Hunting Washington Forum
Other Activities => Trapping => Topic started by: Norman89 on November 04, 2018, 09:36:00 AM
-
Set traps on my birthday yesterday just 2 beaver sets. Both set off one blank and my new record beaver at 56 lbs! Great way to start the season back straps on the grill tonight!
-
That's a fatty! Nice work :tup:
-
Nom nom nom
-
7 lbs of beaver cut with pound and half of smoked bacon ends mmmmm should make some good burgers!
-
Congrats
-
Nice start! Happy Birthday!
-
Thanks guys picked up a 10lb kit this morning was dark before work so no pic. Seem to pick a good spot same trap produce twice in 2 days gotta love that!
-
Off to a great start!
-
Nice job norman89 :tup: how did the burgers taste?
-
Going to cook some up tomorrow when I get home be sure to let you guys know
-
Got home late from work on the east side and checked traps on the way home third day third catch same set location hello there Mr otter. My first otter and good size will take some better pics of it in the morning for you guys
-
Congrats!
-
Thanks Jason was a pleasant surprise but wow are they hard on 1x2 wire. Gonna have to repair the doors soon he did a number on them he nearly got out
-
Awesome!!
-
Nice! How’s the fur quality with it being this early and this warm still?
-
Hard for me to tell honestly I'm not sure what to look for since this is my first one I'll be skinning it tonight after work and I'll see if it's "blue" but it appears very nice and thick
-
Had to freeze the otter for lack of time he finally thawed out today and he is in great shape I skinned him out he is in the fridge and I'll flesh and take pics tomorrow. Picked up another kit Beaver tonight as well and why did I not get a opening cut knife sooner!!!??? Holy cow this thing is awesome!
-
Over in Moses lake for the weekend and set out a few rat traps in a local Creek, some real good sign lots of cuttings tracks in the mud and fresh droppings on a root ball we will see what happens in the morning
-
Good luck bud. I love catching muskrats
-
Quick and easy to catch they are fun. One trap is in a perfect pinch point but the water is a little fast might hold the door open let's see what happens. There are otter toilets with in 50 yards of my muskrat traps and I only brought colony traps :bash:
-
Nice work!
-
Nice turn out for the trappers Ed class today, had a good time hanging out and talking with some new up and coming trappers. Came home and fried up some Beaver bacon burgers we're very tasty, just a little lean I think I'll use a little more bacon on the next batch but great flavor. Even my 2 and 4 year old boys loved it, they eat anything I bring home haha
-
Looks delicious! Yes, it was a great group today and a fun class. Next year you'll be teaching with us.
-
That sounds awesome karren!
-
Didn't get to reset my traps yet due to water still being high. But was finally able to get across the creek and retrieve the traps I had stashed away since the water came up over a month ago. Two big dams were washed out that I had been trapping near and the normally 2 foot deep Creek is still near 5 feet deep. I wandered the banks for a half mile either way before I found a suitable spot to cross and happy I did I found 2 other colony's of beaver one up creek in some very fast water with last night's chewings all over the place next to some vertical undercut banks. Pretty sure they have a bank den nearby. Then down stream the creek was blown out and going across the whole valley floor. Pretty crazy but I followed the sound of smashing water and found easily the biggest beaver damn iv ever seen! Had to be over 100yards wide. Very little fresh sign near by but that dam allowed me to get across and hike back up and retrieve my traps. It was so big I had to take 2 panorama pics to get most of it :yike: very cool hike and lots of elk sign. But I'm not sure where the property boundry is so I'll have to call Hancock and see if I can hunt and trap in there. First 2 pics are the damn from the up creek side. Then a massive cottonwood tree the power company had to take down last summer courtesy of the beavers :chuckle:
-
Hidden away deep in a back water behind the huge dam I found this lodge. All the water around it is muddied up and super deep so I'm not 100% that it's active, but whenever the water finally decides to come down I'll see if I can get into it and get a look again. More runs around the area then Bruce has traps I think :chuckle:
-
You are going to be busy! Careful of those DEEP runs!
-
Muddy water often indicates beaver activity. Karen and I set up a place on an otter complaint. The guy said he wanted the beaver gone too. The only sign I could find was about 6 months old. Then the first check there was a very small amount of chewing on a small crabapple, like a mouthful of bark. Caught three beavers there so far, 2 checks.
