Spring Beaver Trapping - Explain

[primetime]

I enjoy catching Beavers, and I would like to continue trapping them into the Spring, but I'm a little confused on why Spring Beaver trapping is any different from any other Beaver trapping.

If I was to guess the Beaver disperse at this time of year, but I would like to learn more.

Do you need to set on sign?

Or is it a set and wait deal?

I've probably got a million questions, but I'll leave it as is. In you own words describe Spring Beaver Trapping, what you do, what you look for, WHY you do what you do. Also why is Spring Beaver trapping different from Fall/Winter trapping.

Thanks - PT

[Bogmaster]

Prime time,do you get the Trapper and Predator Caller magazine? I have articles in there on the questions you are asking.Just easier if you can read and look at the photos.
Tom Olson

[ScottW]

PT,
Main things with spring beaver trapping is that you have open water and the beavers are moving bigtime. The open water thing is similar to fall, but the number of beavers likely to pass by your trap in the spring should be much higher in most locations and their receptiveness to castor lures might be a little greater. You don't need to necessarily set on sign, but it doens't hurt. I mean direct sign mainly, I have places that there is hardly ever any beaver sign and go figure, very few beavers caught there. Here and there I have a few spots that I set on big ol' beaver made castor mounds and these spots are almost a guarantee. If you have a river with beavers in it, traps, and time to set and tend them.....you better make some space in your schedule for skinning cause you'll get some! lol

You might call it a set and wait deal, but how long the wait is just depends on the beaver pop. where you're trapping. I like to use both footholds and 330's but I'm going more to 330's. Just make a simple castor mound set. You don't really need the mound, but I think there is a case now and then that it can help coax in that unusualy shy one. A good castor based beaver lure is your best friend. A healthy dab of the lure up on shore from the trap and you're good to go. Make sure to play the prevailing wind when trying to decide which side of the creek to set. Also, pay attention to the current of the river as you don't wanna set in a spot the current is such that it would be extremely hard for a beaver to navigate nearby your set. You want a spot he is likely to come by and be able to easily work your set.

I like to avoid "blind" sets all together for spring trapping to keep away from the otters. They will without a doubt be drawn into most beaver lures, but not always.

For the spring beavers in short you have a very short window of very productive beaver trapping. Make sure to keep your traps working. You need to pay attention to the water levels to do this. Watch the weather and plan ahead for rains by setting shallower if you expect a big rise overnight due to precip. or melting of snow.

Happy trapping. ScottW

[primetime]

"You have a very small window of time"

When is this small window?

I've got open water on most rivers now, what is different about 5-6 weeks from now? Do Beaver just not move till later regardless?

P.S. Bogmaster - Sorry, I don't get that magazine.

[foxtrapperwoman]

I am a dumb beaver trapper, but there is dispersal going on here and we don't have as high a beaver population as some places. I have gotten 3 that are in the 2-3 year old bracket, 28 pounds, and 2 39-40 pounders, 2 males and a female. Dam is not being repaired, water level now down 3-5 inches, so these are roaming animals. 2 were caught in side channels, little streams going into the main creek that are still backed up since the dam is still holding some water back. The residents caught were 3 by another trapper in the 50 pound size, then I came in and got 2 yearlings, and 2 in the 2 year old size ( 30's). Then a bunch of days went by with no beavers, just muskrats and mink or nothing at all. Then a 39 pounder going into a bank den hole. Male.

[martybaxter]

will beavers start new dams and repairs by jamming stick in place vertically? On the way home from school I checked a slough I cleaned out earlier this winter and there were sticks at the mouth of the slough placed vertically. And at a trough I kicked in the dam. I thought someone else had just finished trapping there, but then I saw some new chew marks. Wondering if it is just a brand new beaver thats only been there a few days?

