Thanks, Dale

Setting a 330 in front of the dam break will just get you a sprung trap filled with a stick. After the water goes down some from your dam break find the active dens and runs. Set your 330's in these places. The new smelling castor would have worked a couple months ago.

These summer beaver sure are fun, aren't they? lol

There's a good chance those beavers know more about a 330 than you do. That's the first thing our beavers get knowledge of because its the most used tool in this area. If I don't get action from 330s in the first couple of nights, I put them back in the truck and pull out the footholds.

oh yeah ... they definitely have multiple seasonal personalities

I have a similar situation right now to Dales, and I'm just about pulling hairs out about it because I should have been done caught them days ago and be through with the job now. I need the money for gas, darn it.

I learned a set from Paul where you drive a post/log into the water above the dam, with just enough room between it and the dam to put snares on it or 330's.
Then you stomp a hole in the dam so the beaver will come to check the dam. You don't stomp out a lot, just enough to make the mlook.

This was Paul, right?

Will have to see what tomorrows check will bring.Guess I need to invest in a few footholds.

Hey Paul,ok to use your Backbreaker this time of year or do need to use something with less or no castor? Dale

Now ya know why they sell high dollar fancy foot traps for beaver, lol.

Yeah,I knew there was a catch to them high dollar traps.What gets me is,here in SC,I'm only allowed a 6.5 inch jaw spread.It could be worst,but when I see those big 7.5 or larger traps.I start drooling at the mouth.Just not fair.
Anybody use snares at castor mounds with success? Dale

There's a lot of weak #330's being used out there. It only takes once for a beaver to get wacked and escape and chances are he will be very tough to get into a 330 again. Did you try a bait set with some Woodchipper or other food lure? Also, try just setting the existing castor mounds, preferably with snares or footholds, without adding any new castor, sooner or later one or both will likely freshen up their own mounds. Also, sometimes making an artificial mound with strange castor, guarded by a 330, next to an existing mound with a foot hold or snare will trigger the beaver to freshen up his own existing mound. If he is 330 shy, this often works.

Yes you can use snares at castor mounds but it don't sound like your beaver are interested in castor mounds.

Id slick up a spot along the bank, dig a channel into the bank, hang a snare in it it, chop down a pretty good sized chunk of hardwood and shove it down at the end of the channel you cut, peel the bark off on the side towards the water, beaver are curious animals.

But as i said before, if it was ME, id cut that dam out and drain the place down to where i could find the den entrances and 330 them there and be done with it!

Break the dam sit back and bang 22 Mag

Will do just that tomorrow.We'll just see how them little buggers like that. Oh yeah,before I forget.I need to take along my doans back pills.LOL

Dale
another set ive had luck with in late spring/early summer is find a spot where they can come up on a little flat along the bank smear off a spot for them to crawl out and at the top on the flat i use about 2-3 drops of beaver oil and smear it around the flat they'll smell the oil and come out to there new grooming spot. sounds like a job for a 4 coiled #3 to me .

12 GUAGE #4 BUCK

NOT!!!

five will get ya ten that's one potential reason for your spooky beavers (regardless of the time of year) ... never fails ... seems thats the mentality that every yahoo with a gun and a "problem beaver" resorts to ... thus making one hellaciously spooked beaver

that's one of the first things I ask when scouting/evaluating a beaver job ... "anybody been shooting at 'em or trying to play trapper?" ... some hesitate others don't but more often they say "no ... no ... none of that" ... heard that so many times I don't even belive what I hear anymore

cant tell ya how many "never been shot at" beavers I've skinned only to find various size shot under the skin ...

I like to slip in and be very subtle at first ... setting only on their most recent sign ... not monkeying with the dam or adding lures to make them semi cautious ... if the low profile approach doest get'em in a timely manner ... then I'll step up the aggressiveness ... been there seen it enough to draw my own conclusions

everybody has their prefered method of approach ... as long as it works for you go for it ... keep on rowin' your boat brother ... just make sure you're rowing away from the waterfall and not towards the fall

ray a`s got the idea thats works for me but i`ve always used legholds for summer beav`s, as skinner says, most have been shot at around here or 330`s placed poorly for them. hang tough dale, you`ll get them.

that's one of the first things I ask when scouting/evaluating a beaver job ... "anybody been shooting at 'em or trying to play trapper?" ... some hesitate others don't but more often they say "no ... no ... none of that" ... heard that so many times I don't even belive what I hear anymore

cant tell ya how many "never been shot at" beavers I've skinned only to find various size shot under the skin

Glad im not the only one that deals with that, lol. Amen brother!

dave, i can take some photo's but our water is so muddy colored you can't see where the trap is!

A dam break set is a set id like to use last if all else fails but sadly more times than not it's the ONLY set i have to work with since the terrain/water depth around the area won't allow me to go anywhere other than on top of the dam.

Normally just use one trap per set but you can set two in tandem at such a set if your having problems not catching them while they repair the dam, I do that from time to time as well.

It's just slow going on summer beaver, nothing like fall/winter beaver trapping when they're actually active! Is mostly just a game of wits, why ive not got much hair on top of my head anymore, lol.

Here's a good little set i use alot in summer, just smear some lure on the stick leaning against the tree, 330 or snare between stick and tree. Simple but very effective when it heats up and they don't like to leave the comfort of the cool water.

J, where would you put a set like that? Can it be just out in the middle of the pond, at the dam, or what? I might be able to use that set.

Well,just got back from the woods.They will have to work overtime tonight.Tore out a 4 foot section,all the way to the bottom.It drained to where there was about 1 1/2 feet of water left and its still draining very fast.Did set a 330 in slide where I did notice after the water went down and I was able to get around the bend.They have been cutting trees and using the slide pretty good.Also set a 330 in the the deepest part of the channel I could find.I thought about putting 330's out in front of the break about 4 foot.But no way,the bottom is solid rock.Either way,will drain again tomorrow and set den entrances.The holes I bet will be out of the water after it drains.Looks more like a little creek now,about could use knee high boots to move around.Either way,they will get caught or move down to the main river.Sure has opened up alot of coon trapping area now.All kinds of natural pockets sets. Dale

Wesley that set will work anywhere, just pay attention to wind direction so the scent carry's across their travel way. Use it alot in the big cypress swamps here, not really any other sets to be had in those places. Beaver starts swimming around trying to locate the odor and gets caught.

i use the set jackie mentioned too ... along with wind direction remember to always put your lure on the leaning stick/limb ... not the tree

on them big flared bottom cypress I've started using eyescrews ... twist'em in below the water line and hook up your snare etc. using a quick link ... works pretty good on them extra large fat bottom swamp trees

One of my sets connected.But not what I expected or wanted. One very large angry snapping turtle.Not very happy to see me.Let him go,to catch him some other day.Maybe have a beav tomorrow. Dale

Good luck. Im having a time of it myself right now also, lol. Conibears are not out though so not having to worry with the snappers, slow going this time of year.