Post by Steve Gappa on Feb 16, 2004 20:29:03 GMT -6
Reprinted From Trapper & Predator Caller
Small Stream Beavers- By Steve Gappa
Think about beaver and what is your mental picture? Huge beaver swamps- with houses and cuttings, down trees everywhere you look. A beaver marsh that has been untouched for a few years might have dozens of beaver in it- and set locations in such an environment are many. The problem often becomes which sign to set on. A good beaver man can go into such an area and set a dozen traps and get almost that many beaver the next day. Or do you think of a pond nestled in pines- an up north beaver swamp. Or perhaps a small river with a series of dams- I have seen up to 7-8 dams lined up on a small river. All these areas are of course good beavering areas and much has been written about how to go about trapping them. But there isn’t too much available concerning stream trapping.
But a lot beaver live in small streams. Many times, the stream before the beaver arrive is often just mere feet across and shallow enough to wade in at will. A lot of times these small stream colonies of beaver are also small- an old bachelor or two or a pair of 2 year olds setting up housekeeping. Most times in my area, these small streams are privately owned and the owner wants the beaver out. Many of these streams are what you would consider “marginal” habitat areas and the beaver usually aren’t welcomed by the land owner. So you are called in to trap these beaver “before I take a gun and shoot em”
So you bring in you armful of 330s, snares and footholds, walk around the area a few times to find the good locations- and put in a bunch of sets. Tomorrow, you figure- you should have the couple of beaver there, one more day to make sure- and you are out of there! But chances are that the next day you have little action, so you figure you better see what you missed yesterday. This involved another walk or two up and down the stream. A few locations look better than what you set yesterday, so you construct a few sets and hope for better tomorrow. The next day dawns with high hopes and no beaver. What’s the problem?
Simple- you are treating all beaver the same and that just doesn‘t work. Lots of times when the above happens, the trapper immediately thinks that someone has beaten him there- that these beaver have “been educated” to be trap and set wise. While that certainly can be true, experience has shown me it simply might be the way you approached and set up on Day One. Let me explain.
The biggest consideration you must look at is the environment in which these beaver live. Usually, at least in my areas- the small streams are rock bottom, spring fed clear water creeks. And when I say clear- I mean clear- esp. in winter once the main activity of cutting and building dams is over. And even with damned up pools, these stream are still small- often just 20-30 feet wide at the center of the pool. Bank dens are far more common than houses. And this means a couple of things- 1) the beaver can most likely see you, hear you and feel you (vibrations from walking) every moment you are at that pond and 2) with the smaller populations present- removal or distress of one or two beaver can put the rest into a super cautious panic. These 2 things can often curtail sharply or even eliminate most actions and trigger big pattern changes. Beaver that get truly wised up can become like old coyotes- super cautious about any human disturbance or scent- and can be as hard as an old peg legged coyote to catch. But these beaver can be caught, for the most part rather easily- if you do it right the first time..
The first thing to keep in mind is that I am not going to tell you any secret sets- there are really only a few types of sets- with limitless variations of course- and for the most part these same sets will work here also. The secret of small stream beaver isn’t the sets- it’s the mindset of the trapper. Confused? Well, hopefully I can clear things up a little.
The another thing to keep in mind for beaver in these small, clear streams is that they are going to be aware of your presence. Depending on the daily activity in the area, these beaver are going to be affected by disturbances in their ponds. The more intrusive the disturbance, the more they will be affected. Cumulative daily disturbances compound the problem This can range from curtailing activities for a few hours to holing up for weeks at a time or in extreme cases vacating the area. Consider this scenario- A trapper comes into an unfamiliar area for beaver. He walks up and down the stream- looking for locations, pounding stakes and constructing sets, rearranging things. In the morning, maybe a beaver - but wait, how did I miss these two locations over here?- so more traps are set and more disturbances go on. Next day no beaver .So you continue to scout for better locations. After a few days, no activity is noted. Then just about when you think the beaver have moved-new sign is seen. You immediately set that up- but the beaver ignores that area and you see sign in a new spot- or worse, no activity for a while. No doubt about it you conclude- someone has made these beaver trap shy. Well, you are right- not so much trap shy as just spooked- and you are the culprit!
While those beaver can be caught, if you have the time, it is much better to not spook those beaver to begin with. And that is what I meant by changing your mindset. Once I started approaching these small stream beaver holes like I would a good trout hole, my success increased dramatically. And that means, for you non trout fishermen out there- slowly, calmly and cautiously. Know what you are going to do before you do it.
To begin with, I found is that on your first visit to the stream, leave your traps and other equipment in the truck. I say this for 2 reasons- 1) I seldom set on day one and 2) just hauling the equipment around causes a good disturbance. Leave the equipment in the truck until you know exactly where and how you are going to set them. So step one is to relax- walk down to the pond, find a stump, sit down (smoke if ya got em’) and look around. Use your eyes rather than your feet. In a small stream area, you should be able to get a good look at the general scheme of things from one or two vantage points. As you look over the area, several possible set locations should become apparent. When you feel you have seen all you can see by sitting, get up and carefully (avoid disturbing the area and stay out of the water if possible) walk the stream to check out the potential locations more closely. Decide on a few locations- 2 or 3 is more than enough on most small streams. Look over these picked locations carefully- decide what type of trap and incidental equipment you will need to make the set, so that when you come to set up, you can do so quickly, easily and efficiently. If you are going to need to move sticks or otherwise rearrange the set area, do it now with as little fuss and commotion as possible. I like to wait a day or 2 more- then come in, go to my preselected set locations with the exact equipment I need, and put the sets in quickly, quietly and be on my way. By doing it this way, it is common to take all the beaver in a night or two.
