# This mornings beaver check



## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Headed out this morning to check a couple of the spots I got beaver sets at. The first spot is creek/river that I've taken a couple smaller beavers from this year and I thought they were all gone but once again I was proved wrong when I found one wedged in one of my 330's. I had moved this particuliar trap to a spot I found, a friend of mine who shall remane nameless laughed at me when I moved the trap because I pulled that trap from a spot I took a beaver the week before........I liked the new spot better so I moved it......my gamble worked as this set scored.....ha ha. I had a little partner along for the ride this morning, brought my cousin who is 5 along with me cause he had been asking his mom every morning if I was gonna be coming by to take him, my schedule was a little more open today so I took him on the line with me.....he had fun but his attention span was quickly diminishing so I hurried up and raced off to another spot where I have permission to trap a big beaver pond. That spot was set with beaver snares that Joe R showed me how to set so I gotta give him credit for the help, I scored on another beaver at this spot on one of the snares.....all my snare poles had been hit but only managed to snag one beaver. All in all it was a great morning to be out, beautiful weather and I got to bring a youngster along with me. My aunt told me he had been bragging to his older brother how he got to go trapping with me this morning with me and that everyone he talked to during the day got a step by step breakdown of his trapping expierience. The beavers were about 35 and 45 pounds. Enjoy!!! Sidenote.....since I've put waders on I've been staying very dry!!!:lol: 







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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Cap,

That black one should do you very well if your selling it.

Nice catch anyway you look at it.

Did you two pro dances have fun on the ice today!!!!

Dave


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Joe wasnt with me today, I had to dance alone, last I heard he hadn't snagged any beavers at the spots he was setting. I think I am gonna head over his way sometime this weekend to take a look at his sets to see what he's doing wrong.............:lol: :lol: :lol: I am only kidding Joe calm down!!


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Cap,

That boy probally has his snare poles with 12" loops on his snares. Some will never learn 

Dave


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## t_steinhauer444 (Dec 7, 2005)

Nice job CN, keep up the good work.

I finally connected with my first two beaver on tuesday morning.


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## seips (Dec 20, 2005)

nice beavers


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## frostbite (Dec 22, 2004)

Way to go Cap. Very nice catch.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Congratulations, Cap'n!

Thats great of you to take a kid along. He may remember that his whole life and I'm sure it was a big adventure for him. Glad you had success on the day that he came along...that worked-out perfect!  

Nice pics and great catch!


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## bully06 (Dec 10, 2002)

Very nice beavers!


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## wild bill (Apr 20, 2001)

CaptainNorthwood said:


> Joe wasnt with me today, I had to dance alone, last I heard he hadn't snagged any beavers at the spots he was setting. I think I am gonna head over his way sometime this weekend to take a look at his sets to see what he's doing wrong.............:lol: :lol: :lol: I am only kidding Joe calm down!!



i think hes been to busy with his dance schedule lately to trap.:lol: :lol:


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Great job capatin I'm glad you got the snare thing figured out. That will happen having all your snares poles hit and only get one, but the nice thing is they don't get smart to it! Somedays you will go there and you will have a beaver at every pole. You guys are making me wish I have beaver to trap right now and I have none. I have been scouting and finding nothing. Great catch and good pics!!


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## WOODS (Feb 9, 2006)

Nice catch Captain!


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## Joe R. (Jan 9, 2002)

Nice catch Captain. Nice to hear you got the little one involved by taking him to check with you. Now clean one of those skulls so he can take it to class with him for show and tell.
I'm not having near the luck with the snare poles this year. Just stolen bait and nocked down snares. And yes Dave I've been playing with the loop size a little. Wouldn't really worry about it much, but two of my spots are damage complaints. Might have to do something a little extra for these ones. Got a few ideas brewing. We'll have to see what the next check produces.

Joe


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

I forgot to add a interesting tidbit. The bigger of the two beaver was caught at a location where I also had been trapping muskrats, I had made a few muskrat floats that had #1 longsprings on them. The design I saw on another website and they looked like floats but instead of floating they had a pole that held them in the bottom and level with the water line, the positive thing is they are sturdy and the muskrats can easily get on them, the negative side is that the fluctuating water level rarely made them effective. One day I was checking them and I had one fired and there was a beaver toenail in it......when I checked the sets yesterday I found the owner of the nail stuffed into one of my 330's. I kinda laughed about it and thought it was interesting.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

What is the total length on your snares Captain and Joe R? I use 40" snares and that is the total length and whatever size loop they make once fastened to the bait pole is the loop size and I have done really well with that. Just curious that's all!


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Otter have you tried the Beaver Spikes Rally Hess makes???

Dave


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

CaptainNorthwood,

Congratulations!!!

You are fast becoming one heck of a trapper!!! And even staying dry in the process  .

Now I know why you are looking for a recipe to cook of some of the beaver meat, because it is start to stack up on you!

Continued Good Luck on Your Trapline!


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Dave L,
No I haven't. To be honest I haven't even heard of them what are they?


