This may not be nearly as fun as the winter trapping but we're off and running anyway! I put my first sets out today on an ADC job and will be putting out more tomorrow.

Nothing this morning! We pulled up and had a beaver just casually swimming around the pond but they hadn't repaired the dam break yet so he may have just found it.

As hot as it is getting, scent is going to be a major factor.


God Bless,
David B.

Yea Boff, I know land trapping is gonna be tough for sure but my water line shouldn't be too bad. I've still got 2 weeks before I even set a land line and it's only getting hotter. My plans are to start setting as soon as it's light enough to see and only make sets until 8 or 9 so it may take 2 or 3 mornings to set a property but at least my sets will be clean.

I have started many times setting coyote traps, with the head lights on! When it gets hot, i use a lot of Modified step downs. I find they work best for cattle country. I start when i can see and do good to get 11-12 sets in before it too hot for ME to set traps.

I'm convinced this pond I'm trapping now has bad juju! Lol! 1 1/2" of rain yesterday and last night washed all 3 of my sets out. I managed to get one of them reset this morning before another storm hit.

I remember those days. I use to do lots of bounty work on beavers. Now i mainly do coyotes and hogs. Rain can really mess a man up!

These damn beavers have pissed me off! The water is so shallow where my traps are that when they pushed mud in to repair the dam break last night they pushed my traps in with it.

I'm going to dig out a trench and fence it in with limbs. I'll have a conibear guarding the ditch and steel traps guarding both ends of my fencing.

I remeber the same thing happen to me on a small pond dam once. Just like you described. I dug out 2 trenchs set traps like you are describing AND stake a conniber between the 2 trenches. I could the beaver the next day. He had pluged the first dam/ trench i made, and was heading to the second one 6 ft away and that conniber caught him. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Shooter I made a half moon fence around the dam break and left 2 openings in the fence guarded with 330's. The water is only about 8"s deep so I dug just enough of a channel at both sets to completely submerge the traps and put dive sticks over both of them. I've also got 2 snares about 10 yards from the dam in a funnel point and I lured both of them with backbreaker.

This should've been a 1 or 2 night job and even with it just 2 miles from home it's already cost me too much time for there to be any profit made. It's all about catching this last one strictly for pride now! I start days on Monday so only 2 nights left and it is flooding here now.

Just dont give up, you will catch him! Sometimes beavers do strange things.

Oh there isn't any give up in me! Lol!

I did pick up another job today that looks like it has great potential. It's within a mile of my house and is a railroad ditch that they've damned up for probably a mile or more on both sides. I counted 17 dams there this morning and at least that many crossover trails going from one side to the other. I should be able to set the trails with snares and conis and knock a dent in them pretty quick. I'll be setting it up the Sunday after Yekrut's bash and can run it for 2 weeks. Gonna have to get a shotgun guard to watch my back while I set it though, I saw signs of some big lizards there today also!

I worked for Norfolk Southern when i was younger. Beaver would dam up places and cause the water to rise and was out the balist line= what we called rock edge of the tracks. I was a highrail man. I rode with the track superviser all day. Theirs nothing better than getting Payed time and a half to trap and shoot beavers! Sometimes i miss beaver trapping. I have not set abeaver trap in years, i think about how i would like to set some traps and catch some beaver. Then reality strike me! I then start thinking about all the hard work, the times i have been ALMOST bitten by a cottonmouth, and how bad my bak would be hurting me after a long day on the beaver line! I miss the fun of catching them, but dont miss all the hard work. To be honest, i enjoy beaver trapping /or did almost as much as i now enjoy just trapping coyotes. To me its the thrill of the catch. Its putting your brain against the aniamls nature. I love trapping. Its a dying art. North40R i wish you lots of luck and hope you are teaching this sport to someone. I try all the time to teach people what i can about coyote trapping. Well good luck and keep us posted on your trapping line.

Thanks Shooter!

Too much water today. My dive sticks were several inches underwater this morning. Guess I'll pull them tomorrow and wait for a drought to finish that job. I'm about ready to go break the dam and just sit on it with my shotgun.

Finally got some sets out yesterday and snared a 48# sow beaver last night.

Nice Hank! I was wondering if you were still after them

Thanks Cole! I've been working OT on the real job and just got to set yesterday. Working 2 separate lakes down in Mobile Co. this week so hopefully a couple more days will see these whipped out.

Caught 3 yesterday and Ms. Amanda and Dev caught another one this morning. That's 5 beaver in the past 4 nights. Hopefully these 2 ponds will be cleaned out pretty soon.