Beaver Trapping on the River
Our annual trip to the river that was scheduled for the week after Christmas for a multi-species trapline got pushed back to the third weekend in February. Since all the seasons closed January 31 except beaver, we narrowed our focus to them.
The ice and snow, at first, kept us off the river and the shelf ice had kept us from walking the banks. But a few days of forty degree weather finally coincided with time off work. We loaded the boat with all the snares and traps and got it backed down the boat ramp over the slabs of ice. I broke ice several times before getting into the main river channel and open water.
We headed down river and started looking for sign. The water was low, about 10 feet lower than last year, making navigation much easier. With ten feet more of the bank showing and the rock dikes sticking out of the water, slides and lodges were easily found. Castor mound sets with footholds and drowners went in behind the dikes where lodges were found. A ½” rebar stake on the trap end, ten feet of drowner cable and a canvas sandbag full of rocks for a weight worked great for us. We used a variety of footholds; Bridger #3’s, Duke #4’s, CDRs and Katz Brothers 850 – and they all worked well. We caught beavers up to seventy pounds with this setup and never had a weight pulled up. I lost one beaver I had by the front foot because he had wrapped the trap chain around a piece of iron stuck in the mud under water and pulled three toes off. I’m sure I would have held him if he hadn’t had something solid to pull against. We tried to set footholds on rock or sticks stuck in the mud or they would silt in and not fire.
Snares were set in drift piles and tree tops where beaver were traveling to their lodges and feeding areas. In Missouri, snares and conibears have to be completely submerged. My snares are 5/64” diameter cable, the smallest size legal in Missouri, eight feet long with a neoprene whammy and a tree lock. A twist of #9 wire around a stick with the tag end stuck in the whammy holds the snare loop in any position. A ten inch loop worked well with most catches around the neck or shoulders. A little castor on the log above the loop ensured they would swim around until caught. We didn’t do a lot of extra blocking and had success without it. These are fast to put in and very effective and was our most productive set with snares. The tree locks performed great and 5/64” 1X19 cable stood up to everything the beavers could dish out. We found out the hard way that beavers don’t always tangle up and drown. Beavers can move their entire cache pile and chew an amazing amount of wood in a night. Tie the snare off to a flexible tree top and a neck caught beaver may not pull hard enough to choke himself out. They will also dig your rebar stakes up or pull them if they can get above them.
We managed to get 15 sets made the first day and added ten more the next. In three checks we caught twenty-one beavers with five of them over sixty pounds. We used several different brands of castor based lures including some homemade and they all worked well in both snares and castor mound sets with footholds.
What A Season!
What a season! It has been froze up in Anabel since the week after Thanksgiving and the trapping has been tough. I got off work on the 12th and helped Momma build snares until cable restraint season opened up on the 15th. I started looking for sign and setting restraints and a few footholds on several different farms. The ground was frozen so hard sign was hard to find but it was easy to get around for once. The cats and foxes were scarce but I caught two coyotes in cables. I didn’t set any coon traps because everyone said they weren’t going to be worth skinning and I was waiting on Gus to get out of school for Christmas break. Plenty of possums found my best cat sets though. Seems like they multiply faster than anything else when you don’t trap them every year. Broke the ice in one lake for a guy who wanted the rats gone. He had some beavers before season but they moved out before freeze up. Cleaned them up with 110’s in four nights and picked up a coyote in the CRP and my one skunk of the year. Lots of old coon sign but they were denned up while we were there. Gus set some Lil’ Griz’s but couldn’t buy a coon off this farm.
I went back to work for a couple of days after Christmas then loaded Gus up for our annual trip to the river. It was forecast to freeze up two days after we got to the cabin and I let my dad talk me out of putting the boat in. Glad I did because the weatherman was right for once and it dropped below zero at night then started snowing. We pulled the few sets we had out New Year’s morning and came home in a small blizzard with no fur to skin. We spent the rest of the day with my folks and the kids eating too much and playing cards.
I worked in the shop for a week and nearly had it warm enough to keep the presses running when we ran out of propane. After Momma called the gas company and they didn’t deliver like they said they would, my redneck carnal nature surfaced and they brought us a tank the next morning. I hate it but sometimes that’s all that works.
Took a three day trip to northwest Kansas to visit a friend and see if he was lying to me about all the pheasants and quail they had this year. He wasn’t! We killed 13 pheasants and 15 quail in three days, caught up on our visiting, and met some awful nice folks. I’m not going to say where Dylan lives because I don’t want any more competition than there already is when I go back next year. I have never seen over a hundred pheasants in a flock but I witnessed it twice and found 3 or 4 coveys of quail with over 20 birds in them. Also saw some muleys and one whitetail big enough to go on the wall.
Finally got to the river again the last week of season. Thought I would run a few sets after work but the water dropped out from under the ice around 4 inches thick leaving it on the slope of the bank. Getting down to the water was impossible. It didn’t matter much because my boss decided to work tens instead of eights leaving me zero daylight to work with anyway.
The one bright spot took place at the Missouri Trappers Associations second fur auction of the year. I averaged $10 for the few coons I had and $18 for the one blanket beaver. Got four bucks for my rats and it was all green. Wish I had trapped harder now. The cats and otters sold cheap. It’s sad to see an otter as big as an ironing board bring $30. The highest priced cat and otter of the sale were sold frozen whole to taxidermists. That’s something to keep in mind if you have freezer space.
Gotta run but check back soon as I’ve got a beaver trappin trip to tell you about with some tips on snaring and footholds. Still have several beavers to catch for farmers if it ever thaws out. Let me know how you did and send me some pictures. We’ll post them and maybe make you famous.
Good luck and take a youngun with you!
Season Has Started
Another season is here and I finally got a few days off around Thanksgiving. Gus and I got a small line set Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. The local fur buyer told me he wasn't buying anything smaller than a 27 inch coon and they were starting at $2.00. So we are being real selective with the ringtails. Caught 2 good ones and Gus caught a pair of nice boars and turned 4 kittens loose for next year. Been trappin' rats for a couple of local guys, mostly for landowner relations. Set one beaver snare Thursday morning in a narrow spot in a ditch, 1S-72 with a 10" loop about 1" off the bottom and had a 45 pounder Friday morning. Caught her around the neck but she had a front foot in the loop. Had the treelock on a good stick jammed in the mud and she pulled the whole mess up on the bank where I found her tangled up. Learned a good lesson about anchoring. Looks like colder weather coming so I hope work slacks up and I can get more sets in. Let me know how y'all are getting along and if we can help with anything. Good luck and take a young'n with you. Thad
Missouri Trappers Convention
We are heading to Salem, MO later this week for the Missouri Trappers Convention. Please be sure to stop by our booth and say hello. We'll have cable restraints and other products available for purchase. Hope to see you there!
2009 NTA Convention
We had a great time in Lima, OH last week at convention and would love to hear what you thought of the event. Did you find everything you needed to get started this fall? What was your favorite demo?
Welcome to Talkin' Snares!
Welcome to our first blog! We are interested in what you think about our site, the upcoming trapping/snaring season, and anything else on your mind. We'll be attending the NTA Convention in Lima, OH later this month and would love to meet you. Please stop by our booth in the Dairy Barn and say hello.