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04-19-2018, 12:33 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: North Eastern Alberta
Posts: 891
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Spring Trapping!!!!!
Well the day has come...Otter, Beaver, Muskrat and Bear beware.
More to come.
Feel free to fill a tread with pictures for a change, enough words.
I'll post a few, likely commencing tomorrow some time.
Spruce
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04-23-2018, 12:49 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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Well, now that you have everyone worked up into a frenzy, lets have it!
I got a call from a landowner around suppertime who was looking for some help with a beaver problem so I drove over to have a look. It turns out that he has a nice sized creek running along one whole quarter of his land with multiple lodges on it. The good news......it's infested and in an hour of sitting I shot three but one sank. The bad news......They're already rubbed and the ice only came off a few days ago! What's up with that? The rucksack was heavy climbing out of that ravine tonight!
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04-23-2018, 08:48 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 614
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Now that the creeks are opened up in central sask once water level goes down with be hitting the creeks hard with 330
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04-23-2018, 09:00 AM
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AO Sponsor
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,482
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Dave, the secret is deep water beaver. Stay away from shallow water and you will take a much better quality beaver.
Shallow water beaver fur takes a beating every time they'd leave the hole, they push out and hit the bottom with their bellies, hit the sides of their shallow water runs, etc. A deep water beaver launches out of his hole and his fur simply pushes water.
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04-23-2018, 09:27 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Provost
Posts: 5,011
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No sign of rubbing yet.
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04-23-2018, 10:19 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: In a house
Posts: 7,770
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Dave %85 of the time if you go back the next day the ones that have sunk will be floating and just fine to retreive. I usually get them the next day easily
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04-23-2018, 10:37 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,721
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nube
Dave %85 of the time if you go back the next day the ones that have sunk will be floating and just fine to retreive. I usually get them the next day easily
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Unless they are in a creek or drainage ditch
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04-23-2018, 10:45 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: North Eastern Alberta
Posts: 891
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty S
Dave, the secret is deep water beaver. Stay away from shallow water and you will take a much better quality beaver.
Shallow water beaver fur takes a beating every time they'd leave the hole, they push out and hit the bottom with their bellies, hit the sides of their shallow water runs, etc. A deep water beaver launches out of his hole and his fur simply pushes water.
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This. I find small creeks/rivers the worst, as throughout the winter the water level goes down. At some point they start sticking to the ice everywhere and ripping the guard hairs out.
The colony you are talking about sounds like they may have been starving as well, or lost all water in the winter.
Spruce
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04-23-2018, 09:36 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty S
Dave, the secret is deep water beaver. Stay away from shallow water and you will take a much better quality beaver.
Shallow water beaver fur takes a beating every time they'd leave the hole, they push out and hit the bottom with their bellies, hit the sides of their shallow water runs, etc. A deep water beaver launches out of his hole and his fur simply pushes water.
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That makes sense unless they chewed a hole and spent time above the ice. I had one spot this Spring where that was happening but the fur was fine. This location isn’t much different than other spots that I trap so I’m thinking that there was a log or something else that they had to rub against going in and out of their lodge. Everywhere else is mud or fine gravel. Anyway, traps are going out tomorrow and I’ll see what the others look like.
Nube, I know about them floating back up but thanks. I might get lucky but I think that one’s gone. The water is moving pretty fast and the dams have breaks in them now. I’ll look again tomorrow anyway though.
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04-24-2018, 07:02 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: In a house
Posts: 7,770
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Beavers were out in full force last night. Got 9 with the 22 in a few hrs. Castors were full and leaking when I was carrying them out so that was a good sign. Got to love hunting Beavs!
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04-24-2018, 09:45 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 6,302
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Marty, Dave and Spruce make some good points on quality of beaver fur. A messy shallow pond with lots of logs they would be scrapping against things all the time, even bottom of ice if shallow pond loosing good guard hair. Deep open pond would probably produce best fur.
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04-24-2018, 11:08 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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I think that Marty nailed it......shallow water.
I was setting today and I think that I figured out why the beaver were so rubbed. The ice had melted and they were coming out of a bank den about 20 feet in from deep water. The run was pretty shallow and all ice on the bottom of it. It must have been a pretty tight fit between the bottom of the ice and the icy bottom. There’s a big lodge there so hopefully there’s some good fur in it.
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04-26-2018, 07:02 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 614
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Well got first six 330 set out this evening in central sask was a tough go soft fields N lots of back water that over flowed the creek but a good start for first real serious year trapping beaver
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04-26-2018, 08:53 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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There might be an ounce or two from a 50ish lb male I caught.
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04-26-2018, 09:58 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Alix
Posts: 934
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Here you go Dave. From a 86 pounder.
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04-26-2018, 11:30 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 481
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I feel a little odd saying it...but that's a couple nice sets of knackers!
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04-27-2018, 09:24 AM
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AO Sponsor
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,482
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Wow Mikey! That's going to weigh in at 3/4 pound less a little more shrinkage... that's a lot of bucks! What's castor price $65 USD or is it more these days?
Too bad they weren't all that big!
Mmmmm.... castoreum.... Yummy eh??!!!
(...just kidding, I can't believe they put that filth in the food chain!)
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04-27-2018, 12:44 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 915
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Also sometimes Beaver have been coming out way before you know they are there , If they are having a hard time due to shallow water or depleted feed bed they will come out all winter , NOT good for nice prime hides , generally they also have a real load of fleas and dandruff bugs .
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04-27-2018, 12:47 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 915
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Posting pictures of big honkers like that makes me feel totally inferior and I have to go for counseling then ! Its just not fair , THAT is bullying !
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04-30-2018, 03:19 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 614
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Well in the first weekend of traps running was able to set five traps along the stretch of river I have in central east sask an pulled out seven beavers so far little rubbed but not terrible hoping to set another ten more sets on my quarter in the sloughs an alongthecreeks running the out skirts of property not good at posting pics so if some one would wanna do that for I could shoot em in txt
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05-01-2018, 10:54 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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For jeffreys.
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05-01-2018, 12:37 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 614
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Thanks for posting for me Dave that was my two days of cheaking have another one besides those six but didn’t have a pic of it cheaking again after work tonight An hopefully getting some more sets in
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05-04-2018, 01:51 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Copperhead Road, Morinville
Posts: 19,289
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I picked up a beaver yesterday with two big bite markets in it. That was my cue to pull my traps and call it a season. Good luck to the rest of you beaver and muskrat trappers out there.
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