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Otter,
Too be honest i am not exactly sure on the length of the snares. I am sure that the two handed fleshing knife I bought was a P.O.S......it was a Gander Mountain special. I had a bear of a time fleshing those beavers out tonight, the first two I did this year were easy because they weren't very big but by the time I got done fleshing these ones tonight I was cursing my decision to give up alcohol for lent......I almost caved and cracked one but I never lose a bet. At any rate I went and ordered a necker 600 tonight. Hopefully that will make a difference. I skinned them before i left for work this morning and left the skins wrapped up in a small refrigerator. Would they have been easier to flesh if they hadn't got chilled down all day? If fleshing every beaver was a hard as the two I did tonight I wouldn't be trapping beaver much longer, and if I did continue trapping beaver I'd be selling em to someone whole.......that muscle looking membrane was like concrete. Also when I skinned them this morning I skinned them very fast and left quite a lot of fat and meat on the pelts, I figured it wouldn't matter because I was fleshing them anyway, did the excess meat and fat create problems? At any rate I got a new fleshing knife and a couple new skinning knives.

David,
Thanks and I have done a good job at staying dry lately. I have had a few close calls though......that muck can be tricky sometimes.


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Otter,

They are a real fast why to make beaver poles.

It bascially is a snare cut to the exact length and you pound this spike into your pole it supports the snare also. So no need to staple your snares to the pole. 
It really is a good way to make poles. Fast and easy to do.

I will see if I can find a pic.

Dave


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## Joe R. (Jan 9, 2002)

The snares Captain is using are 5/64 7x7 cable, 42" long with a cam-lock. Next time I will be making them a little shorter. I load all my snares and have been playing around with them a little bit. I think I can get the size loop I want with 36" of cable.


Captain,
The beavers being cold aren't what caused your fleshing problems. It is the knife. The back and tail area need to have the fat shaved off instead of pushed off. I flesh all **** and beaver when chilled. I just find it easier when the fat is set up as opposed to being greasey.

Joe


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Yeah that tail area sucked. I was ready to throw my knife thru the neighbors window.......the frustration of fleshing the beaver with that crappy knife combined with the constant yapping of the mutt next door was about all I could take. Any secrets for getting the head area cleaned up? That seemed to be a tough spot too. 


Joe R. said:


> The snares Captain is using are 5/64 7x7 cable, 42" long with a cam-lock. Next time I will be making them a little shorter. I load all my snares and have been playing around with them a little bit. I think I can get the size loop I want with 36" of cable.
> 
> 
> Captain,
> ...


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## Joe R. (Jan 9, 2002)

Start at the ears and work your way down. I cut the lips and nose of my beaver so they aren't an issue. Any heavy meat in the cheek area I find it is just easier to trim with a sharp knife.

I have some of the beaver spikes that Dave is talking about in my truck. I'll try and post a picture of them tomorrow.

Joe


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Hey Joe,

I got back to thinking here. Are those spikes mae with an adjustable end to anchor to the pole and then you drive a spike though the wammy to support the snare??

Dave


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## Joe R. (Jan 9, 2002)

First a loop is made on the end of the snare. The cable is then run through a double ferrule. A 20d spike is placed in the other hole of the ferrule. Leave a couple of inches of cable plus the loop and crimp the ferrule on the nail and cable. Then you build the rest of the snare. The ones Rally sells come with an extension cable that is run through the snare ends and then fastend to the cross poll above the ice. Really a nice set up. I'll be making more of them when I find some more beaver to go after. I'll be making mine with cam-locks though. 

Joe


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## mallardtone-man (Nov 20, 2002)

Nice job! I envy you guys and all the fun you are having.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Dave,
Thanks for the info those sound interesting. Would like to see a pic of one!

Captain,
As far as beaver fleshing goes they will get easier with numbers once you get used to them. They are tough don't get me wrong, but they will get easier. Everyone does it there own way and I don't even use a two handed fleshing knife I still use a single knife to flesh all my beaver. I grew up with that method because that is how my dad did it and he taught me that way. I really doubt that I am going to ever switch to the draw knife and beam. I really like my method even though it is old and probably not used much anymore. I am still using skinning/fleshing knives that my grandpa made for my dad some 40 years ago they have some value and meaning to me seeing he passed away 22 years ago I never really got to know him much. Good luck with the beaver and your new knife! Otter


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## Joe R. (Jan 9, 2002)

Otter,

Here is your pic:









The pic will explain the system a lot better then I can.


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Otter,
Hey if it aint broke why fix it. How do you flesh it without a beam using just a one handed knife? The way I am picturing it seems like it would take forever



ottertrapper said:


> Dave,
> Thanks for the info those sound interesting. Would like to see a pic of one!
> 
> Captain,
> As far as beaver fleshing goes they will get easier with numbers once you get used to them. They are tough don't get me wrong, but they will get easier. Everyone does it there own way and I don't even use a two handed fleshing knife I still use a single knife to flesh all my beaver. I grew up with that method because that is how my dad did it and he taught me that way. I really doubt that I am going to ever switch to the draw knife and beam. I really like my method even though it is old and probably not used much anymore. I am still using skinning/fleshing knives that my grandpa made for my dad some 40 years ago they have some value and meaning to me seeing he passed away 22 years ago I never really got to know him much. Good luck with the beaver and your new knife! Otter


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

It's simple, but remember I have never done it the other way either! I will send you a pm and try and explain it to you.


*Moderator's Note:* Otter, like you I don't use a two handed fleshing knife or beam to put up my beaver, either. However, I was taught by a really old time beaver trapper to skin my beaver clean. So I don't have to do any fleashing. It probably takes a little longer, but I don't have to mess with using my fleshing beam, which is a big plus for me! 

Joe R.,
Thanks for the picture that explains it really well. That would make it much easier now wouldn't it. Where can you get them from?


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Rally Hess Snares

Rally Snares
13337 US Hwy 169
Hill City, Mn. 55748
218-697-8113
[email protected] 

Dave Lyons


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Thanks I will have to order some of those before next year.


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