Hello,

New trapper here. Got my license last year. Been a life long hunter and decided to carry on the legacy of trapping. We bought a house and are blessed with a nice big swamp out bag I have permission to hunt and trap. Loaded with beavers. I understand they aren't the easiest to learn on from the start, but I got a lot of them! I got 330 conibears. Read quite a few books. Got all of the supplies needed for trapping, skinning, etc. Washed the traps and then coated them with rustoleum. Practiced setting the traps. Did a lot of scouting and I'm going to run a 5 trap line tomorrow. Gimme some tips and knowledge if you want! Would love to hear it.

You should make a castor mound. I think it is one of the best set out there for beaver

Watch this video https://youtu.be/fE2f3MfmuXk?si=tJ5eIQamTYOZ4rm1

Find some channels that they are using regularly, there are usually channels in swamps that the beaver have made that are just the right size to drop a 330 in. Stick a 330 in them, and if necessary put a dive stick over it. Simple blind set and is deadly on beaver.

X2

Nothing (and I'll repeat),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Nothing, beats experience. Read and view all you can in this media world and if anyone offers to take you along, make arrangements. Mentoring is a very good way to limit dead ends!,,,,,, BUT,,,,,,, self taught is always a good path. Perhaps slower, self learning, is the memory that seems to be etched deeper in my hollow head. REMEMBER - "Success is a lousy Teacher, it feels GREAT but Failure is the fire, the thinking, the energy that drives you to find the Success". So knowing animals and their habits season long will be a big help in harvesting them...... my experience.................. the mike.

That first pic of the beaver going into the water looks like a great place to put a 330.
Depending on the water depth a foothold may work too

Also, that bottom pic of the chewed cluster in the center. They will probably be back for the other 3 standing ones.

Depending on water depth look for a foothold site there or a 330 in a nearby channel

I appreciate all the responses. Any tricks to locating channels? Are they obvious?

If you haven’t skinned beavers yet, my advice is be careful how many traps you set up! From the looks of the pics you’re going to catch beavs!! A lot of beaver sign is pretty obvious once you see it. I’m not a seasoned beaver trapper.......just sayin!

Yeah I’m gonna try for one at first. Get a practice skin in. Build up from there. Don’t wanna end up with 10 beavers and zero experience haha.

First off welcome. Pay attention to what Mike told you , learn from your misses. A miss may not be a mistake , but study the situation and try to understand what happened. I would stick with 330’s and runs to start with , they are the bread and butter of beaver trapping.
Runs are easy to find , they will be the width of a beaver and anywhere from 3” deeper to a foot or more deeper than the rest of the bottom of the water. I would look at the spot that beaver in the picture is going in the water.

All good advice, oh and you might want some different boots.lol good luck.

[quote=Golf ball]
Runs are easy to find , they will be the width of a beaver and anywhere from 3” deeper to a foot or more deeper than the rest of the bottom of the water.




In murky water you can even feel them with your foot

Well, folks, I did it. First beaver. Officially a trapper.
Set a castor mound set last evening around 4:30pm. Had a beaver this morning. I appreciate all the tips.

NICE!!!
Now go get em!

That didn’t take long! Have fun!

Congratulations !

The catches are the rewards, and the mistakes/ misses are what make us better trappers for sure. I watched a few skinning videos when I started. Also, learn how to remove the castors.

I'm to the point where the beaver is my most valuable catch. Fur, skull, tail, castor, meat for eating and of course bait.

Where in NYS are you located?

Im north of Saratoga, right at the base of the ADK.

Yeah, I've watched a few videos on skinning. Im going to bring my phone out and watch it step by step as I do it. I plan on vacuum sealing the meat for the freezer. How hard is pulling the castor?

Feel or fall, lol.

Nice job Deerhunter82! Take the skinning slow and easy...sharpen knife as needed. Do you get and of the trapping magazines? They are excellent sources for furthering your knowledge and can lead you to connections with other trappers via conventions. New York has a top notch trapping organization and there is bunch of guys/gals there that can help you out.