[Rally Hess]

Martybaxter,
The sticks you mentioned may be evidence of a new beaver moving in or could also just be beaversticks that have washed into the notch from rising and falling spring waters. Even the fresh chew marks could be a stick that has been washed there from a colonie upstream or an old chew mark that got wet and appears to be new. Most often when a beaver repairs a dam they also use mud with the sticks to stop the water.
You can find out if there are beaver there now several ways. If you go back to the pond clean out the original notch in the dam and check on it a couple days later. If there are bever there they will most often repair it unless they have been spooked by being snapped by a trap or possibly seeing a dead beaver at that location. If that has been the case go away from that spot and make an additional small break in the dam to get the beavers attention. I also quite often make an artificial "slide" on a steep bank of the pond by throwing alot of water on an area I "slick up " with my boot. I want this to look like another beaver was cutting here and add a partially peeled bait stick at the top of the slide. I don't use any odor/ lure at this set that may cause alarm to an already spooked beaver that may have smelled one of the many castor based lures used there. Try to avoid leaving any footprints at the area especially in the slide. When you come back to check the notch in the dam check this slide out.

[primetime]

So if you are trapping a river do you just make sets anywhere along the river and wait for the Beaver to swim by?

Do the young get kicked out and go in search of new areas? How far apart miles, yards, feet, should your sets be?

What time of year are we talking? Feb, Mar, Apr... Or does it very each year.

PT

[Rally Hess]

Beaver get kicked out shortly after break up here or about 3 rd week of March to 2 nd week of April. I didn't notice where you are from. I'd advise asking a local beaver trapper to get aproximate time of dispersal. I have come to believe the male beaver get kicked out first and have seen dispersal here as late as mid-late May. That was due to a spring with low water conditions and late breakup.
If you are blind setting a river system I find it best to set where smaller waterways enter the river as this is the point of entry from ponds that usually break up later than the flowing water of a river. I normally set several at each location as it is common here for many beaver to be traveling through when the dipersal is in full swing. I quite often run canoe lines that 1-3 days through and spend a couple nights while setting in the bush. You may be surprised at how many beaver swim by your sets. In fact it would be embarrassing if we really knew. I don't set exclusively on sign in the spring and have found I have caught many beaver from the areas listed above, with no sign at them. Just make a scent mound set or beter yet make two or three and pull the ones later that don't produce if you run short of traps or snares. If an area had beaver in it and there is a good population that area was chosen once before and will probably attract more beaver. Try to have your line set to be ready before the major dispersal period and when the beaver show to have a great deal of cuts from fighting it is time to pull, if you are fur trapping. It doesn't make scense to kill a bunch of chopped up beaver just because the season is open. Manage the resource for the future and manage the market as best you can by producing good fur.
The difference between fall and spring trapping is the beaver beaver you are primarily targeting. Fall beaver tend to be a family group or on a river system perhaps several family groups that are using the same areas to feed or reside in a section of river. Their travel routes are smaller and they tend to be less territorial. Set on sign in feeding areas and use scent mounds in close vicinity of the individual colonies.
In the spring most are targeting traveling two year old beaver that have been kicked out and looking to pair and establish an area of their own. They are very territorial at this time of year and the males primarily will fight to the death to keep dispersal beaver away from their colony. It is also common to see traveling beaver during the day in the spring for this reason. Imagine a smaller two year old beaver that comes in contact with a larger adult male while it travel through it's area. The smaller beaver is going to get a good chewing for intruding. That is why I believe more are seen swimming during the day, to avoid comingin contact with these large males, who are usually out during the dark hours.

[BK]

Rally, I find it interesting you feel the males do the most fighting.
The females always seem to show the most scars here, and almost always are bigger than the males.

I often I kill the female first when I set up a colony.

On the rivers here while trapping in the spring I see swimming beaver, but it's because their bank dens and lodges are flooded out.

[thorsmightyhammer]

When is this small window?


I'm sure it varies with region but up here you want to be on them right when the ice goes out. Then at best a week to ten days.


Do you need to set on sign?


I dont worry about sign. It helps the confidence level but thats about it.

