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#7312 - 12/26/06 06:54 PM Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
loretta Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 11/16/03
Posts: 18
Loc: Shenadoah Valley, Va
I am trapping on a large river that the water is slowly rising from rain. I have taken several beaver and continue to move traps up close to the bank edge. In the morning I find traps up to fifteen inches deep in water. Some hold beaver some are sprung. About half are laying where I bedded them and the others are out on the slide cable. What is the ideal depth for a catch and any advice on how to handle the changing water level. I don't enjoy sprung traps as I feel that I am giving a free education to these rodents. Traps are #3 victor cs.

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#7313 - 12/26/06 08:00 PM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
porkchop7493 Offline
Member

Registered: 01/25/06
Posts: 50
Loc: new york
usually i will let everything stay where they are depending on how much rain we are supposed to get(we don't get that much this time of year in ny)i will say one thing though most of my footholds for beavers are #3 victors but i have had alot of sprung traps this year and am going to buy bigger ones, i will let 330's ride in runs until water gets to fast and trips them

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#7314 - 12/26/06 10:04 PM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
the Black Spot Offline
Member

Registered: 06/18/05
Posts: 41
Loc: misplaced Texan in arkansas
i agree about getting bigger footholds. personally, i only set #4 longs for front feet, and use the #4 sleepy creek long(its bigger than the vics or b&l #4's) and #5 duke/bridger longs for back feet.
i usually put my finger tips at water level(where is touches the bank) and hold my arm out perpendicular to the bank so that my elbow is out over the water, then i go straight down from where my elbow is over the water and left or right about 3-4 inches and BED my trap right there(just scoop out a hollow)
anyway, that's my 2 cents for what it is worth

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#7315 - 12/26/06 10:56 PM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
Hal Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 07/17/00
Posts: 10227
Loc: Blue Creek, Ohio, USA
Rising and falling water is a pain. Because of it, you can't expect to get ideal trap placement. When the water is rising, set your traps shallow, when it is falling set your traps deep.

(P.S. A more descriptive title would serve you better.)

smile -- Hal
_________________________
Endeavor to persevere.

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#7316 - 12/28/06 03:18 AM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3002
Loc: WV
The "ideal" depth for beaver? Depends on the slope of the river bank, could be up to 18 inches or more. Four, 6 or 8 inches would be my favorite water depth. As far as "guessing" the water-level, one thing you can depend on is a scanner or "weather-box", and listen to the local NOAA weather station. I assume you're trapping the Shenandoah River? As mentioned above, rising water is a pain, just one of those things where you're hands are tied, about the only thing to do is listen to the weather/stream report, make your best guess (where to set the traps) and hope for the best. Here where I live, it's not unusual for the rivers to rise/fall 6 or 8 inches overnight, just depends on the temps. Water trapping requires you to stay on top of the weather even more than dirt-trapping. smile

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#7317 - 12/28/06 11:40 PM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
loretta Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 11/16/03
Posts: 18
Loc: Shenadoah Valley, Va
My main concern is the number of misses I experienced with the rising water. Last season I consistently took beaver with the #3 cs with few misses. I bedded traps in 3" to 8" of water with no problem. It seems that with rising water, sprung traps and misses are more commom, or is it the #3 traps? It is the south fork redsnow.

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#7318 - 12/29/06 04:06 AM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water
porkchop7493 Offline
Member

Registered: 01/25/06
Posts: 50
Loc: new york
to be honest with ya i am having the same problem, last year i got alot of beavers with the #3's but i am also having alot of misses this year

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#26992 - 01/07/20 04:45 PM Re: Trap placement for beaver rising & falling water [Re: loretta]
Archive Offline


Registered: 03/12/03
Posts: 1486
Dated for search.

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