First beaver ...but oohhhh the misses!!

[CoonDuke]

Set the first beaver sets in my life on Friday afternoon. Seven sets all made with footholds. First check, the beaver in the pic and a coon. Missed a beaver at a castor mound. Snapped trap and the beaver made a new mound beside mine.

At another set, I somehow managed to miss a coon, a muskrat, AND an otter at a castor mound. For some reason, the otter was really interested in the home brew lure I was using. It came from the river, and walked back and forth on the bank around the mound checking out the lure, then went back to the water.

It would kind of have ticked me off if I would have caught that otter on the first check of my first beaver line...in a state where we can't keep 'em.

Day 2 check. 17 lb beaver and a 19 lb beaver. One trap snapped and at the bottom of the drowner. At another set a beaver ate all of my feed sticks and I don't know how the heck he didn't get caught.

Had a time with the big beaver in the pic. Pulled my stake and was on a 15' "drag". One helluva catch circle on the bank...LOL. Luckily he got tangled in the anchor rope on the boat, and we could pull him to the top to get a 22 in his head.

Nevermind my goofy grin on the pic...LOL.

[dj88ryr]

Cool, way to go, imagine doing 10-20 of them a night,.... ;D

[jeffc]

Congratulations on your first beaver! I don't have enough of them to run a line strictly for them but i enjoy trapping them.

Jeff

[BrandonH]

Todd,
Congrats on your second "first beaver." LOL I can see the signature now->
"Beaver fear my schoolboy appearance."
Seriously dude, great job on those guys. The fun part is over now, as boarding your first couple will be an experience you'll never forget. Beaver with those small foottraps you guys are limited to is a tough business, don't sweat those couple snapped traps. Biggest thing I've found with using them is to bed them as solid as you would a K9 trap. Rock On!
BH

[BK]

WTG CoonDuke,.......... your beaver looks like it weighs more than 19 lb, you are taller than the Lion? ;D

[CoonDuke]

No, the one in the pic is 60 lbs. I am 6'1". ;D

[foxtrapperwoman]

Hey beaverduke CAN YA SEND ME SOMA DAT DERE LURE? Otter nosing around? I have been trying to get an otter for over a month! I am really wondering why the limit is 5 here, it is hard as the dickens to just get ONE!

[ColdSteel]

If you are having trouble missing beaver and otter get you some 330's they are a beaver and otter killing machine.

[Drew]

the smile says it all....nice work!

[Zagman]

Hey, that's my line!"

A genuine smile from IkilledthissomebichDuke....

I hate beaver trapping MORE than I hate red coyotes.....

Come on up....I got plenty of spots to chase these varmints but only do it when $$ changes hands.....

Based on this pic, did you pee your pants lifting this dude up? I see a puddle under your peepee....

Zagman

[thefoxtrapper]

beaverduke, if hes not rubbed or bit up, hes probably worth $1 an inch finished maybe more, check out nafa results for high end blanket beaver, hope beaver prices get even stronger as they are easy to catch and quite a few around, w

[CoonDuke]

Winston,
I don't know chit about beaver. The fur looks good to me though. What do you think?

I think it will easily stretch to 70" but I don't know.

The tail was perfect on it but it was missing a back toe.

[thefoxtrapper]

from what i can see, the back and flanks look real good, is the belly wet or have dirt in it? if not then he seems a little rubbed on the belly, but still you have a lot of good fur on him, way NAFA looked, probably a $50 beaver easy, maybe more like 60-70, the hair looks thick the way the ruler is pushed down into it, basically if you have long guard hairs and its thick you are good to go, if uneven guard hairs and wooly fur he is rubbed bad, but that beav looks good, w

[dj88ryr]

BeaverstewDuke,

Don't forget about the quality meant on them babys. Here is Hornhunters Beaver Stew recipe, he made a big pot of this for the NH Winter Rendezvous, even was devoured to the last drop. Good recipe, give er a shot. Smaller Beaver are better of course, but they are all good.

