Beaver sets/bait

[Frank90]

I've never trapped any beavers because we don't have many in my area, now my boss told me he had a bunch on his property and asked me to get rid of them. What are some good under ice sets and what works good as bait?

[Tfng]

I've never trapped beaver either. My plan is to use snares on a poplar bait pole. I'm also going to try conibears baited with poplar as well. I'm sure someone will provide a few pointers to you.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by Frank90

What are some good under ice sets and what works good as bait?

Loop size should be maximum 10 inches. Aspen is the best bait or whatever they are feeding on in your area.

[HunterDave]

I'm going to pick up some beaver snares and try some under ice beaver trapping for the first time as well. At the Trapper's Rendevous this year, Gordy Klasson demonstrated using a 330 with a piece of poplar in the jaws, similar to what is in the picture. I think that I'll try this method as well.

[Red Bullets]

Beavers also like apples, carrots, broccoli, celery. You could wire a piece or two of one of these treats to your conibear instead of the green wood. You might get the odd muskrat snapping your trap with vegetable baits but trap shy beaver might be enticed easier.

Be Careful on the ice around the feed pile or house. Good luck.

[waterninja]

Saw a trapper having success on you tube by sicking a small potatoe to bottom of trigger (or 1/2 a large one). He said beavers love potatoes.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I'm going to pick up some beaver snares and try some under ice beaver trapping for the first time as well. At the Trapper's Rendevous this year, Gordy Klasson demonstrated using a 330 with a piece of poplar in the jaws, similar to what is in the picture. I think that I'll try this method as well.

This set up has killed a pile of beaver. It's one of the old man's favourites. Just make sure the branch does not stick out past the outside of the bars more then a 1/2" or the beaver might chew on it there and spring your set. I like to bend my triggers out a bit so they sit higher above the bait stick. This way the beaver can really get in there working the set before he gets hit.

[KegRiver]

I snared my first beaver under the ice in 1968, I was 14 years old that year.
Since then I've trapped and snared a few hundred under the ice and about the same in open water.

The first thing one has to learn is where to make your sets. Beaver have very defined travel route under the ice. They don't just swim around at random, with a very limited air supply they can't afford to. And that works in the trappers favor.

First locate the lodge or bank den. Now trick number one, locating the runs.
That can be simple or incredibly difficult depending on the colony.

A few tips. Beaver release bubbles as they swim so look for ice laced with bubbles, if you can see the ice.
Tip #2, the ice over the run will be thinner then the surrounding ice. Sometimes not by a detectable amount but often it'll be very noticeable.
By mid to late winter some runs will have little or even no ice over them, just a snow cover. So watch your step very carefully around beaver lodges.

What I do is take my ice pick and poke the ice ahead of me as I circle the lodge, paying extra attention where the feed pile buts up to the lodge.
I listen for a change in sound and feel for a change in how the pick bites in.

A rough rule of thumb, Beaver will have at least two entrances to the lodge or den, generally they will be either side of the feed pile. There may be a third entry at the back of the lodge, that will be the garbage and toilet access, most of the time. And it's generally not worth setting.

There may be others but you don't need to find them all. Your best runs are the ones that access the feed bed. If you have lots of water depth those runs can be big producers. I've seen three beaver caught at a time in single sets at such locations.

The idea is to find the run, determine what angle it leaves the den or lodge and then block it with a snare pole or coni set.

The next best location for sets is out away from the house, next to the feed pile. That's where you would use a baited set. The sets pictured above will work, although there are ways to improve on those sets.

When setting the feed pile, we called it the feed bed, I'd make two sets, one either side of the pile, roughly at the 10:00 and 2:00 positions relative to the lodge or den. The big trick there is to place your snare pole on the outside of the set, away from the feed pile. You don't want your catch to be able to get hold of sticks in that pile or it might be able to pull itself free. Or it might get tangled in the feed stick making it a huge job to get him out.

Without being right there, that's about the best I can do to get you started. There are a hundred little things to learn that will make it easier or will help you catch more. But this and what was posted by others ought to be enough to get you started.

[The Spruce]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I'm going to pick up some beaver snares and try some under ice beaver trapping for the first time as well. At the Trapper's Rendevous this year, Gordy Klasson demonstrated using a 330 with a piece of poplar in the jaws, similar to what is in the picture. I think that I'll try this method as well.

I would put the trigger to one side or the other on this set. Beaver will swim into trap to "pick up" stick, it won't sit there suspended trying to eat the stick. centered triggers can lead to a lot of missed beaver, sucks checking fired and empty traps. Of note some of these beaver will dry from the concussion of the trap, even when missed.

Spruce

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by The Spruce

I would put the trigger to one side or the other on this set. Beaver will swim into trap to "pick up" stick, it won't sit there suspended trying to eat the stick. centered triggers can lead to a lot of missed beaver, sucks checking fired and empty traps. Of note some of these beaver will dry from the concussion of the trap, even when missed.

Spruce

I was advised to wire the bait to the trigger. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? If you set the trigger to be on one side are you setting it so the beaver is most likely to only come in from one side of the trap?

