First Time Beaver Under Ice

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

What is the purpose of those stands?


LOL, Sorry, I'm old school. I learned to trap before there were conibear traps and had to move on to another career before high tech took over.

When conibears first appeared on the market, no one knew how to use them. We tried one thing, then another till we found a way that worked.
Toward the end of my trapping career there were a few accessories available. Trap setting tools, pans, even a few trap boxes, but nothing like that rig you have.

I can't for the life of me figure out where something like that would help, or what purpose it would serve. I guess my imagination is getting old too. LOL

It's just an easy way of setting conibears in runs Keg. It saves me hunting around for sticks to support traps. I'll be able to reuse them year after year. The plan is to gang set the entrance of houses I want to clean out. I can cut a hole in the run in front of the house and set multiple traps quickly and be on my way. I haven't tried them yet but they come recommended by a few different guys. I'll hunt down a pic and post it for you.

Hunterdave- Your stands work also by the looks of it cheaper as well. Looks like you got a good catch on that one! Have a good time on your vacation!

[7mmstwguy]

You can set 4 of those stands before the guy looking for sticks even gets the trap wired on..

[Tfng]

Here's the idea Keg. The sticks you see are for blocking to prevent a caught beaver from tripping multiple traps.

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/atta...7-p3090424.jpg

[Tfng]

I thought this might interest someone who wants to make their own H stands. I built this bender this morning and it makes quick work of making the bends. No torch needed now. It works quite well on the preliminary tests.

[7mmstwguy]

Looks good..looks like your pretty good with metal..you should try and make a stand with one leg..

[pointer]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I thought this might interest someone who wants to make their own H stands. I built this bender this morning and it makes quick work of making the bends. No torch needed now. It works quite well on the preliminary tests.

Shouldn't you be working

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by pointer

Shouldn't you be working

These are probably the most expensive trap stands in Western Canada lol. With the oilfield crash there isn't much going on. The boss doesn't care so I'll carry on.

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

Looks good..looks like your pretty good with metal..you should try and make a stand with one leg..

Could be done but it would need a plate on it to prevent spinning. Unless I'm imagining what you've got in mind wrong.

[HunterDave]

Those stands look pretty good. I was thinking about chain for my 330's and I figured that my next trip to the dump I'll have to see if any swing sets have been thrown out. Cheap and recycle.

I just got back from Halfords and there are no nursery nails in stock.....just three empty boxes that they used to be in.

[Tfng]

Nothing beats free!

[shakeyleg02]

Those beaves better come up in price or you might have to go back to work TFNG

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by shakeyleg02

Those beaves better come up in price or you might have to go back to work TFNG

I'm not counting on the beaver to cover their own costs that's for sure!

[HunterDave]

Selling the carcasses to bear hunters helps.

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Selling the carcasses to bear hunters helps.

Yes it would. I may have a customer but I haven't sold any yet.

[PCP_ECOM]

Here's my take on making money on beaver's,sell carcass for bear bait $20,do the skulls and sell them$10,castor $30-$40lb,tan hide and sell as is $75-100 or turn into pair of gauntlets $250-300 so potential of $445 ish on high side and $395 ish low side,so there is money in beaver's,there is work involved in getting and putting up,but IMO there is money to be made and time in the outdoors is pricless,cheers Peter,my 2 cents worth

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by PCP_ECOM

Here's my take on making money on beaver's,sell carcass for bear bait $20,do the skulls and sell them$10,castor $30-$40lb,tan hide and sell as is $75-100 or turn into pair of gauntlets $250-300 so potential of $445 ish on high side and $395 ish low side,so there is money in beaver's,there is work involved in getting and putting up,but IMO there is money to be made and time in the outdoors is pricless,cheers Peter,my 2 cents worth

That's very close to my long term plan Ecom. I picked up an old fur sewing machine last year. I'd like to make family gifts and once I've got some experience maybe sell a few pieces.

[7mmstwguy]

Like these..I had them made out of my fur..

[Tfng]

Those are nice 7mmstw. What are the palms made of?

[7mmstwguy]

Homemade moose hide, smells like smoke..lol

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

Homemade moose hide, smells like smoke..lol

That's the good stuff! I saved my moose hide this year in hopes of smoke tanning it.

[Tfng]

I slipped out for a bit this afternoon and set one house using the new stands and traps. Very little ice out front so I stood on the house and set 4 traps in the entrance. I would have like to put a second row but there's nowhere to stand. Everything went smoothly using the stands.







I found this bonus set not far from the beaver house so I figured I would set a trap here as well. It's at least a couple weeks old but I drive within feet of it to get to the Beavers so I figured why not. I enlarged the hole a bit around the trap jaws but the springs are sitting on the ground. I'm not sure how that will work out but I wasn't sure how to best set it.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

You can set 4 of those stands before the guy looking for sticks even gets the trap wired on..

