Beaver

[catman529]

While scouting for turkey season this morning, after watching some fly down from the roost, I saw a beaver swim by me in the river and then noticed a lot of chewed trees and stumps where their damage had been done. The only reason I hadn't brought my shotgun was because I didn't want to carry it. Otherwise I would have brought it and a rabbit distress call to try and get a coyote. If I had had my gun with me, it would have been a dead beaver. But then I thought, how the heck would I get it out of the water. It wasn't very shallow and there was current. I could have followed it for some distance and grabbed a long stick on the way and tried to drag it toward the bank, but who knows how that would have gone...

Just thinking aloud here. Does anyone shoot beavers? I know the season is open year-round and I don't see them often but the fur coat looks nice and I'd like to get a shot at one.

 

[WTM]

they are good eatin. taste like a cross between beef and pork.

 

[catman529]

Hmm never thought of that, or even looking into it, I guess they just didn't strike me as a good eating animal. But maybe I'll have to give it a try if I ever shoot one. Do you save the pelt?

 

[WTM]

used too keep the pelt when fur prices were pretty good for good blankets. mostly just do nuisance trapping a little now.

about the only part to eat on a beaver is the backstraps and hind legs, just make sure you remove the castor glands around the tail and in the hind legs. some folks like to skin the tail and fry it but i dont care too much for it.

just a hint, if you shoot one in the water most times than none it will sink.

i like the way she cooks beaver and this is usually how i do it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZvdCeaIG8

 

[spitndrum]

I have seen a few in my days

 

[biglefty20]

that is awesome on that barn

 

[catman529]

Dang that's crazy on that barn wall, cool looking furs.

WTM, thanks for the tip, why would they sink? I guess it would happen when they exhaled... now if I had a bowfishing kit, wait... would that even be legal... Maybe just my big Ugly Stik and a giant treble hook to reel in the beaver after shooting it. Would be interesting, thats for sure.

 

[stik]

Dang that's crazy on that barn wall, cool looking furs.

WTM, thanks for the tip, why would they sink? I guess it would happen when they exhaled... now if I had a bowfishing kit, wait... would that even be legal ... Maybe just my big Ugly Stik and a giant treble hook to reel in the beaver after shooting it. Would be interesting, thats for sure.

i asked that question in the TWRA forum and was told it is legal BUT do you really want to be tied to a PO'd beaver??

 

[catman529]

Good question.... shot placement would be critical so it would die otherwise I would be in for a mess of a fight. I'd rather just shoot it and find a way to retrieve it if it's in the water. I have some experience snagging buffalo (fish) with a treble hook and sinker, so I could apply the same concept to retrieve it. If an animal that size dead in the water wouldn't break my line or rod. No wait, it's an Ugly Stik. Unbreakable....

 

[rem270]

cool

 

[bradshaw34]

I shot one with my bow last year it was just a couple feet off the bank. I put a rage in it from 5 yards it flopped around about 10 seconds then i used the arrow to pull it on to the bank. Made some good jerky.

 

[catman529]

good deal. I am just starting out with a bow now and would rather put some shot into it but either way I just gotta find a way to retrieve it.

Maybe I will just wait till summer, then go down and shoot one in the morning and just jump in the water and swim after it.... after I'm sure it's dead of course. I dont know... I am just getting crazy ideas now.

 

[BlackBelt]

Don't make the beaver mad. Trust me on that one. Yikes.

 

[rem270]

Don't make the beaver mad. Trust me on that one. Yikes.

no matter if your a blackbelt or not?

 

[catman529]

Don't make the beaver mad. Trust me on that one. Yikes.

Will a 3" Win. Supreme turkey shell put him out of his anger quick enough?

 

[cecil30-30]

Took this while deer hunting back in the fall..This wooded bottom was ate up with them.

 

[catman529]

Terrible damage... one of the reasons, besides the fur, that I would shoot one.

 

[pass-thru]

Here's the only pic I have from beaver trapping this year:

That's a little castor mound I made just below a beaver dam. Used the log on one side for guiding. On the theother side you can see a guide stick poking out. Right beside that is the 10' piece of rebar that runs to deep water for drowning. At the end of the rod is a 42# beaver that was caught on the first night. Otherwise there would be a big trap right in front of the mound under the water.

The next night I caught a big boar raccon in the same set.

 

[pass-thru]

....and here's the beaver at the end of the drowning rod after I pulled it up. The drowning lock is painted orange, so I can see it quickly if the trap is still in the bed and no there's no catch without disturbing the set:

 

[DOC1187]

 

[Boone 58]