Open Water Beaver Sets

[Prdtrgttr]

I am interested in using Conibear 330's for trapping beavers in open water along a river. Do you fellas have any advice, pics or websites where I can get some ideas for sets? I will be focussing on using their runs.
Thanks.

[Prdtrgttr]

How do these look?
And, I guess I'll know tomorrow...

[flyguyd]

All you need is a chunk of fresh poplar behind it for bait. I used to put a small stick with beaver oil on it just at the waters edge and it would drag them in like a magnet.

Your set looks good

[KegRiver]

Yup the set looks good.


And x2 on the bait stick,

A bit of beaver castor on a stick will help if you set a spot they aren't already using.

A trick I use that I haven't seen others us is, I attach a 10 foot length of cable to one spring. I make the cable with a noose at the other end.
Then when I make the set I don't anchor the trap, instead I drop the noose on the cable over a beaver stump or some other solid anchor.
This allows the beaver to dive in deep where the trap kills them before they can return to shore.
That way they are out of sight, just the end of the cable is visible, and they are completely under water, which helps to keep them fresh till retrieved.

We used to tie a large stick to one spring, or push a long stick through one spring loop, or even both spring loops in order to keep them close to where the set was made. This worked, but sometimes rather poorly.
At times the stick was hard to find, at other times they got tangled up on shore and on a hot spring day they would spoil rather quickly.

With the cable, no need to look for a anchor stick. They very very rarely get tangled on shore, and best of all, they are out of sight, and thus not as likely to get stolen by a poacher.

This set was at a place they hauled out, but not a run.



This set was in a shallow run. note that the top jaw is just above the water.



One last thing. Sometimes it helps if you splash water over the trap when you are all done making the set. It washes away some of your scent.
Not always necessary, but with older beaver it can make a difference.

I have a photo of a trap with the cable setup I use but it's from an old film camera and I haven't scanned it in yet.

I can't promise anything, but I'll try to get it scanned in so I can post it for you to see.

[Prdtrgttr]

Thanks for the replies and the pics fellas. I did use some fresh willows on one land set. There was a large burrow through the bank to the top and I set right where the carved out burrow met the bank top.
Additionally, I had cut up a beaver castor and mixed some water with it in a container. I brought this along and poured this on each set. I set 6 traps and caught 4...the farmer is ecstatic!
Will post more pics tonite.

[shakeyleg02]

some castor works awesome .. i pulled one straight up the river about 400 yards one night he was a happy till i smoked in the brain cavity with the 22 mag ..works like a charm ..good luck

[hunterbyheart]

Originally Posted by Prdtrgttr

How do these look?
And, I guess I'll know tomorrow...

I'd say they look good enough to catch about 4 of them!

Thanks! My son had an excellent time, and will remember it for a loonng time!

GS

[Prdtrgttr]

I took my son and an up and coming outdoorsman from my class to help check and reset my traps. The boy's smiles show how much fun they had!

[McLeod Valley]

So true on the long cables there Keg. I've been using them for a couple years and it has really cut down on the loss of beavers due to the buzzards pecking on them and warm weather spoilage too.

[dugh]

X2 what keg said, use an anchor cable long enough to reach into the water. That keeps them a lot cooler than the hot sun and away from predators. Last season we lost 2 sets that were up from the river bank and too easy to be seen, not sure if they were stolen for use or simply thrown into the river. Now we only set on land in severe damage control areas.
Doug