Surprising how little sign you see and still catch beavers sometimes. Of course with the high water they are on the move so maybe we caught them just as they showed up.
-
Good to know Bruce I kinda figured that was the case since there is no running water anywhere near the lodge that could stir it up, and I saw 2 perfect pinch points leading into the smaller pond where this was at my 12x18 would fit perfectly with very minimal fencing both spots with natural dive logs as well. If this water ever let's up and I can find the land boundrys it may be a little honey hole. A dam that big I would think would need a few beaver to maintain and the lodge is good size
-
Good place to snag an otter too. :tup:
-
Looks like you will have your work cut out for ya! Good luck :tup:
-
Got a call from some local boys with a beaver problem on a small creek they are flooding out a few crop fields and causing damage to a septic system so I dropped in r sets yeasterday. They told me there are lots of muskrat and otter in the area as well so I dropped in a few colony's. First check today produced a nice rat in a beaver set. Very fat and well furred out kinda interesting his hair towards his tail is jet black pretty cool colors really
-
Beautiful!
-
Very nice! Looks like you found a good spot.
-
Nice rat. :tup: looks big
-
11 dams in about 300 yards of water they are wreaking some havoc for this farmer. But really brushy and I couldn't find a lodge or bank den so I just went with some good ol pinch points see if I can pick them off
-
That's a big muskrat! nice work
-
Another fat rat tonight these guys are round like a fricken football
-
I noticed the ones I'm getting this season are SUPER fat as well
-
Must have just been a good year for them I've never had to really do much fleshing on these guys before but these ones have fat under the arm and across the back more then I've seen before
-
Good check tonight made the farmer very happy
-
Nice!
-
"NORM" ..................... Nice work young man :tup: :tup: two thumbs up
JC :hello:
-
Another 2 year old tonight making the land owner happy looks like I may get to come back to this spot next year :IBCOOL: and a grinner in a 7x7x24 single door :bash: baited with muskrat. Forgot to take a pic of him but not sure how he got in there, just fur sticking out of the cage all over the place and he couldn't turn around. Nothing but the head and back bone left of that muskrat though!
-
And thanks John!
-
How can you tell how old a beaver is? I'm very new to trapping and just caught my 2nd beaver tonight. I would really like to know how to tell their age, so trap out the area.
-
I was taught by an old trapper to judge age by weight with beaver Pretty much kits will be 15 pounds 2 year olds can be about 25 ish and most adults are 30+
-
I was taught by an old trapper to judge age by weight with beaver Pretty much kits will be 15 pounds 2 year olds can be about 25 ish and most adults are 30+
Right thank you. So, I've caught two adult beaver out of a large pond that has two beaver huts. How many more beaver would there be? Again, I do not want to over trap an area.
-
Most lodges if it has been active for a few years will have a minimum of six to complete a colony. 2 breeding adults, 2 2 year olds that help maintain the dams and feed bed and help around the house and then 2 kits that's just fart around the house playing watching and learning from the rest. This is assuming the lodge has been active for 3 years. I have seen on camera as many as 10 beaver to a colony and one of my spots seems to be anually have between 9 and 13 in a single lodge. It greatly differs from what there is to feed on, predation in the area, other trappers, it can all change. It also depends during breeding season other males will be cruising between colony's looking for a mate. Cameras go a long way to keeping tabs on a colony. I usual pull at least 2 beaver off a lodge if I want to leave seed for next season but lately I find myself doing removals where a land owner wants nuisance beaver removed complete. Can cost a farmer a whole pile of money when they start losing valuable fields that produce an annual crop
-
JUST tickling that tripple extra large size with a muskrat today
-
Can I join the fist full of rodents fan page 3nails!!??
-
YES!!!! Awesome pic. Love the muskrats!!
-
Never what you want to find checking traps on private property. I already had a lengthy talk with the folks who got me the spot here and we are unsure what happened it's a bummer but oh well life goes on I can fix the beaver trap but I think the mink cage is a R.I.P case :dunno:
-
What happened? Looks like someone drove over your mink trap.
-
We aren't sure we know the elk were in the area last night but this was set on a steep bank at the waters edge about 10' from the spot the elk cross the creek in the brush and no elk tracks around it. I truly think someone smashed it but I didn't think I needed a camera on this piece of property so who knows it's a bummer but the folks that got me this spot are referring me 2 more beaver jobs so I'll take the good with the bad
-
Is that a mink in the trap?