[drake]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I was advised to wire the bait to the trigger. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? If you set the trigger to be on one side are you setting it so the beaver is most likely to only come in from one side of the trap?

wired to the trigger will slow down trap speed. The idea is that the unattached bait will fall when trap is triggered.

[Tfng]

Thanks Drake, makes sense when you think of it that way. The few trappers I know have been out of the trapping game for a while. Techniques have changed a lot since the seventies.

[drake]

you're welcome.

I think the sauvignon brand coni (330) works the best for this. The trap jaws have the right offset/gap

[The Spruce]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I was advised to wire the bait to the trigger. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? If you set the trigger to be on one side are you setting it so the beaver is most likely to only come in from one side of the trap?

The beaver will swim through, picking up the bait (or trying too) with its front feet. If you bait the trigger, you will get a lot of misses or poor catches. bait to the bottom, trigger to the side so the beaver is completely in trap when it fires. Dead beaver every time. Been my experience anyways. Same rule applies to snaring, snares looped above the horizontal bait stick.

Spruce.

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by drake

you're welcome.

I think the sauvignon brand coni (330) works the best for this. The trap jaws have the right offset/gap

Originally Posted by The Spruce

The beaver will swim through, picking up the bait (or trying too) with its front feet. If you bait the trigger, you will get a lot of misses or poor catches. bait to the bottom, trigger to the side so the beaver is completely in trap when it fires. Dead beaver every time. Been my experience anyways. Same rule applies to snaring, snares looped above the horizontal bait stick.

Spruce.

I bought a half dozen 11 inch sauvageaus so that's good news they will work well with a bait stick. I was unsure if I should have went with a twelve inch trap. I only bought a few to try. Should I have went with a twelve inch?

Spruce, it sounds like you set up your bait poles differently than pictured above with a bait stick at a right angle to the vertical dry stick. I'm not sure why I pictured a beaver grabbing a bait stick with its teeth but seems reasonable to think they would use their front feet.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by drake

I think the sauvignon brand coni (330) works the best for this. The trap jaws have the right offset/gap

I think that is what Gordy mentioned as well.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I was advised to wire the bait to the trigger. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? If you set the trigger to be on one side are you setting it so the beaver is most likely to only come in from one side of the trap?

Wiring to the trigger will also result in some fired traps. When the beaver swims by or does a tight turn next to the trap there is a decent amount of current created. If you have the bait on the trigger there is sufficient drag to fire the trap. The triggers alone won't do it.

[bill9044]

Baited CONI tip. I would take a piece of poplar or willow and tie a couple of fake plastic green leaves to the bait stick. Most dollar stores Walmart any craft store has it. You can get a good amount for 1$. A guy on YouTube used that trick and it does work. They see the green leaf and think fresh stick.
Also I take a snow shovel and a broom with me I clear where I think the run is sweep to confirm and then you can see the bubble trail well. Also once the set is made and you are ready to leave shovel snow into water it won't freeze the hole right away.

[coy coyote]

Originally Posted by bill9044

Baited CONI tip. I would take a piece of poplar or willow and tie a couple of fake plastic green leaves to the bait stick. Most dollar stores Walmart any craft store has it. You can get a good amount for 1$. A guy on YouTube used that trick and it does work. They see the green leaf and think fresh stick.
Also I take a snow shovel and a broom with me I clear where I think the run is sweep to confirm and then you can see the bubble trail well. Also once the set is made and you are ready to leave shovel snow into water it won't freeze the hole right away.

I havn't trapped alot of beaver with body grips but my old man would keep us busy all winter doing beaver that he trapped and one thing he swore by is green plastic leaves or twigs. He figured beavers might get tired of stale food. He had one of the coolest ice chisels I've seen. He would cut the handle off of an axe and weld a 6 foot steel rod or hex shift to the flat part of the axe opposite the cutting tapered part. I use one to open water holes for cattle to this day. Slicker then snot

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by coy coyote

I havn't trapped alot of beaver with body grips but my old man would keep us busy all winter doing beaver that he trapped and one thing he swore by is green plastic leaves or twigs. He figured beavers might get tired of stale food. He had one of the coolest ice chisels I've seen. He would cut the handle off of an axe and weld a 6 foot steel rod or hex shift to the flat part of the axe opposite the cutting tapered part. I use one to open water holes for cattle to this day. Slicker then snot

We make our own ice chisels as well.

Ours are made from a steel fence post, the T shaped verity.
We cut ours three foot long and then sharpen one end.

The cutting end is ground so that each of the three sides of the post is angled about 60 degrees, sorta like a three blade arrow head.
We found that this three way cut worked far better for cutting ice then a round ice bar or flat cutting edge.

The only tricky part of the whole thing is the handle. We made ours on a wood lathe but I expect one could make one from two inch or larger doweling. The shape and length aren't critical, just shape to fit each individuals taste.

Then bolt or rivet the two together.

What you get is a pick with enough mass to cut fast without it being heavy. I'm not sure what ours weighed but I know they were less then half the weight of commercially produced needle bars and ice bars. And they cut faster and were easier to control. IE. more precise.