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If you got him square in a 330 and he still managed to chew through the cable, he was Beavzilla!! Did you witness any of that happening?
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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Nope, didn't see it. It was a spot that I had to lay the trap flat because of access issues, and I'm sure I caught an appendage of some sort. The wire led back into the hut, and was chewed through. I'm going to chains with the next batch. Beavers will chew through braided wire!
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I use dog chains. I have never seen a beaver survive a 330. I had a very large (12-14 inches in dia.) snapping turtle crawl into a 330. It cracked his shell open like an egg.
Only had 2 traps go missing. One was stolen as the chain stake and spring stakes were pulled up straight out of the hole and no sign of disturbance at the trap. The other was a mess of fur , blood ect at the trap site with an obvious trail. In that case I found the trap (with beaver bones) about 50 yards away where the yotes had dragged the beaver and trap to their lunch spot.
Last edited by ewest; 03/06/13 10:45 AM.
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FIH, if you need to use a leg hold trap (the way you used the 330) you have to make a drowning set 'cause they will either chew thru the wire like you found out, or will pull up the stake. In any case, pulling a beaver out of a hole while it's still alive is dangerous. They WILL bite.
Once I set a trap for a muskrat (in it's run where it came out from the bank) and I barely had it set and it came out of the hole. I immediately reached for the trap and was lucky that when it tried to bite my hand, it bit between my fingers. Lesson learned - they don't die immediately - it might take them a while. Not to sound cruel, but the trap could break their back and they drown if they're moving fast enough. I've caught 'rats by the hindquarters after they've almost gone thru a 110. I don't know if the trap was slow, or the 'rat was fast.
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Next trip down, show me the setup for the leg trap. I'm having mixed results with the 330's and shallow banks, and I need a different approach.
Beavers get smart quick, and judging by damage, I should only have 1 or 2 left. I've held up on adding any more Christmas tree structure, because they stripped the few I put out to the trunk.
I know where the last active hut is, but so far I'm not having good luck with him.
Last edited by FireIsHot; 03/06/13 12:27 PM.
AL
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Find where the entrance/exit is to the hut. It should be underwater, and you should see a shallow channel in the pond bottom. Set the 330 as close to the entrance as you can without having the trap hit the entrance when it snaps shut. You are correct, they can become VERY smart once they escape a trap. Have you looked into snares? They work in areas where 330's and legholds won't. Call these guys and talk to them. They are who I use. http://www.snareshop.com/
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Will do, thanks for the heads up.
AL
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We shoot them right before dawn. It is quicker and you don't get wet.
Two ponds, 13 and 15 acres on the Mattaponi River.
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I have shot them before. You get one shot so make it count. After that they are next to impossible to shoot without night vision equipment. If you have several you will shoot 1 maybe 2 and the rest you will have to trap.
I had one big male who learned to stick pine limbs in the traps to set them off. No it was not him going back in the water carrying dinner home. I missed him about 10 times each one with a wrist sized 3 ft long pine limb left in the trap. It took me 2 years to catch him. I found where he was eating (fresh tree cut) and blocked the entire access area with stakes except one place. Did not set a trap for a week so he would get used to the trail. Then I set 2 traps one in the water and one directly behind on shore. He used the pine limb trick to get the onshore trap but with the in water trap he cut the margin of error to close. He tried to use the pine limb trick on that one but his limb was 4 inches to short. 330 hit him in the top of the head - lights out !
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We shot 15 last year, 7 in one day, we did have one that took a couple of weeks. Since the ponds are on the river,they just keep coming in. Travis' dad caught 6 and there was fresh sign out Sun. It is an ongoing fight with them but we haven't seen or trapped a rat in 3 years. They are easier to kill at daybreak. 260 or 7mm/08 is perfect.
Two ponds, 13 and 15 acres on the Mattaponi River.
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No rats here just beaver. Once or twice I thought they may be rats due to grass being cut. But the beaver here eat strange stuff. Food of choice is pine and gum trees and grass then cypress and willow. They don't eat hardwoods if the other is available.
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Ewest,I think they are like us, in that they want something different to eat. Beavers eat willows, then river birch and green ash in that order here. We have a clump of thirty some cypresses in my duck pond but they haven't chomped on them in 10 years. They are my favorite trees. Have you ever seen a sycamore cut by a beaver, they appear to be the only tree they don't eat here.
Two ponds, 13 and 15 acres on the Mattaponi River.
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I had one big male who learned to stick pine limbs in the traps to set them off. Thanks for that info. Same thing has been happening to me on one particular run with 2 different 330's, so I knew it wasn't a falty trap. That's hard to believe, but it makes sense. I did the dusk shooting, and got a few, then they disappeared. I shot one at daylight, then they disappeared. So this last trip I set up a game camera, and hopefully they'll come out at the same time during the night. If so, I'll try them then.
AL
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The camera is a great idea. I may try that. Problem here is they don't have fixed dens. These guys often dig holes in the bank and move from hole to hole. A big problem because you can't set a trap at the run. Have to find where they are currently eating and reset. Have you ever seen a sycamore cut by a beaver, they appear to be the only tree they don't eat here. I have not seen that here nor do they eat oaks or hickory but they love birch. For some reason the first thing they eat are pines.
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You guys need to give your coyotes a good butt chewing. They cleaned out the beavers in my area.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Well how did the seining go?
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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The seining went well, but it was a beating. Next brood/grow out pond will be no deeper than 5'. With my access to water, there was no reason for the deeper water. I learned something.
AL
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After seining, liming, and refilling, we restocked this CNBG pond with 1,000 OTS CNBG, and 10 pounds of FHM's from Overton's Fisheries yesterday. Last year's flood hosed this pond, so starting over was my only option. I was concerned about visitors from the big puddle, and boy did I have them. Although I had 6 of the original 10 CNBG kickers from Todd still in this pond, I also had various sunfish and CNBG/GSF crosses. New year with great genetics, flooding problems fixed, and time to start all over. Oh, in case you want to see what a 2-3 YO LMB that has unlimited access to forage for 10 months looks like, this is it. We pulled out 5 of these and relocated them to another pond on my property, but that's another story.
Last edited by FireIsHot; 03/12/13 07:04 AM.
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I'd guess closer to 6 or 6.5#...that is a fat tummy!
To Hell with Georgia...
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We were moving so many fish so fast we didn't even weigh her. She along with the 4 other similar females got a very good new home with a forage rich environment. Be interesting to see how big they can get with unlimited forage and no ability to overpopulate. No LMB are in this pond, so no reproduction. We hope.
AL
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Allen, that is a nice looking HOG!!
You have worked hard this past few weeks, time for a beer!!
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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5.5 lbs - my WAG. Very nicely conditioned LMB.
Any pics of the new fish ?
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I think these are them, still sorting pics. I'm really not trying to make an infomercial here, but Todd did us a solid. We were very happy with the size and coloration of these fish.
AL
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If Allan's bass weighed 5 lbs its condition factor (RW) would be 128. If it weighed 5.5 lbs the RW would be 141.
IMO those young bluegill above are a little too small for optimum growth of that 19" bass.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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