[Rally Hess]

Bk,
The females are quite often chewed here also but I'm quite sure it is from fighting with their 2 year old beaver to make them leave. I trap beaver all year and have noticed the females don't have many scars much after the spring or into summer that aren't old. The males have scars here almost any time there is open water and more so on a river system than in ponds.
I have also kept real good records on the male / female ratio setting in the spring and find just shy of 80% of the beaver I catch at scent mounds are male. Later in the summer the number of females increase but they are 2 year old beaver I believe from later dispersal. Seldom do I catch a large adult female at a scent mound and believe that once they have pups in lodge they are leary of scent mounds. I believe the female beaver when she has pups react to scent mounds as a possible confrontation, which she will avoid to ensure the safety of the pups and the colony overall. If she is injured in a fight while she has pups the colony will die. I have some film of a female that has pups approaching a scent mound. She gets about 8' from the scent mound and swims directly back to the lodge. I have also come to believe the female does very little cutting after she has had a litter of pups and the bulk of the work is delegated to the yearlings and older male beaver. Look at the alpha female beavers teeth in most any colony and they are by far the most stained from lack of use. It is a rumor that beaver have to chew wood to maintain their teeth. They grind their teeth to maintain them ( even in their sleep) and don't require wood chewing to keep them from growing too long. If you go listen to an active colony you can hear them doing just that and some believe it to be them eating when it really is them grooming their teeth. When a beaver chews wood it is much quieter than when they groom their teeth which has a much louder grinding type sound.
Much of this area also floods in the spring time, due to low banks in marsh areas and melting snow. Some beaver get flooded out in these areas and are on the banks in high areas until the water goes back down. When this happens though it is common to see a female with any number of beaver of different sizes huddled and sleeping together, just like in a lodge. These are family groups that have been flooded out and tend to stay fairly close to the lodge though on higher ground. It is also common to see single beaver, usually males early in the spring, in areas with no local beaver populations that establish feed beds and small sleeping "nests". I have shot several of these beaver on contracts and the vast majority of them are 2 year old males that have been chewed up pretty bad. Mnay many times I scare them into the water as I go by in a canoe or boat. I have found setting a snare in the trail going to these nests quite effective, but have also had them go undisturbed with no further activity in the area, or the beaver leaving the area. I believe these beaver are dispersal beaver and the rate of at which they are males and badly chewed reinforces that in my mind. The leter into the dispersal period the higher rate of females. Something I have also noticed is the females seem to have less damage to them than the males I encounter in this type situation. Are the females better at knowing they are no longer wanted in the lodge?
Something that I have also noticed in the last ten years or so here. Beaver are not suppose to breed their first year after dispersal, or at least that is what is believed and written most places. It is getting very common here to catch beaver that weigh around 5-7 lbs in November and Dec. When I catch the "Adult" pair they are not yet three years old. This really seems to come with a early breakup in spring. I believe the beaver are breeding their first summer together in like june or july to have pups this small.

[primetime]

Wow that was interesting! I learned a lot, and I'll be rereading that one for sure.

Ya it sure would be nice to find a local trapper that might know when this dispersal takes place in my area.

[trappnman]

very good post Rally!

I've never heard that theroy about a female not cutting much after she has pups. Is this a year round thing then, or something that she just does in the spring?

It is getting very common here to catch beaver that weigh around 5-7 lbs in November and Dec. When I catch the "Adult" pair they are not yet three years old. This really seems to come with a early breakup in spring. I believe the beaver are breeding their first summer together in like june or july to have pups this small.

for the number of beaver I trap, I guess it is somewhat common here too. I never took small beaver in the fall (relatively speaking) but the last few years, have taken 1 or 2 like you say- 5 lb beaver.

[John Porter]

Spring beaver trapping up here is alot of work to me. During the winter I know that I will be chopping ice and setting feed piles. Come spring most of my bogs are trapped out or unaccessible due to mud season so I must set rivers. The rivers are always way above flood plane so I must move my traps to compensate for rising or falling water.
The amount of beaver I catch in the spring compared to under ice trapping is ten-folds. I catch more beaver in the winter! Why? The beaver are concentrated under the ice and I can set up where I know they will be the most active. Dispersal here is taking place more years right at ice out and the muskrats are dispersing at the same time so its tough to keep sets from clogging up with rats.
John

[Rally Hess]

