Conibear shy marsh beaver

I’m battling nuisance beavers on my hunting grounds. I caught one on a front foot drowning set. I’ve caught them in 330s before but I have a big one who won’t go through a Conibear and ignores castor mounds. I have a video of him swimming right up to a Conibear and turning around and swimming away. The dam has been here for years and has several openings where water runs out. They (if more than one) plugged the holes once but now they seem to avoid doing that.

I’m not really a beaver trapper and would like some advice from those who are. I only have hip waders so I really can’t set at the lodge. It’s a small lodge but pretty deep around it. Once I caught the one, nothing has hit that castor mound set even though I have a picture of the big guy right near it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Footholds set with minimal disturbance on any spot it looks like it crawled out on at some point is my go-to for mon cooperative beaver

Thanks. What, besides castor mound, is a good set?

Camouflage the 330's well or use a RBG trap. They will imprint on the straight lines of a 330 if educated.

What’s an RPG? I can try to hide the 330s better but I have tried. I can probably do better though.

Round body grip. It's round in shape so sometimes better emulates natural conditions

Deep channels to hide the 330s, use a dive stick.

Snares hung on trails blended well, gang set.

Footholds on drowners on pullout real and simulated, sac oil single drop.

Ok. Good idea.

I have caught them in Conibears using a dive stick but this one beaver seems to have them sniffed out now. Also I have otters back there and really try not to catch them. Caught one by mistake once.

I will look for places that look like he climbs out and try some well concealed leg hold sets. I currently only have #3 Bridgers but have some bigger traps on the way.

330 on bottom of channel, dive stick on surface. Beaver go deep rub bottom, otters dip under the stick is how the two differ. Not 100% but enough to make a difference. So set those channels deep enough to leave otter room between 330 and dive stick.

Ok. Thanks.

Trapperman12, season is closed in NY if that is where your trapping, also it is illegal to set within 15 feet of a beaver house.

I have a DEC nuisance permit.

This^^^^

...is my strategy too.....during winter months.

But, during warm months (closed otter season) ...I leave the 330s at home and use snares very discretely on fresh beaver sign at crawlouts (not crossovers) that DON'T have any otter scat. A belly, hip, or tail snared otter is hard to release....safely.

So, it's footholds only set for back foot only. Use no lures with castor. Use sac oil from single beaver. Set blind at crawlouts and dam breaks.

Try a food lure with a foothold or snare for a change up scent. If you have the castor from the first beave put that on the bank with a foothold

Gotta be honest. I don’t know what sac oil is.

Sac oil is what beaver uses to waterproof their fur. The reason why one of the toenails on each hind foot of the beaver is split is for that purpose.

The sacs are located below the castors of the beaver.

Thanks for that information.

You got alot more otter down there than I do up here. Otter are a minor concern for me. I catch a few but not in any numbers, maybe one every other year.

Woodchipper is my go to initial lure. I leave the castor in the bag on the first part of a job as I assume every beaver up here has seen a castor mound set before.

The two sentences in bold are the way for me. As another tman member said in another recent post, a beaver has “no defense” against a big foothold blind set and well concealed. Study the shoreline carefully, figure out what where it is leaving the water and set the biggest foothold the law will allow back away from the bank in 10” deep water.

All the rest will work sometimes, this will work all of time eventually. With exceptions. Had one a few years back that for real stopped coming to shore. It built islands of mud and lilly roots, and ate what it could find from the pond. I expect it would have started coming back to shore in the fall for trees, but I could not wait that long and solved the problem with a shotgun.

I have shot them before too. But I found that they go completely nocturnal very quickly then. A couple days ago I sat with my rifle in the wind, cold and rain for two hours and nothing showed up. Thanks for your reply.

Is this beaver making castor mounds? I've had a few places where other trappers have access- the beavers won't mash and mark a new castor mound, they instead make one or more mounds nearby. When I encounter those situations I maintain the castor mound I made but also blind set the mounds they are making. Other tactics I use in situations where I need the last beaver out of a location have been mentioned above- a food lure that has no castor in it.... well blended snares where the beaver is crawling out... I've even had success with castor in the water- I will find a tree that I can hang snares from either side on and smear castor 16-18 inches above the water level on the tree. I think this works better than castor mounds on land because the beaver is more comfortable investigating things while staying in the water. Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips. Although I have a nuisance permit, I’m supposed to follow trapping laws as I address the problem. Snares are illegal in NY and I’ve never used them so I own none and would have to learn how to use them. I’m obviously not trapping beavers because I plan to sell hides. I just need to get rid of them, so I’m not averse to bending the rules but I don’t think I would use a trap style that is explicitly outlawed where I live. Unlikely that anyone would know but if someone did, it’d be tough to plead ignorance to that.

I know little about beavers’ ways. After I caught the first one (probably 30 lbs), the only beaver I’ve seen on camera is a very big one. Is it unlikely he’s the only one that is living in the lodge? I know there are beavers upstream on neighbor’s land so I assume I’ll battle this problem as long as he won’t eradicate them. I have owned my property for 31 years. After I trapped several one time, I went over ten years without any further beaver invasion. But two years ago they moved in and destroyed about 100’ of my atv trail which is my only access for hunting. I caught 8 that year and last year had no real invasion except for an apparent visit that was brief and he didn’t seem to stay. That is, he plugged the old dam once. I unplugged it and it remained open the rest of the year.

I have cell cams watching for beavers so I can get on it as soon as they appear. Got one on camera two weeks ago and caught one on second night. But since then just pics of a very large beaver and he plugged the dam once or twice but not every night like I’ve seen before. A couple small trees chewed but not much. Battling the beavers is a real pain because I have to go there every day to check traps. Fortunately I’m retired and can do it, but still a hassle. Is it unusual that just two would move in (and I caught the one), or can I expect friends and family to follow?

It is real common for a pair to move in together, but usually they are relatively similar in size if they are a breeding pair. As stated above, blind set footholds with as little disturbance as possible. If he is already square shy, he may or may not be foothold shy. Normally I just bed my footholds solid for beaver and don't worry about covering them at all, but if I am dealing with a trap wise beaver I will use waterlogged leaves or whatever is available and looks natural to blend the trap. Pretend you are trying to trap an amphibious coyote and blend everything so you can't tell a trap is there... and then don't mess around when you check them, don't walk anywhere close to where you suspect a bank den might be, don't walk anywhere you absolutely don't have to, as a matter of fact. Try and check your sets from a distance if possible, and no more often than the law requires (sounds like you have a daily check requirement or I would recommend only checking every three days or so).

It’s possible the one I caught was more than 30#. The one I see on camera lately looks like a huge one. I took the Conibears out today. They’re not catching beaver and eventually I’d end up catching an otter. My bigger foot holds should be here tomorrow. I’m gonna try to stay away for a few days, watch the cams and make a few sets as you guys have described using the No-BS footholds. If he’d live on the west side of my trail and not try to flood it we could live in harmony. But eventually they excavate my trail and extend the dam. They’ve already ruined part of it and I have to keep them at bay.

Several days now with no beaver sign and no pics of the big beaver. I pulled the Conibear sets since there’s no beaver sign. I received the No-BS beaver traps the other day. Man, they are beasts! Easy to set using the trap setters though. Not gonna set them until/unless beavers reappear. Maybe I spooked that big one out of the immediate area. Openings in dam remain open.

Tman12,
The dam on your property is likely a secondary dam that the beavs aren't considering critical. Your neighbor probably has the primary dam. The beavs will return....more than likely during/after a high water event or a routine visit. Those cameras are a good tool. Be ready to move on em when they return.