Spring Beaver Trapping (Giant Beaver)

Does this beaver make my other beaver look small? Yes. There's people that don't shoot deer that big. Holy crap. There he is. Wow. Nice big otter. Must be 36. Awesome. 20 pounder? Yeah. Nice one. Traps gone. I can see a beaver floating right there. Yep. Last check, beaver. Yeah, for some reason this this didn't do as well. This set that one did best and now this one totally flip-flopped. Poplar stick still here though. When these are missing, you know there's more beaver around. It's like fishing. 2-year-old. A little Duke 650s. Yeah, that's been a good set right there. Kind of a sad day pulling traps. I don't know what I'm going to do with all my free time. I guess I'll have to go fishing now. Can't roll them around like we do in the snow and dry them off. That's the only most annoying part about spring trapping. They stay so wet. I don't know if anybody's got a good advice out there, but I I like to let them sit till they dry. Sometimes it takes like 2 days. So, 15 beaver out of these two traps. And this place opened up early, so I could get onto it early. Camera probably won't show it, but there's just 10 mi of all this beaver flowage here. You just get so many traveling beaver going back and forth. This is kind of like towards the upper end of the system. So, this is one end of it. And I think they're all just coming up and exploring up here and catching them on the way by. Then if you follow it, it goes right to the Saco River. So, it's just got everything you're looking for for for beaver activity. So, I would have never guessed 15 would have even swam through here. Right. It's crazy. How many swam by that I didn't run? Yeah, probably. When we used to trap 20 years ago, this whole flowage, all the way we call it a flowage, but this whole That's fair. river, brook, goes all the way to the Saco River. So, every year you can bank on two or three different colonies of beaver being somewhere on this. And there's also there's ponds that come off from this. There's one, two, there's three ponds that I can think of that this feeds they can live in. Plus, you get the whole entire ecosystem of it. Plus, the river. So, every single year in the winter time, there's would always hold beaver. But, last winter, places like this, for some strange reason, didn't freeze. We've gotten a little lazier in my older age, and I don't feel like hiking 2 mi to beaver anymore, so I just knew there was a bunch of beavers that had been living here that weren't going to ever be trapped. Yeah. And everybody told us to spring trap and just let them come to you, so Find moving waters is what they told us. >> Yeah. I put the traps out and 15 have come to us right here. I'm going to look, but I think on this system it I've caught over 20. Yeah, I've caught almost 30 beaver from here to the river. Wow. So That's the crazy. Yeah, and they're still coming. So this is a super highway for beaver and it has been for 30 years, you said? >> Oh, yeah. It's been an eternity, probably. Yeah. So they They're not here now. They're gone. Look at all this stuff that he's had to pull. Every single day he's been pulling stuff out of here. Look at those roots they dig out. Crazy. So this is all damage from beaver to this road system. Yeah. They normally they plug the culverts up and flood this road out. He's had to spend thousands of dollars in gravel to keep this road maintained. He told me the other day, he says, "This is the first vacation I've had in years that I haven't had to go down there and unplug the culvert every single day." And they capped started out with capped banks in here. And they dug underneath the road. Oh, man. Right there. So they were headed under the road in multiple places here. Oh, wow. Look at all the damage. Look at all the All these sticks that you see in these piles Yeah. is what he picked out of the culvert. Out of the road. >> Golly. So we did this guy a good favor. I mean, what's one 63-lb beaver eating a day? A lot. How many trees do they cut down today? We trap beaver cuz we love trapping. So, we're not going to sit here and and and make excuses why we're trapping beaver and say that we're just doing it for to help the homeowners and for for damage prevention and damage control, but it is a really good part of it. You know, we're trapping these cuz we love to trap and we love to trap beaver. Okay, that's what you're going to get on this channel is honesty when it comes to that stuff. We're not going to sit here and tell you we're only trapping them for that for those other reasons, but those other reasons, they matter to people. You know, this this guy that lives up this road maintains this road for for these houses, you know, spending thousands of dollars and every single day he's coming down to clean this culvert cuz of these beaver. And then