Steve,
I believe the adult female, once she has a litter of pups does very little to nothing to maintain the dam or lodge. Look at the teeth of the lodge members and with few acceptions hers will be the darkest. I also have found that if you look at a colony that has more than two years age cloass of beaver, the majority of the cutting and gathering is done by the yearlings and 1 1/2 year old beaver. Quite often I have looked in say september to early October here at the trees in an area that are being notched or "marked". By that I mean they have a couple bites taken out of them by a large beaver. When I go back in a couple days the trees have been fell and the stump shows the tooth marks to be that of the smaller beaver. I believe the adult male marks the trees he wants cut. I've looked at a bunch of trees that are already cut and it appears all sizes of beaver clean them up but still the majority are cut by small beaver. I realize that is what makes up the majority population in the lodge but still doesn't account for the tree marking by the larger adult male. When the beaver are first setting up a colony they seem to work side by side, but after the female has a litter things appear to change. It also seems the males are more muscular than the females indicating they work more or maybe they are like us humans and it is all a gender thing. I used to set different before I came to this conclusion, while trapping summer beaver. I noticed the females were seldom caught on castor or plain mud sets. I started using the oil of her pups to catch the females that hung up in sets made where they didn't have to get out of the water in flooded timber and my time at the locations were shortened. Also use the oil from a female to catch young pups that will don't venture very far from the lodge and looking for the female. I've used the oil from a male also to catch a female but had limited success, with some on a matched pair of two year olds. I don't believe the adult female is too worried about her male but he is very concerned when she goes missing. Usually figure if I catch the female the rest are fairly easy. The female will usually pair again the following spring and have found she may allow some two year olds to stay when part of the colony has been trapped. It is quite common here to have the adult male be smaller than the adult female here, in colonies close to the road. I believe the trappers spring trapping catch the males working scent mound sets while trapping from the road.

[thorsmightyhammer]

Rally, still catching 5-7 lb beaver yet in Feb. I find it odd that is some of these colonies when I caught the adults they were pretty big, say in the 55 lb range. I am thinking that for some reason they have bred late for some reason. Maybe didnt bred the first go around and the female may have come in heat again. Any thoughts?

Have also seen many times when the male is smaller than the female. I think that its a good chance the male is possibly one of her young.

John things must be quite different here in the spring. I am thinking that there are more than a few trappers who routinely take in the range of 3 to 500 beaver in a 25 to 30 day period.

PT if you live in the southern third of the state I would surmise that your dispersal will start sometime around the middle of march plus or minus depending on weather, though i wouldnt think minus very much. Keep in mind that if you dont have a somewhat large population it wont be very noticeable.

[rk660]

Rally, that was some great info-thanks!

[primetime]

Rally - awesome stuff

Steven - Thanks. I'll be trying it come mid-march. It won't be no huge line, maybe a dozen traps or so just to see how it goes. A learning experience - then next year build off of it.

[Rally Hess]

Steven,
I have also caught these small beaver way into the spring/winter. I believe the health of these females and their cycle has been effected by their environment. Meaning that this is perfect habitat, and that the way we pursue them, with the majority being taken in the spring (states records show this) has in some areas made the written "rules" of beaver reproduction invalid. Trapping the same areas for 5 years, while doing my DU contracts has me wondering about beaver dynamics and given me reason to question some aspects. Running fall / winter/ spring lines as is normal for me, and rotating areas didn't really fill in the voids to many questions I've pondered. Running these contracts in the May - Sept.time period, in the same areas has just added to outlook, while having to keep records of the same areas and knowing what the influx and take has been. I have one culvert in this area that I have taken 47 beaver at in the last five years. I've had a pair of beaver ATTEMPT to set up house in this area as late as August. Is also common to take two year old female beaver here in mid June. Read that as single, female, uninjured,two year old, female beaver.
I believe the females that have smaller males could be their two year old pups being mistaken for their mates, and more likely their male was taken by a fall or spring trapper using a castor based lure at a territorial marker at the colonies boundaries. I have found the adult male is most likely to be caught near the inlet or outlet of the colony than any other class of beaver. Indicating to me that they are the ones playing the role of "protector" more so than any age or sex class of beaver in a colony.Many beaver trappers have told me they also set away from the lodge to avoid catching small beaver as their way of "farming" there lines. Also something to think about when ADC trapping a colony you can't get close to. I make a real effort to age class and sex the beaver I take from a colony while ADC trapping. It is usaully fairly easy to tell when a colony has been trapped from the evidence left. When I have trouble catching what I believe should be there I can look at my records to determine what I have caught and have found what I thought to be a dead colony, I really still had not caught all the beaver. I often get calls to catch "the remaining beaver"and feel I'm throwing sand into the wind without knowing what has been taken already.