Damn Beavers

[Stephen in SoKY]

The tenants combined their beans in my little river bottom 2-3 weeks ago and it being a nice 75 degree afternoon I thought I'd ride down and see what was happening on the river. Damn beavers have been busy on one white ash I was saving and another I really didn't think was big enough to cut yet. I hate the little flat tail vermin!

I was saving this one:

Until I pulled up and saw the path:

And what they had done to the base:

Rode on around the river bank and remembered the one they hung last year:

And damned if they haven't ruined the smaller one in front of the one they hung:

I hadn't planned on putting up much wood this fall but I guess they've changed that! Destructive little sumbitches!

 

[The Beagler]

Go to the Ky Fish and Wildlife website & you can look up trappers in your area that target them..that is, if they are becoming too big of a nuisance for you. They may charge a fee....some may not if you let them trap on your property. They are very common across the state. It is amazing what they can do!

 

[rottiman]

Go to the Ky Fish and Wildlife website & you can look up trappers in your area that target them..that is, if they are becoming too big of a nuisance for you. They may charge a fee....some may not if you let them trap on your property. They are very common across the state. It is amazing what they can do!

We have the same problem up here. If you have the patience to sit, you'd be amazed what a .243 can do also..........

 

[weatherguy]

My friend has a huge problem with beavers, not so much ruining wood but causing floods that reach his house and a couple of neighbors, one being his brother in law. Up here they're a pita to get rid of with all the red tape so his brother in law takes care of them his own way.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

We fought them on the family farm often. Trouble now is I lack a Grandfather that had nothing better to do than park a lawn chair on a creek/river bank and sit for hours with an old winchester laid across his lap! Fortunately the little buggers are no longer a financial threat to me, just a nuisance when they get into my good wood supply. They could have the entire elm grove at the other end of the bottom if they'd just leave my white ash alone.

 

[maple1]

Should be a bounty on the suckers...

 

[LLigetfa]

The only good beaver is a dead beaver. LEE had a nice pic with a bunch of them on his tailgate. It's still in Google's cache.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:...2aSpiG171gXy9o7yOaOhOlqrOk2Na6cNta2Zl7dMC2t_w

 

[babzog]

1. Grab a buddy who doesn't mind getting in the trenches with ya.

2. Find their dam and open up a good sized hole in it (at the very least, 4-5' across, 3-4' deep). Get that water moving!

3. Sit back, have a snack and a drink and load up the rifles. I like my 30-06, my buddy likes his 243.

4. Open up WW3 on the little bastards when they come to investigate.

Dusk is an awesome time to pop 'em, but you need a strong light - buddy system works well here. You'll need waders, a pick axe and a shovel (and maybe a long pry bar / rock bar) for opening up the dam. A lawn chair will save your tired rear end.

Traps work better - you don't have to be there - but there's something satisfying about personally putting the hurt on those destructive little critters once in a while.

 

[bogydave]

Here's one good use of a beaver hide:
A walnut & oak frame.
They make warm hats & mittens too.

 

[fireview2788]

I'm betting you can find a local trapper who will take them out of there for no cost. As far as shooting them be careful, it's illegal in Ohio but not sure about KY, check before you take one out. I do like watching them swim through my decoys when I'm duck hunting.


f v

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We had some for a while but they ran out of popple and soon left. I was amazed one time to find an oak they were chewing on. Almost had it ready to topple down. Ha! I took that oak and thanked the beavers.

 

[firefighterjake]

Here's one good use of a beaver hide:
A walnut & oak frame.
They make warm hats & mittens too.

I have a beaver bomber/trapper hat my sister made me . . . had to send it back to her though since she thought my head was much larger than it actually is. Wicked warm hat.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

 

[bogydave]

I'm betting you can find a local trapper who will take them out of there for no cost. As far as shooting them be careful, it's illegal in Ohio but not sure about KY, check before you take one out. I do like watching them swim through my decoys when I'm duck hunting.


f v

Pretty easy to trap but hard to skin.
I used 330 conibears in trail sets & snares for underwater sets .
Same in Alaska, not "legal" to shoot them.
one of many How to":
http://www.captaindaves.com/buckshot/330.htm

 

[BrotherBart]

Thirty minutes after sunset. Like clockwork. One of ya with the light and one with the firepower. Or just tape the light to the stock. No trouble with them in years. The first eight years here I took out twenty-four before I quit counting. State destruction permit firmly planted in my wallet. They kept this place, including my driveway, under water.

 

[bogydave]

Thirty minutes after sunset. Like clockwork. One of ya with the light and one with the firepower. Or just tape the light to the stock. No trouble with them in years. The first eight years here I took out twenty-four before I quit counting. State destruction permit firmly planted in my wallet. They kept this place, including my driveway, under water.

Good point. I forgot about getting a permit to shot them. At the remote camp I worked at we got permits to do the same. Even got permit to blow the damns in the winter.
But it seems if it's a good location for a beaver damn, one or 2 move back in within a year.
Try your F&G office. Might be easy to get a permit to shoot them. Easier than trapping for sure.