For rural trappers it might be real handy, but for wilderness trapping, one is limited to how much they can pack.

I've never wired a trap on to anything ever. Seems like a lot of extra work to me.
The closest I come to that is cable tethers on my 330 beaver traps, for open water trapping. And it's a tether, it does not hold the trap in place, it allows the catch to reach deep water so that it is underwater when it dies and thus not subject to scavengers, mice, and fur thieves.

All one sees when a catch is made is a loop of cable around a stake or stump. And of course that is not easy to spot. There is no other evidence that there was ever a trap at that location. Meanwhile your catch is safe in deep water at the end of that cable.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I thought this might interest someone who wants to make their own H stands. I built this bender this morning and it makes quick work of making the bends. No torch needed now. It works quite well on the preliminary tests.

Cool idea. I might be able to adapt it for what I wish to do.

I have an idea for coni holders for my Marten pole sets. It was an idea I had right at the end of my trapping career which worked well but I never fully developed the idea. I simply used 5 inch nails to hold the traps. That worked but it had several issues not the least of which was that the trap could snag on a holding nail and the catch would not be left hanging.

Hanging the catch was key. It allowed me to take the only Wolverine I ever caught, with a 220 coni on one of my Marten poles. All evidence indicated that there was no struggle, the set worked perfectly even on an animal reported to be the toughest thing in the bush. And double catches were very possible with this set.

I think it had more potential then any other set I have seen, used or heard of, but I need to finish perfecting it. And to make workable trap holders for that application. There is nothing of that nature on the market at this time.

The good news is, I've agreed to help a young neighbor learn to trap, so together we will test and prefect a couple of ideas I had.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by PCP_ECOM

Here's my take on making money on beaver's,sell carcass for bear bait $20,do the skulls and sell them$10,castor $30-$40lb,tan hide and sell as is $75-100 or turn into pair of gauntlets $250-300 so potential of $445 ish on high side and $395 ish low side,so there is money in beaver's,there is work involved in getting and putting up,but IMO there is money to be made and time in the outdoors is pricless,cheers Peter,my 2 cents worth

A freind of mine used to tan his hides then sell them to crafters. It paid him well.
At the time I wasn't confident that I could do a decent job of tanning a hide so I never tried it. but I have no doubt that is could be well worth the effort.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Selling the carcasses to bear hunters helps.

There may be some market as trapping bait.

Beaver is and always will be the best bait meat available.
Nothing can even come close to the draw power of properly prepaird beaver stink bait. Ripened beaver meat.

And egg sized chunk of that stuff, buried two inches deep, can draw a Coyote from across a quarter section, 24/7. Providing the Coyote is downwind of course, it's is powerful but even it can't pull a Coyote from upwind.

[Tfng]

I took the whole family out this afternoon and we set two more houses. I cut a lot of ice looking for the run. I wasn't expecting it to come out between the two houses. I forgot to take pics at the second house so there's only pics at the first.





We stopped on the way home and checked the house I set yesterday. 2 beaver, one muskrat. The fourth trap was still set.

[7mmstwguy]

Awesome..just awesome..guess stands work..they are also a great muskrat killer for sure..

[7mmstwguy]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

For rural trappers it might be real handy, but for wilderness trapping, one is limited to how much they can pack.

I've never wired a trap on to anything ever. Seems like a lot of extra work to me.
The closest I come to that is cable tethers on my 330 beaver traps, for open water trapping. And it's a tether, it does not hold the trap in place, it allows the catch to reach deep water so that it is underwater when it dies and thus not subject to scavengers, mice, and fur thieves.

All one sees when a catch is made is a loop of cable around a stake or stump. And of course that is not easy to spot. There is no other evidence that there was ever a trap at that location. Meanwhile your catch is safe in deep water at the end of that cable.

So you walk the whole line up in the bush? then snares would be a better option for you. What seems like more work to you is less work to me.

[spot and stock]

More of a reader than a contributor but I've been following this thread and enjoying everyones catches. which set me off on my own under ice journey these last couple weeks. Figured I may as well show my ugly mug.

Only set the one house and in the three checks picked up 3 nice beaver and a muskrat. One in a snare pole two in runs/entrance and a muskrat in a baited conibear lol.

[Tfng]

Thanks for contributing Spot and stock. If no one contributes there's nothing to read. I also enjoy reading about what everyone else is doing. Good job on the beaver!

I see you're using a different type of stand. It looks like you slide that ring down the top legs to pinch the trap in the stand?

I wish the muskrats would stay out of my traps but I can't choose what goes in them.

The weather has been great lately for beaver trapping, I'm loving the fact nothing is freezing and I don't need mitts or even a jacket for the most part.