Contined below
Small Stream Beavers- By Steve Gappa
Think about beaver and what is your mental picture? Huge beaver swamps- with houses and cuttings, down trees everywhere you look. A beaver marsh that has been untouched for a few years might have dozens of beaver in it- and set locations in such an environment are many. The problem often becomes which sign to set on. A good beaver man can go into such an area and set a dozen traps and get almost that many beaver the next day. Or do you think of a pond nestled in pines- an up north beaver swamp. Or perhaps a small river with a series of dams- I have seen up to 7-8 dams lined up on a small river. All these areas are of course good beavering areas and much has been written about how to go about trapping them. But there isn’t too much available concerning stream trapping.
But a lot beaver live in small streams. Many times, the stream before the beaver arrive is often just mere feet across and shallow enough to wade in at will. A lot of times these small stream colonies of beaver are also small- an old bachelor or two or a pair of 2 year olds setting up housekeeping. Most times in my area, these small streams are privately owned and the owner wants the beaver out. Many of these streams are what you would consider “marginal” habitat areas and the beaver usually aren’t welcomed by the land owner. So you are called in to trap these beaver “before I take a gun and shoot em”
So you bring in you armful of 330s, snares and footholds, walk around the area a few times to find the good locations- and put in a bunch of sets. Tomorrow, you figure- you should have the couple of beaver there, one more day to make sure- and you are out of there! But chances are that the next day you have little action, so you figure you better see what you missed yesterday. This involved another walk or two up and down the stream. A few locations look better than what you set yesterday, so you construct a few sets and hope for better tomorrow. The next day dawns with high hopes and no beaver. What’s the problem?
Simple- you are treating all beaver the same and that just doesn‘t work. Lots of times when the above happens, the trapper immediately thinks that someone has beaten him there- that these beaver have “been educated” to be trap and set wise. While that certainly can be true, experience has shown me it simply might be the way you approached and set up on Day One. Let me explain.
The biggest consideration you must look at is the environment in which these beaver live. Usually, at least in my areas- the small streams are rock bottom, spring fed clear water creeks. And when I say clear- I mean clear- esp. in winter once the main activity of cutting and building dams is over. And even with damned up pools, these stream are still small- often just 20-30 feet wide at the center of the pool. Bank dens are far more common than houses. And this means a couple of things- 1) the beaver can most likely see you, hear you and feel you (vibrations from walking) every moment you are at that pond and 2) with the smaller populations present- removal or distress of one or two beaver can put the rest into a super cautious panic. These 2 things can often curtail sharply or even eliminate most actions and trigger big pattern changes. Beaver that get truly wised up can become like old coyotes- super cautious about any human disturbance or scent- and can be as hard as an old peg legged coyote to catch. But these beaver can be caught, for the most part rather easily- if you do it right the first time..
The first thing to keep in mind is that I am not going to tell you any secret sets- there are really only a few types of sets- with limitless variations of course- and for the most part these same sets will work here also. The secret of small stream beaver isn’t the sets- it’s the mindset of the trapper. Confused? Well, hopefully I can clear things up a little.
The another thing to keep in mind for beaver in these small, clear streams is that they are going to be aware of your presence. Depending on the daily activity in the area, these beaver are going to be affected by disturbances in their ponds. The more intrusive the disturbance, the more they will be affected. Cumulative daily disturbances compound the problem This can range from curtailing activities for a few hours to holing up for weeks at a time or in extreme cases vacating the area. Consider this scenario- A trapper comes into an unfamiliar area for beaver. He walks up and down the stream- looking for locations, pounding stakes and constructing sets, rearranging things. In the morning, maybe a beaver - but wait, how did I miss these two locations over here?- so more traps are set and more disturbances go on. Next day no beaver .So you continue to scout for better locations. After a few days, no activity is noted. Then just about when you think the beaver have moved-new sign is seen. You immediately set that up- but the beaver ignores that area and you see sign in a new spot- or worse, no activity for a while. No doubt about it you conclude- someone has made these beaver trap shy. Well, you are right- not so much trap shy as just spooked- and you are the culprit!
While those beaver can be caught, if you have the time, it is much better to not spook those beaver to begin with. And that is what I meant by changing your mindset. Once I started approaching these small stream beaver holes like I would a good trout hole, my success increased dramatically. And that means, for you non trout fishermen out there- slowly, calmly and cautiously. Know what you are going to do before you do it.
To begin with, I found is that on your first visit to the stream, leave your traps and other equipment in the truck. I say this for 2 reasons- 1) I seldom set on day one and 2) just hauling the equipment around causes a good disturbance. Leave the equipment in the truck until you know exactly where and how you are going to set them. So step one is to relax- walk down to the pond, find a stump, sit down (smoke if ya got em’) and look around. Use your eyes rather than your feet. In a small stream area, you should be able to get a good look at the general scheme of things from one or two vantage points. As you look over the area, several possible set locations should become apparent. When you feel you have seen all you can see by sitting, get up and carefully (avoid disturbing the area and stay out of the water if possible) walk the stream to check out the potential locations more closely. Decide on a few locations- 2 or 3 is more than enough on most small streams. Look over these picked locations carefully- decide what type of trap and incidental equipment you will need to make the set, so that when you come to set up, you can do so quickly, easily and efficiently. If you are going to need to move sticks or otherwise rearrange the set area, do it now with as little fuss and commotion as possible. I like to wait a day or 2 more- then come in, go to my preselected set locations with the exact equipment I need, and put the sets in quickly, quietly and be on my way. By doing it this way, it is common to take all the beaver in a night or two.
Contined below