 

[maple1]

Things are pretty silly up here sometimes - to get rid of a beaver dam 'the right way', you have to pump the thing out first, before you can take any of the dam apart. How many pumps & gallons of gas & hours would that take?

 

[babzog]

You're not allowed to hunt beaver (need a trapping licence as they're a furbearing animal) but the MNR allows property owners to shoot animals causing property damage. Deer (elk, etc) and I believe, turkey, are the exceptions where a special cull permit is required (for farmers with crop damage). I spoke to an MNR officer about this first so that's right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. As the little buggers are flooding my property and woodlot, I have full rights to terminate their little behinds. Just can't do anything with them after... have to leave 'em.

 

[bogydave]

You're not allowed to hunt beaver (need a trapping licence as they're a furbearing animal) but the MNR allows property owners to shoot animals causing property damage. Deer (elk, etc) and I believe, turkey, are the exceptions where a special cull permit is required (for farmers with crop damage). I spoke to an MNR officer about this first so that's right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. As the little buggers are flooding my property and woodlot, I have full rights to terminate their little behinds. Just can't do anything with them after... have to leave 'em.

Just can't do anything with them after... have to leave 'em

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Be careful with the 330s if you go that route. I've had 220s slip a spring catch and close on my with only 1 of the springs. That hurt. 330s would hurt more.

Matt

 

[Stump_Branch]

Be careful with the 330s if you go that route. I've had 220s slip a spring catch and close on my with only 1 of the springs. That hurt. 330s would hurt more.

Matt

Same single spring fire with a 330 caught my thumb...

Illegal to shoop them here to. However i find trapping them very easy. I used mostly leg holds though rigged on drown lines. Got one mounted. One was over 50 lbs. Depending on size pelts go for 30 to 40 bucks a pelt. They pay for the trouble to trap. On christmas morning a few years back got a double.

Interesting biology on them. Family oriented, monogmus mating. Vertain cases you can get permits for them.

If your trying to save trees wire mesh loosly wraped around the base keeps them away.

 

[firefighterjake]

Be careful with the 330s if you go that route. I've had 220s slip a spring catch and close on my with only 1 of the springs. That hurt. 330s would hurt more.

Matt

Same single spring fire with a 330 caught my thumb...

Illegal to shoop them here to. However i find trapping them very easy. I used mostly leg holds though rigged on drown lines. Got one mounted. One was over 50 lbs. Depending on size pelts go for 30 to 40 bucks a pelt. They pay for the trouble to trap. On christmas morning a few years back got a double.

Interesting biology on them. Family oriented, monogmus mating. Vertain cases you can get permits for them.

If your trying to save trees wire mesh loosly wraped around the base keeps them away.

You've almost described me to a T . . . loves wood, monogamous mating, putting up metal near or in a tree will keep me from cutting it . . . and in certain cases I think you can get a permit.

 

[LLigetfa]

Be careful with the 330s if you go that route. I've had 220s slip a spring catch and close on my with only 1 of the springs. That hurt. 330s would hurt more.

Matt

I spent a Winter on a friend's trapline on a remote island.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+ig....0842&vpsrc=0&hnear=St+Ignace+Island&t=h&z=10

One day he was a few hours late returning to base camp and it was starting to get dark when in he walks with both of his hands stuck in a Conibear. He couldn't drive his SkiDoo and so had to walk back.

 

[bogydave]

I've used 330s for Wolverine, otter & beaver, always found them dead.
I used rope to collapse the springs, & used the the safety hooks, remove the spring safeties, then the trap safety last, just before leaving the set.
Safeties on before re-baiting or getting close to the trigger, just remember to take them off before you leave.
Don't work very well if you leave the safety hooks on , bait is usually gone & trap not sprung & you laugh at yourself. :red: Or you have a real smart critter
Some stories of broken arms. Strong killer traps.

 

[Stump_Branch]

Be careful with the 330s if you go that route. I've had 220s slip a spring catch and close on my with only 1 of the springs. That hurt. 330s would hurt more.

Matt

Same single spring fire with a 330 caught my thumb...

Illegal to shoop them here to. However i find trapping them very easy. I used mostly leg holds though rigged on drown lines. Got one mounted. One was over 50 lbs. Depending on size pelts go for 30 to 40 bucks a pelt. They pay for the trouble to trap. On christmas morning a few years back got a double.

Interesting biology on them. Family oriented, monogmus mating. Vertain cases you can get permits for them.

If your trying to save trees wire mesh loosly wraped around the base keeps them away.

You've almost described me to a T . . . loves wood, monogamous mating, putting up metal near or in a tree will keep me from cutting it . . . and in certain cases I think you can get a permit.

Some native american tribes would adopt the family dynamics of the beaver, including shoving the teenagers down river to start their own life...

Other than humans, only other creature who will drastically alter their environment to suit them rather than adapt. I wish i still had a place to run a trapline, i do miss it.