-
No just a muskrat for bait
-
This is the 3rd incident of traps getting destroyed that I personally know :bash:
-
That sucks man
-
You never did get yours resolved did you Jake, I still see that clown strutting around town like he got away with it!!
-
This is the first job I've done in a semi public spot so I was kinda Leary of this happening. I stop the truck in the same 3 spots every night to check my sets so it's not a stretch to think a neighbor somewhere sees me every night and decided to see what I was doing and didn't like it. The home owner assured me non of his neighbors would do this but people are wierd I could see it in the world we live in. Even if it took them trespassing to do it
-
I worry about the same thing, losing a swim threw or bobcat cage would sting a bit
-
Since u have permission. It should fall under harassment, trespassing or property damage right?
-
Malicious Mischief 3rd degree would be the crime. Low level misdemeanor impossible to prove without a witness.
-
No witness no cameras no nothing that's why I just let it go, no sense getting tourqued off and angry at something that's done and over with. I'll replace the cage and still enjoy trapping just the same :)
-
No witness no cameras no nothing that's why I just let it go, no sense getting tourqued off and angry at something that's done and over with. I'll replace the cage and still enjoy trapping just the same :)
Sound wisdom.
-
On to the next job, the farmers neighbors. 3 creek systems in about a 3 mile by 1/2mile piece of the valley and it seems every one has beaver problems, these folks have 2 creeks on the property both dammed up there back field is about a foot under water and it's at least a 5 acre field so I set out 4 traps today for them and a few colonys that are in the ditch in front of his house burrowing holes under the road and into his lawn. This lodge has been here for a very long time, I found runs so deep I could have made my hat float if I stepped in them! Going to have to use my little plastic sled to float out anything I catch I'm thinking haha few pics of the lodge and the set locations for you guys
-
The lodge
-
And the set locations, 1 set as Bruce does in a cross over and 3 in pinch pounts with natural dive logs or debri
-
I like that last set.
-
Love those natural dive logs they almost always pay off good. Good chance at an otter at this location as well (fingers crossed)
-
Things I love to see on the first day of a new location....
-
Had to take some pics with my boys when I got home my best single day catch yet!
-
Going to have to wait till I get a new scale to measure this guy tomorrow he is an absolute best, 1/4 of his tail gone from fighting!
-
Nice haul, that's a hell of a first check on new land.
-
Nice haul there!
-
Heck yeah congrats
-
WOW!!! I hope that I can do as well as you. Lol :yike:
-
Out in poulsbo should be lots of beaver and rats! buck457 I see a lot of water in that area
-
Last night's big boy weighed in at 55 lbs, picked up one rat tonight lots of skinning to do
-
Some great looking castor's out of that big boy
-
Are you skinning that beaver in your kitchen!? You have got your ol lady on board!
-
Some great looking castor's out of that big boy
In a few months those would have been as big as a small fist :chuckle:
-
Oh yes the wife is getting her license to trap as well she doesn't mind if I don't use the kitchen table and clean up my mess haha and she loves beaver backstraps on the grill as much as I do so meat belongs in the kitchen right?? Now I just need to get her to cook it for me
-
Nice haul!
-
Out in poulsbo should be lots of beaver and rats! buck457 I see a lot of water in that area
Most of that area is private property or or some sort of wildlife reserves. I mostly trap around Port Ludlow for now.
I only have two Vandervort swim through so far so, covering all that area is difficult. I've got 5 small colony rat traps, but have yet to catch any.
So far I've caught 4 beaver, that's it.
-
Colonys are quick and easy to build, I made all my own you can go back in last year's thread and see my hot rod big ones that are my top producers. 8" tall with 2" bite bar at the top, 1' wide and 36" long with triple mink proof doors, funnel guides on the sides and a lift lip on the bottom. Basically I can set it into a 14-16" beaver run and block it off completely. And they can stack on top of each other to cover the water column really well. Maybe a half hour to make and IV had them hold a 15lb kit beaver, IV had single double triple and even a quadruple catch in these traps they are out standing! Good choice on the swim through from Bruce he does top notch work 👌 I'm still trying to find the right wire to build my own folding swim through style traps, but my 3 frame ones have been surviving well the last 4 years. Just this year IV had to replace the wire on a door after a otter and beaver beat it up pretty bad but 14gauge wire isn't meant to hold these critters to well or for long, but that's what I used since I bought a full roll of it to build colonys with when I started trapping and it does work just not nearly as ideal as the wire Bruce uses for his folding cages
-
I myself have just started building my own colony traps, 8"x8"x24", with guides as well. so far I've only made three of them and have not yet set them. they also have a 2" bite bar. So hearing that you have had success with something similar has me pretty optimistic.