CJ came in here and took these beaver out of here and the guy said it was his first vacation he's ever had in his life from these beaver. Those are Bridger number fives. Woah. That's a trap. Yeah. It's a little bit big. Looks like a beaver. Beaver. Big one. It Oh, two dogs hit it. Huh? Looks like it got hit all two dogs. Got no hair on it. Look at these otter prints here. It's hard to Crap. >> That's a big one. Uh Yeah. Say we found the mate to the one that we got up the stream. He must have been pale. Yeah. Huh. That's a huge beaver. I I thought it was huge. Trying to see what these tracks are. Is that otter? They look almost like otter, there. I know. I never get a chance to track outside of snow. Yeah, that's a giant. That thing is huge. Yeah, that's a monster. Holy cow. That's another 60-pounder. Holy See, dude, that is as round as I've ever seen. Big dude. Did you bring a scale? No, we don't need it. We got one at home. Okay. Compare him to that other one. Does this beaver make my other beaver look small? >> Yes. There's people that don't shoot deer that big. Holy crap. That's a bank run beaver. >> It is, if I ever seen one. What, he got hit by a car? Hurt the car? The car's totaled if it is. Holy crap. The car's totaled. That's the biggest of the year. I can't even imagine the ice hole that it'd take to come out of. What's that? Golly. So, he couldn't have fit through that. Not the whole way, no way. I'd give you $10 if you could get that trap over his tail. From there. I don't think you could. >> I don't think you can, either. Makes that 330 look like a 220 or 180. Holy crap, that thing is big. Look how big around he is. That is unbelievable how round he is. That's a huge beaver. Look at the tail on it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's Holy I mean that's a full-grown one. Yeah, it's a 2-year-old. Holy crap. Tag a buddy in the comments that shoots deer smaller than this beaver that CJ caught. Yeah, that's uh not even close. And that one's full-grown. From nose to tail, it doesn't even reach its tail. It reaches its tail. I got to take a picture I got Hold I got to take a picture of you with that big one and send it to you. You're all good. I'd be Maine Outdoor Journal. See what he thinks of it. Look at the paddle on that thing. Holy crap. Holy cow. >> Yeah. We're We haven't weighed it yet, but it makes this 2-year-old look like a kitten. Wow. >> I'm sending it to you right now. All right, I'll be looking for it. Did it come through? I don't see it yet, but might have to go around a couple battleships here before it comes in. Oh, there she comes. It's got a big scar on its back. Missing It's so old it's got a bald spot. Oh, did you hear that 30-30 snap? Holy cow, that is huge. Dude, it's freaking giant. I wouldn't I'm going to say it's closer to 70 than 60. >> He's saying closer to 70. Oh, yeah. Wow, yeah. Yep. >> Must be big it made him smile. >> [laughter] >> Must be big it made him smile. The Saco River is right here. And uh any of these little tributaries like this, any beaver that's swimming that river is going to come in. So, as he rounds the corner, I like to put I usually take a popple stick. I don't have one with me right now, but I'll take a popple stick. I'll shave it up. And I'll put it so that his eyes are directed right at that popple stick. So, whenever they're turning here, the first thing they're going to see is that popple stick and put some castor here. And it draws them right in. You can see I shoveled out a little bit of a notch right here. And I'll put my trap just a little bit offset to the right or the left. So, when he comes swimming in, he'll he'll put his nose right up to that popple stick that's normally right here. When he comes in, you try to pick the right depth he puts his feet down and you get him. I don't know if this is a front foot or a back. Front foot. It's a decent beaver. It's not what that other one was. It's a cool fresh tail chunk missing. Yeah. One of the freshest I've ever seen, really. That's an MB 750. That is a stout trap right there. I can set them by hand, but I guess I've never seen that before. You never saw these? No. So, this It has no loose jaw. So, both jaws are solid. It is night latched. Right there. So, that's the MB 750. Offset jaw. They're rugged. These would be great for a baited under the ice. Cuz they can't lift that jaw. You know, when they come in and grab that to chew your poplar stick off. The jaw's not going to come up. Do you like them for this? So far. I don't believe there's a bad trap out there. