early spring beaver have fat but after 2-3 weeks of open water that is burnt off
a beaver swimming for 12-15 minutes has pushed most of its air out of the under fur, so less bouyancy

good luck with the TREE CORERS and bear watch

What are the tree cores for, just curious?

I need to brush up on my shooting as I am guilty of working very hard to get a Texas heart shot on elk ! Tally Ho smith

Getting ages mostly but the rings can tell You a lot about the weather during growing seasons.

Thanks Ryan

I took a 109 ft tall tree down in my yard years ago long before the current climate crisis and the history of previous years of the weather was really informative.

Heated with wood for years and took down many cords but never really looked at rings. The one in my front yard was too convenient and studying rings was really informative until the stump was gone.

I would wager a guess that many of the ones that sank right away actually were not hit well and the beaver went down and swam away or tried to swim away. I have skinned a few that the duck hunters have taken a shot at and found plenty of steel and some lead shot just under the skin that had healed over.

-TJ

This is correct.
beaver have a head full of thick muscle and bone and a small braincase.
Why a high power kills them way quicker and efficient than a 22.

Thanks Boco and Top Jimmy your comments make a lot of sense. Makes me feel a lot better that some of the beaver I have sunk actually continued on. Im going to watch for shots from now on especially when trapping near navigable streams and rivers. I know some beaver did sink because I have come back the next morning and picked up beavers. Hoping for the Pineapple Express to come through in the fall again that was a lot of fun trapping beaver in open water. Usually it freezes here or is on the verge of freezing when beaver season opens October 15.
Just before freez up the water finally clears and it is the best fishing.

I don’t make bad shots though so that theory might not hold any air, pun intended. I think it’s air in the lungs and hair and body fat. Some shot with rifles have sunk. Others shot with 22 short have floated so what was the variable? I grew up shooting rats in the eye so a beaver is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I grew up shooting ants in the arse with a pellet gun.

Never shot an ant. I buy them little cans of ant food they bring back to the queen. Noore ants in no time. Usually have ants where I pile my fire wood.

Maybe that’s why you need a small canon to kill beavers now

Kill em with traps now(beaver and ants)
Pellet gun a bit light for beaver.

This can be a new thread…jk.

Some pellet guns are powerful enough to kill muskrats. If you a good enough shot probably work for beaver.

Lol that was funny

I was on the lower Yukon one spring and we just finalized setting up camp in an old duck camp when some natives pulled up to hunt.
My boss was talking to them and I took the 22. lr down river to try and get some meat which we packed zero of, figured we'd shoot it along the way.
Got a shot at a beaver, right in the back. Thing dove and was never seen again. Learned fast that if you want the beaver back you need to take a good killing head shot. Few years later I was on a beaver venture and got a headshot with a 22-250. The round didn't leave much skull left, we boated up to that one and easily grabbed it.
If I was to consistently hunt them I'd get a big dip net on board and only shoot them from a boat with a good motor. Doesn't take long for them to disappear.

Head shots with a .22 rifle. Every once in a while, a sinker. Springtime, very cold water, always had the sinkers bob back to the surface within 15 minutes.

Jack