Beaver trapping

[Iowa_Buckeye]

Any other guys trap beaver out there?

I took the afternoon off and set up a pond today. Not sure how many are in there, but there seems to be at least a few with the size of the feed pile and such.

There are 2 lodges in the bank which are only about 5 yards apart. I dropped a 330 in the run going into the smaller lodge.




My trapping friend Brian was along and he set two 330s in the 2 runs going into the bigger lodge. In the pic he is setting one on the left run and I am pointing at the one already set on the right run. Setting these types of bank den runs is basically too easy.






This 330 is guarding where they have been heading into the willows to feed. Put a dab of castor on the other side too.




The next 3 pics show where they had a culvert plugged which was flooding across the gravel trail/road. I cleaned the plug out a bit and we set a MB750 on each side of it. I am pointing at the traps in the pics. If you look close you can see the pans. These are set up on long chains. Hopefully we catch the maintenance crew tonight.








This last pic is a castor mound set I put in and guarded with a 330.




In all we set 6 330s and 4 750s here. I'm like a kid on X-mas eve when I have traps out!! I'll report back tomorrow. I'm sure we should have something....

 

[Bigslam51]

Good luck!

 

[giles]

Looks like you have them cornered pretty good.

 

[jagermeister]

Great pics man! Can't wait to see what you catch!

 

[xbowguy]

Beaver trapping is one of the best! My favorite was a foothold on a sliding/drowning wire. A lot of excitement pulling in that wire and guessing how much weight your feeling on the cable!
Good Luck. Hope you have to make trips back to the truck today!

 

[Dustinb80]

Good luck. Lookin forward to updates

 

["J"]

Looking forward too the updates....

 

[Boarhead]

Good luck! Always fun when ya catch one, sets some snares also as it is cool catching them still alive!

 

[GoetsTalon]

Awesome and good luck! I never trapped beaver but I might get a chance. This dam is at sidecut park and was doing some serious flooding. We got the hoe to it and tore it out and the second pic is the very next day. I about shit when I seen it put back in one night lol

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

Get after them GoetsTalon! I'm sure they have more will-power that you when it comes to tearing out/rebuilding that dam. And they are actually pretty easy to catch if they are active in an area.

Today's check for us wasn't an productive as I was hoping for. We ended up with one decent sized one from a castor mound set with a MB750 on a long chain. When my buddy went to shoot him he dove into the muddy water. We got the rake and found the chain. I then pulled him up and grabbed his back foot. He poked his head up a few seconds later and Brian popped him. I felt like I was on an episode of Swamp People.

The traps in the lodge runs I had high hopes for being a sure thing were not disturbed. The plug I cleared at the culvert was also not repaired. Hopefully tomorrow will bring another, but the river is coming up and is just starting to flood over their dam now. Could be an interesting check tomorrow depending on how much it rises by tomorrow afternoon.

 

[GoetsTalon]

Wow that's a nice one! Don't think I could grab a live one by the foot lol.

 

[Jackalope]

Nice. That's a fatty.

 

["J"]

OhioSam has a story of a beaver, in a trap, that needed released (alive) and a sheet of plywood lol.... It's hysterical lol

 

[Boarhead]

Nice catch!

 

[xbowguy]

Nice one!

 

[Dustinb80]

It would be funny if your name was Wynonna

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

Goose-egg on today's check.
I'm beginning to wonder if I caught the only one in the pond??
Due to the lack of action I pulled the leg-holds but left the 330s and won't check again till Sunday. Our laws are 24 hour check unless they are drowning sets.
I did find a small shed on my walk around the pond though.

 

[Boarhead]

Nice find on the shed!
Their should be another one using that pond unless something happened to it also.

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

I was finally able to check the traps again today. The river level had the water too high in the pond to check before today.
No beavers, but I did catch 2 otters. One real big male and a nice female. Problem is otter season ended so I have to turn them over to the conservation officer. Too bad xbowguy, or one would have been coming your way!!!
I pulled all the traps and will visit the pond when I am at the farm over the next month or so to see if there is any fresh activity.

 

[Bigslam51]

Damn that sucks. Is there many otters out there?