how to find the hole

[Guest Kyle]

no pun intended...

Unfortunately the ice did not freeze clear this year, and now I'm having a problem finding beaver entrance holes in the new houses I find. I'm also not able to find thin spots of ice as it is pretty much all the same thickness. I know for a fact the houses I have in mind are being used...

Anyone have any tricks?

[aanderud]

I usually feel around with my fingers a little until I find the a wet spot. That usually indicates that the hole is nearby.

Even if the ice seems to be the same thickness at first glance, there might be a thinner spot that you're not seeing, and the finger test just might reveal it.

[Todd Caswell]

This could get ugly if the wrong people are reading the trapping forum

[trapperdirk]

rotflmao Todd . As has been mentioned the channels will be where the ice is thinnest and if you put a hole in the ice and cup your hands and look down thru you can most times see the channel or hole going in . Also a poke with a stick will let you know .

TD

[nobody05]

I'm here for the topic! but i agree with the 2 above. Feel around and/or poke with a stick. And im not able to write this in a straight face.

[aanderud]

One more tip -- this comes from years of experience.

The 'hole' might not be a hole at all -- sometimes it's more of a 'slot'. It really depends on the age of the beaver and how active the beaver has been. Another telltale sign you might look for is that behind the slot there's sometimes a back door hole. Those beavers can be quite tricky sometimes.

You'll really have to experiment around. If you're worried about falling through the thin ice, do what the previous poster suggested and just prod it with a long stick.

[swamptiger]

The moral of the story is there is really no substitute for experience....

[RangerJack]

In all seriousness, slap on your chestwaders and just jump right in. Find the run with your feet, and slap that 330 in there.

good luck.

[Raider4ever]

...And im not able to write this in a straight face.

I don't think anybody is.

[Random guy]

...wow, it has come to this. A bunch of guys in rubber pants and shoulder deep rubber gloves poking around in the cold looking for a hole.

I carry a homade hammer/sod buster combo to drive in stakes. I tap on the ice until I hear a more hollow sound, once you do it you will notice the difference when you strike thinner ice with air bubbles vesres thicker ice with no bubbles. Once I hear that majic sound I flip my hammer around to the sod buster side and see if it goes through. Just hang on to the hammer as they sink pretty fast and no matter how much you beg the beaver will not bring it back for you.

Then take a longer stick as you should be able to feel and find the deeper run to get your sets centered.

[aanderud]

I figured Johnny would poke in here with some real information. My suggestions are based on somewhat limited actual beaver trapping experience. Thanks for bringing some sanity to the thread!

[trapperdirk]

Dang . I thought my post was spot on after hanging steel around beavers necks for over 40 years . Yeah I've been called insane before because I trap under some of the worst conditions and seem to take a dip every winter poking around feedbeds and channels . LOL . It's not intentional mind you and I'm not really insane for doing what I do . Just ask me .LOL

50 to 75 beaver a year would argue the fact if they could . LOL

TD

[Random guy]

seem to take a dip every winter poking around feedbeds and channels .TD

Nice part about that is now you are already in the water and wet, might as well feel around while you are there.

I am spoiled as the beaver in my area have had the same lodges for decades. Very seldom do we see a new lodge, just new tennants. I drive around in the fall and make sure to mark the runs before freeze up then come late winter when all is prime and fetching top dollar life is a little easier.

[CANOPY SAM]

I'd always heard you're just supposed to roll em' in flour?

Sorry....

[Guest Kyle]

Let's not get carried away...

[jigginjim]

Just ask how much are the beaver going for? The two I had 2yrs ago was only $5.00 Not worth the time at that rate. I was wondering the same for rats. this year the runs seem hard to find then for before. It has been a long time since I was trapping but along as I can't work may as well try trapping again. Gets me out of the house, the wife and the soaps are driving me nuts.

[Guest Kyle]

Price depends on size, color, and fur quality. Small ones with great color and quality still may only bring $5. I have trapped half dozen so far and I'm averaging $15, but the beaver I'm getting in my area are about as good as they get in MN. My biggest one this year was almost 70lbs and had great color and better than average quality fur but wasnt fully prime and that one brought $25. I trapped that one almost 3 weeks ago, had I trapped it now it would have probably brought more. Muskrats are really down in my area, but beaver seems to be plentiful so that's why I am trapping them.

[aanderud]

Holy smokes a 70 lb beaver is like...dog sized. That's as big as my black lab. That is huge.

[Random guy]

70 lb beaver are cool...until you realize you have to drag it up the bank.

[Guest Kyle]

You got that right Johnny. There awesome but extremely awkward to try to carry. There are 100lb beavers out there, but they are smart and not caught very often...

[JBar]

when you get a 100 lber make shure to post a pic.

[Guest Kyle]

That's "IF" I ever get a 100lb beaver. I saw one 3 years ago my father-in-law's friend got. It was almost as long as his truck bed!

[JBar]

Yep one can only dream. Someday I guess.

[Random guy]

I had a 30 pounder last year get toe hooked on the rear foot of a slider set. Then of course fouled out the slider. I showed up to find him on the oppisite bank of a deep ditch. I think I am going to pull this beaver close enough to do what needs to be done...no way in... It was like a bad episode of swamp poeple with me trying to get that beaver to shore on the end of a wire. The beaver just about won that battle, just think what a 70 pound plus would be like.

[Guest Kyle]

Pound for pound, beavers are amazingly powerful. I hope to never have to fight one that big..

[Raider4ever]

Pound for pound, beavers are amazingly powerful. I hope to never have to fight one that big..

They are often referred to as "The Smallmouth Bass of the Rodent World"

[chad austin]

...wow, it has come to this. A bunch of guys in rubber pants and shoulder deep rubber gloves poking around in the cold looking for a hole.

I carry a homade hammer/sod buster combo to drive in stakes. I tap on the ice until I hear a more hollow sound, once you do it you will notice the difference when you strike thinner ice with air bubbles vesres thicker ice with no bubbles. Once I hear that majic sound I flip my hammer around to the sod buster side and see if it goes through. Just hang on to the hammer as they sink pretty fast and no matter how much you beg the beaver will not bring it back for you.

Then take a longer stick as you should be able to feel and find the deeper run to get your sets centered.

June Cleaver: "Johnny P, don't you think you were a little hard on the beave last night?"

[jigginjim]

Which comes back to, How do you for the runs without have to get into the water? Rats or beaver, do they both have that very thin ice area above the runs? How find and set it without going for a swim?

[Guest Kyle]

I've been talking to a friend that is not on this site but has a lot of experience in trapping. He said that tapping the ice with a chisel will produce a sound. When you tap the ice over the run(when the ice is thicker)it will sound hollow vs tapping the ice that is not over the run. If the ice is really thin over the run the chisel probably will go right through. Then you know your on the run. If it doesnt break through, just listen for the hollow sound. I hope this makes sense...

[jigginjim]

Sounds good, I hope to be back out in 3weeks, how it's wait for the ice to thicken up.