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. >> You know, I I know so many people are like this trap, that trap, or this trap. But you've done well with all of these, right? >> used the modge podge from Duke 650s to the Bridger number fives. No BS. Yeah. Big 50, I think. Yeah. Uh, that beaver suit extreme or whatever. They've all been great traps. We'll probably lay them all out, look at them all. Yeah. This one I can just Pretty good sized beaver, really. Yeah. Three more traps upstream. This is a feeder stream. So you got the river there behind you. A feeder stream that goes up to another great big marsh. And these traveling spring beaver they can't help themselves but just explore all this. So this is like the juice of all juices when it comes to to beaver spots. If you if all my places that I've had you said you can only trap one. Probably this right here would be the spot that I would pick. And should have multiple beaver every time you check it. So if you guys follow my Facebook or my social media you saw that I just had a little kid with me the other day. So this is his trap up here. Hopefully he caught one. Oh my gosh, I'm pumped now. I just went to level 10. That all sounds good. What's his name? Tate. Tate. Stick it Stick it in it? Don't go back there. Yes, he did. What's that? What have you got, Tate? Tate loves grill channel, so this is pretty awesome. Oh, this is so cool. I hope he got something. Woah! >> beaver, Tate. Good job, buddy. All right. That's the first one we got coming downstream. Congratulations, Tate. You got another beaver, buddy. Nice one. Here you go. All right, Tate. You got another beaver out of your spot, buddy. How old is he? Three. Man, what a cool spot to trap. Awesome. This is incredible. Well, looks like you got another one. Oh, yeah. That one was going upstream. Wow. These cool little blind sets like this like these sticks were built that and it's not a dam, so I can molest it or change it. It was just a bunch of sticks. So, I just moved it, created an opening, put a 330 in there. And well, it's two for two for three so far. We got one more up there. Three for three. Three for three, yeah. I meant on the blind set. >> Oh. That's the biggest beaver. Quiet. Those eight stands are pretty key key, aren't they? Yeah. Yeah. A lot of people say they don't like them. I don't know. I think they work fine. Now, are you focusing at all on these on these runs? Like like that See that run right there? >> Yeah. And that that run up here in the corner where they're coming down in? That must be how they're jumping into that swamp and stuff or no? >> Right. Well, they're traveling back and forth through here. Was this Is this a little Yeah, and there's another one down there. Another one right there. No, I'm not. I'm focusing more on the pinch points, but yeah, that's great great sign to know that you're in the right place. >> Cool. All right. Well, let's see if we're four for four. That's another good spot right there. I don't have a trap. I probably should have. So, if you look and it's wide and it all comes up and narrows off to the natural diving stick right there. That would be another perfect spot to put a trap. Right there. Cuz it pinches them together. >> Look, they're building a dam. They built the dam right around my trap. >> like your trap, do they? No. First time they've ever used a trap as a part of the dam. I can't tell if there's anything in it, but yeah, they're damming that up. That wasn't like that. That was all open the other day. >> No way. >> Yeah. Yeah, they're building the building the dam right around the trap. >> Oh my gosh. I think there's something in it. There's probably a stick in it if if there's not a beaver. Looks like there's a Man, look at this slide right here they're using. Yeah. Holy cow. I checked this not yesterday, the day before, and this was not like So, they've done a lot of work. Holy cow. Like this is all mud and silt. It'll take me a little while to get to the trap. Holy moly. I could not stand here. They built this literally in one night. They're trying to get your a summons. Trapping too close to the dam. Yeah, right. You got some explaining to do. Wow, they have legit built the dam inside of that tree thing. Well, let's hope you got something before they started. Here we go. I guess they don't care about their friends. >> No. Uh, he'll plug the hole. So, a beaver got snapped in it and then they built a dam on top of him. Yeah. Yeah. What are the chances? They built the dam on top of their dead friend. That's quite a dam. Yeah, for one night. >> Jeez. How many more beaver are here? I don't know. A lot. I'm good. One day, huh? One day. No. Oh, no. They've literally got sticks drilled right through that eight-string. Unreal. That's so crazy. They built built the dam right around It looks like a week. Mhm. >> These Bel Isle's are no joke. He was watching me Big Beaver. CJ smiling. Because he tried to get a thumbnail picture for you of you smiling but he never got you. Uh-oh. Got a lot of skinning to do tonight. Hind foot catch. Cuz the river came up. So, the trap was back