Beaver Question!

[Josh_D.]

I have a couple of question for people with more experience than me!  I live in eastern WA and practically in my backyard I have a beaver chewing up and down the river.  I have found spots that he chews quite often but all of his slides are iced up so he doesnt leave tracks.  Can I trap him out of the water in a have a heart trap at all?

The second question is more of a law question:  If my friend and I want to run a trapline together but all the trap tags are in my name, can he check the traps for me?

Thank you very much in advance!
-Joshua Dyck

[pnwmtnmn]

You can use a havahart of the correct size but be there first thing in the morning as he WILL work that trap and you may have scrap  when he is done.  I and Ted Cantrell have done the both set single checks both trappers tags need to be on the trap. Ted and I did this for several years so we just ordered in tags with both I.D. numbers on them.

[Humptulips]

I know several trappers that catch beaver in scent type sets out of the water. Seems to work well for them. It dies seem like the havaheart traps need to be reinforced especially in the door area. I'm thinking of that locking door mechanism they have. I have seen a couple traps where that was bent enough for the beaver to escape. I have not used them myself but I would think a little reinforcement of the locking mechanism is in order.

As for the trap tags it is as pwmtnmn said. I talked with WDFW about this year before last I think and you should attach two tags or as said a tag with both trappers name on it.