I'm looking into making floating colony traps... :tup:
-
what is this 'bite bar' you guys are referring to? pics would be appreciated. could dm too so not to thread jack
-
what is this 'bite bar' you guys are referring to? pics would be appreciated. could dm too so not to thread jack
Instead of the door hinging on the top of the trap, there is a drop down usually 2" then the door. Works fine but not necessary
-
thanks
-
It's not needed but it does help some if you have a multi catch. Rats tend to expire with there teeth locked onto the wire a lot and the bite bar makes it so that if a caught rat is locked into the wire there is a 2 Inch space before the door hinge, this way the door can still open up and catch the next rat passing through
-
what is this 'bite bar' you guys are referring to? pics would be appreciated. could dm too so not to thread jack
Instead of the door hinging on the top of the trap, there is a drop down usually 2" then the door. Works fine but not necessary
-
Good looking trap make sure to mink proof those doors :tup:
-
2 more rats last night and otter #2 today! Small but the land owner wants them gone and he was very happy to see it
-
nice work!
-
This property just keeps giving incredible amount of activity in these tiny little creeks
-
Good looking trap make sure to mink proof those doors :tup:
I don't understand what you mean.
-
Nice work congrats
-
Clip 2 wires on either side of the front of the door and bend them up to keep it from getting pushed out backwards by a mink that way the door gets pushed on and it wedges against those wires I'll take a pic to show you in a minute
-
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi407.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fpp157%2Fjasen_photos%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2Fimage_61.jpeg&hash=5c176429ea6e0de4c0c5e6653b0226a239c54756) (http://s407.photobucket.com/user/jasen_photos/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_61.jpeg.html)
-
Thanks Jason! And thanks for the idea I got it from you hahaand there is a few other ways to mink proof the doors to I weave a heavy wire in the door to stiffen it and I double over the edge of the door to stiffen it more as well
-
I'm coming to really enjoy putting up fur.any night that ends with a frosty beverage and this it's like relaxation at home while the kids are inside raising hell and I'm out in the carport :chuckle:
-
It's 10X better when you can have that frosty beverage inside with momma while the kids put the fur up!
-
They got a few years to go : :chuckle: I didn't get my first knife till I was 7 and my oldest is 4 they do like to watch though my oldest will sit at the table and pull on the beaver hide for me while I'm skining it's pretty awesome haha
-
The rats just keep coming at this location plugging all my beaver sets. I haven't caught a rat in a colony trap in over a week :bash: incredible how thick they are in this spot, usually after 10 or so rats I can keep my beaver sets open for there intended Target but not here
-
Whole lot of work for 2 muskrats in the last week, breaking Ice every day in the boat and the beaver just keep finding ways around my sets. Need some snow shoes for this weather! Little sled is working out good. And if anybody else is still water trapping right now harbor freight is carrying arm length PVC gloves for 7 bucks and worth every penny in ice water
-
Finally broke the cold streek tonight with a 46 lb at the farm
-
Back to the farm new colony moved in down stream made 3 sets today 2 in runs one at the new lodge entrance. Scared 2 rats out of the lodge in the process so should be something in the traps soon these ones have backed up water into the corn field in the last week and planting season is right around the corner so hope I can get them cleaned out asap so they can till the field
-
Seasons closing fast and I'm trying to clean up these beaver for the farmer and had a breakout last night :bash: hope it wasn't the beaver I'm trying to remove
-
Wow that is an impressive amount of damage.
-
I think it's time to rewire my cages this has been through 4 years of otter and beaver beating it up. Sucks I didn't make a catch but wco season is right around the corner maybe I'll get paid to catch this rascal :chuckle:
-
What gage was that wire?
-
These ones are 14 gauge