here where he normally would put his front foot down, but the river came up. But, I'll show that to the camera. That's a Duke 650. It's not a It's not a really big beaver, but there's the whole entire back foot in that Duke 650. So, they are a good trap. And for anybody getting into it, the price point's good. $21, $22 a trap. All right, we're in the home stretch, y'all. Hate to see it end. See, I smile after the main outdoor general. >> [laughter] >> Smell that. Oh, wicked. Holy crap. Smells like peppermint, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's a black birch. Real rough bark. But still it has that like that peeling bark. If you can see, it kind of relates to a white birch with the that facing and stuff on it. But yeah, that's a black birch. And when you cut it, it smells just like peppermint. So, this set right here has been a really, really good set for me. Uh something like a dozen beaver have come out of right here. So, you've got a big flowage up above us. It goes for miles and miles. And uh it comes down this brook. And then this little backwater right here. You can see all the chewed sticks all around here. So, they place there a lot like a fish. You know, they swim in that hard current for a little while. And as soon as they find this dead water, they're coming in it. So, they come in around this dead water. And then I take a popple stick. You can see it from a beaver's view right here. He's looking at your shaved popple stick. He swims up. Puts his front feet down here. And his back foot right here on the pan. Like I showed you earlier, I'll grab my popple stick. And I'll put it right below my elbow. And drive it in. And that's how I've measured my distance. And I've got a lot of back foot catches this way. There's a benefit to both ways, I found, with fluctuating water. This one doesn't fluctuate. We're far enough from the river, so the river change doesn't change this. The snow melt's gone, so this is pretty consistent depth. But for a front foot catch, I would put it right there. Right on the edge of that jaw. Offset. This nose is here, his foot's here, steps down, front foot catch. That's caster. On a place where the water fluctuates, I always try to get the back foot catch because if the water drops down here, then he's going to put his front foot down and I can get both. So, in fluctuating water, I set for the hind foot catch. On pretty stable water, I usually try to go for the front foot. The reason I go for that is when they go down this drowning rod, they're caught by the front foot and keeps their head down. They can't stand up and get their head above. So, they go down and they asphyxiate and game over. We got a sprung trap here. Got an otter, buddy. All right. Great last day check right there. Nice otter and a bell isle. 280. Heck yeah. That's a big otter, too. All right, there he is. Big otter, bud. Sweet. And nothing in that. Well, we got one more trap left to hit our 150. I don't know. Next one I have a lot of confidence in, but we'll see. This was a beaver problem area. You can see the big house over there. They had this whole area right here flooded. The dam over there. So, I think we've got like 10 10 beaver out of here. The water's dropping considerably, so We uh We did our job here. Hopefully the next round don't come through. If they do, we'll come back after them next winter. There he is. Wow. Nice big otter. Must be 36 36 in long at least. Nice big male. Awesome. 20 pounder? Yeah. Nice one. Well, buddy. It's the last one of the season. How do you feel about it? Sad. But happy the work clothes over. Well, almost over. Get seven beaver and an otter skin. Uh eight beaver and an otter skin, too. You got one from yesterday. But it's a great season. First year back in 20 years. 149 beaver, seven otter. Five or six muskrat. Couple raccoons. Marten. Dabbled in a little bit of everything this year. >> fisher, too. And a fisher, yep. Been an awesome year. Really awesome. Now we only got what? Eight more months to wait. Yeah. We can do it all over again. That's what's really cool about this spring beaver trapping, too, is that you know, you can go into it in the fall. You could try it for a little while, wait for ice, trap again for a little while. And then, you know, the ice gets thick and you don't want to do that anymore and the work's hard. And then stop doing that and uh you know, wait till spring and go back out and trap again. 100 and we had 43 through the ice and 100 six. And six during the open water spring season. >> One month alone. Yeah. So, it's that's great it's a great thing to get into the beaver trapping. It's a lot of work, but you got a long period of time and you get like what? Three, four seasons? Fall, early winter, late winter, and spring. So, you get like four seasons. Pick one you like the most and go trap.