Beaver stew recipe-
Anyone interested in making a stew this seems to be an easy no fail way to make it.
Can be made with any meat. Some times I brown it. Other times I just chunk it up and put it in the bottom of the crock-pot. Never made it any other way, except in the crock-pot.

Meat= 4 or 5 cups cut into pieces

At least 2 cans of peas

1 or 2 can of whole corn.

5 or so sticks of celery

Several carrots cut into small pieces

3 or 4 medium potatoes cut into small pieces

2 or 3 onions---I love onions the more the better!

2 cubes or packets of beef bouillon.

A few tablespoons of olive oil.

Salt and pepper to taste

Powdered garlic--If the stew is for me I put the garlic and onions "heavy" I use so much garlic that at work a couple Italians make me an honorary "Italian"


If the pot isn't full just add more vegetables.

Add water so that it almost cover.

[rk660]

Remember Ole Duke is a fox trapper, after a lifetime of skinning foxes, I'm curious to see the expression on his face after skinning his overgrown rodent. Kinda takes the wind out of beaver trapping, LOL.

They are fun the first few big ones though aint they!

Watch 2 trucks pull up at furbuyers-one has 4
-60 lb beaver, the other has 40-60 coon piled up in back. Where does the crowd gather? All the Ouhhs and Aughs are around the truck w/ the beaver, people poking at teeth, lifting tails, fingering feet. Its like a deer check station w/ huge 5 x 5 in back of truck.

Something about the size of beaver makes guys all giddy when they start trapping them. Something like the effect big game hunting has on people.

After a while, you'll find smaller is better when it comes to beaver trapping.

Big beaver= Flat, thin furred, scarred up, hard to flesh.

Med 2 year old beaver=Easyer to skin, flesh, fur filled out much earlyer in year, worth more money on ave. after you figure in higher % of low grades.

If he gets hooked by this newfound big game trapping, shall we rename him BeaverPrince instead of CoonDuke?

Have fun with your overgrown mice bud, if ya get obsessed with them, can I have your little red puppies?

[thefoxtrapper]

rk660, all joking aside, only reason i dont do 3-400 a year on beaver is because of the skinning and hauling of carcasses, plus time is a problem, if I could find a full time skinner for me i would kill all i can, but for the reasons you mentioned i have to keep it in the couple hundred range, im gonna be looking for a full time skinner this summer and if prices keep rising i will go for broke next year, all i will do is trap and throw in the skinners floor and then pick up the finished product, the small fee will be well worth me not having to do anything other than catch the beaver, w

[foxtrapperwoman]

That beav is just gorgoeus. Really nice looking back fur . I have 1 that was a fat 40 pounder and the belly fur looks more like otter fur, the short guardhairs look that way. I guess the beavs in my area are more like the northerns, but the guard hairs on the back are courser. Underfur is thick looking though and soft, and since most are going for shearing, I think buyers look at the underfur, am I right? Also these beavs are very dark brown. I noticed NE beavers get some of the best prices, besides Canada and AK.

I don't mind skinning beavers at all, as long as it is just 1-2 a day and no more LOL. It still takes me 90 mins to skin and get on the hoop. I figured out clean skinning the belly, but not the back, but fleshing the back is pretty easy.

[thefoxtrapper]

1-2 beaver is a piece of cake, when im catching them, im catching them, I skinned 43 in two nights not long ago, that was awful, usually its 8-10 at a time, but i would prefer a big fat zero so i can get some sleep and spend time with my wife, hard problem is gonna be finding someone skin for me, w

[CoonDuke]

After my first fur handling experience with beaver, I thought to myself, "I wonder if the guys who complain about putting up coyotes have ever actually put up a beaver." ;D

[Clefus]

Duke of whittlewood
If you wanna get seriousand want to use bigger traps, ask phil b ..he has a MB 750 reworked to PA specs I did...not sure if he used it yet....I have some I use myself...or pm me