beavers traps??

Yes but set for their front foot instead.

thank u thats what i thought they have small front feet. im going to set right at the waters edge they have one slide going from the pond down into the crick but dont want to get belly hair and no beaver. i have 3 beaver cr that my buddy gave me to try but im not sure of how to set them leagaly so they will stay in the garage till i read up on it more.

If they are a PA legal CR, they are legal for beaver. Must be set partially in the water. You want a lot of weight on the end of the drowner, 40 or more pounds.

wow it takes that much to hold them under guess ill have to grab a couple concrete block b4 i head out in the morning.i hooked my lock to the second link from the trap the cricks only 18 in deep. i will look for some deeper holes if there still in the crick the pond is iced over but its going to worm up next week. im going to set the crick anyways im getting used to checking empty traps. man this is my worse yr since i started trapping thats y i fig i would try for a beaver. gotta get lucky at some point.

You need a MIMIMUM of 3 feet of water to drown a beaver, that's front foot with a very short chain. Those big snorkel fins they have for back feet can pull a concrete block out of the water sometimes. Best bet is a feedbag full of rocks, I make mine as heavy as I can still lift and throw to deep water. Even then I've had some bags moved a ways. They routinely drag trees around, they would have no problem pulling 10 pounds up onto the bank.

i found a couple nice deep holes only set out 3 caster mounds sets. the pond is froze over but the crick is open no tracks to b found but small dams about every 50 ft. the land owner said they broke the dams 3 times last yr and they rebuilt them almost over night they just want them gone. i told them i would try if i cant i would get a fellow trapper from town to catch them but i want to try myself first.

Bob Jamison said:

Best bet is a feedbag full of rocks, I make mine as heavy as I can still lift and throw to deep water. Even then I've had some bags moved a ways.

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Feed bags are the way to go. At least 50# bags. I like using 100# bags, not all for the weight as much as it gives you more bag to tie off to.

Yep, we have big beavers down here... you do too. Set a drowning rig with a cement block on a smooth bottom and come back the next day to find a beaver and your block sitting on the bank, and you soon become a believer in heavy weights. That's why I use feed bags, and fill them until I ALMOST can't heave it into deep water.

Bob Jamison said:

Yep, we have big beavers down here... you do too. Set a drowning rig with a cement block on a smooth bottom and come back the next day to find a beaver and your block sitting on the bank, and you soon become a believer in heavy weights. That's why I use feed bags, and fill them until I ALMOST can't heave it into deep water.

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been there done that. no more cement blocks for me either. a fifty pound beaver will laugh at a cement block. plus who wants to carry them around. I take my pre-made drown cable, with trap attached and a rebar stake and put it all in a feed sack. i tie the sack shut with about 2 foot of wire. then everything you need is in or on the bag except the rocks and some lure.

I don't trap beavers a lot...so maybe this is a very ignorant question. I assume that it's better way to trap beavers, by using a drowning set that is, but how often will you lose beavers by just staking them? I've trapped a few this way and haven't had one get out yet. Maybe I've just been lucky and should adjust this year. I'm looking to get some sets out for beaver as soon as I get a moment to scout and find a few to trap this year. Should I invest/figure out how to use a drowning set?

SF,
If you have caught beaver then you have skinned them, that front foot you can snap with one hand. Sometimes if i dont have enough water to drown i will sill use a drown rig to get them out into the water where they cant tangle up. i've caught a few that other guys have lost that are missing front feet.
if you have box swivel on the end of your trap and trapping wire there is no investment into a drown rig. tie bag of rocks to wire, toss in deep water, pull wire tight and cut off so you have enough to stake at bank. holding the trap chain by the swivel,run the wire through the little hole in the end of the box swivel so the wire goes from bottom to top. (hard to explain but you will know if you got it right it will slide down but not back) then wire off to a stake on the bank. i prefer cable but would not hesitate to use wire again if i didnt have a cable rig with me.

i forgot to add that the best beaver trap of course is a 330. not much to go wrong once they clamp down. and i'm getting better at snares. if i dont have enough water to drown i often go for one of these. a snare or a 330 can also be set in front of a castor mound or bait set. they dont have to be completely under water as some say.

Yeah, and think if we could use REAL beaver traps!

I agree with B.J. I have a bunch of the old B&L #4 double long springs and they have taken alot of beavers to the bottom of a drowning cables. But i'd love to have some of those big double long springs with a 7.5 inch jaw spread. I especially like the long springs in the soft mucky bottoms in swamps and flooded land. They don't tip easy. Alot of you new guys need to remember its important to have your traps bedded solid even in the water whether is coons or beavers. Good solids hind foot catches are preferred and good 3+ pounds of pan tension ensures a good catch. I still use as many 330 conibers as i'm allowed but sometimes you need to be flexible.

Thanks for the advice! I didn't know that you could use a box swivel as a slide lock. I will definately give this a shot...as soon as I can find some beavers to trap anyways. I checked four different spots today that had beavers the past few years and...nothing. I have to look elsewhere, or convice my buddy to let me trap the ones on his property. We hunt together a lot but for some reason he doesn't want
them messed with.
Santa didn't bring me any 330s like I asked for this year. I need to just buy a few. I've borrowed them before and love to use them.
As far as snaring goes...I can't seem to get to a CR class! It's getting really frustrating. But that's what two kids a wife and house will do to you hahaha...and it's all worth it.

you dont need CR certification to snare beaver.

You only need the CR class for using CRs for coyotes and fox; you do not need it to snare beaver.