EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Beavers don't always build dams, some of them dig holes into the ground instead. The Sacramento Delta is full of beavers, and they do allot of damage to the levi's. Allot of the levi's breaks are blamed on the beavers and the tunnels/cave type homes that they make in the levi. Pond owners also have the same problem with beavers digging homes into the dam of their pond. Then the pond starts to leak or the dam fails.
In California, a state that's famous for it's restrictive hunting regulations, beavers are open season year round. You can even hunt them at night with lights!!! On year, some friends of mine and a state trapper that they know got together to do some beaver hunting. We went out with shotguns, bows and flashlights on a Boston Whaler. In one night, we shot about two dozen beavers. The largest was in the 90 pound range according to our spring loaded fish scale. Not the most accurate, but it gave us an idea of how big they were. Most were in the 40 to 50 pound range. At night, they are out swimming all over the place. Just shine the light, find one, float up to it and shoot it. With the shotgun, they were dead at the shot. With the bows, it was a little more exciting. One of the guys was just nuts. No other way to describe him. He would jump into the water and pull one out of the reeds if it was getting away, or trying to go down a hole in the levi.
On my pond, here in East Texas, I had a beaver taking out my trees and debarking others. Steph and I started going down there at last light almost every eveningl It had a trail from the creek, across the dam and into the pond. I was using two different places to climb out of the creek, so we had a good idea where to watch. One evening, we spotted it coming across the dam, and I killed it. Since then, I've been watching for more damage to my trees, but so far, nothing. I'm more worried abou them digging a hole into my dam then I am about them eating my trees. Of course, I wanted those trees to grow, that's why I left them there when I built my pond, but either way, the beavers have to go.
Check the regs on them, if you can, hunting them at night is about the most effective way that I've seen in killing them.
Eddie
In California, a state that's famous for it's restrictive hunting regulations, beavers are open season year round. You can even hunt them at night with lights!!! On year, some friends of mine and a state trapper that they know got together to do some beaver hunting. We went out with shotguns, bows and flashlights on a Boston Whaler. In one night, we shot about two dozen beavers. The largest was in the 90 pound range according to our spring loaded fish scale. Not the most accurate, but it gave us an idea of how big they were. Most were in the 40 to 50 pound range. At night, they are out swimming all over the place. Just shine the light, find one, float up to it and shoot it. With the shotgun, they were dead at the shot. With the bows, it was a little more exciting. One of the guys was just nuts. No other way to describe him. He would jump into the water and pull one out of the reeds if it was getting away, or trying to go down a hole in the levi.
On my pond, here in East Texas, I had a beaver taking out my trees and debarking others. Steph and I started going down there at last light almost every eveningl It had a trail from the creek, across the dam and into the pond. I was using two different places to climb out of the creek, so we had a good idea where to watch. One evening, we spotted it coming across the dam, and I killed it. Since then, I've been watching for more damage to my trees, but so far, nothing. I'm more worried abou them digging a hole into my dam then I am about them eating my trees. Of course, I wanted those trees to grow, that's why I left them there when I built my pond, but either way, the beavers have to go.
Check the regs on them, if you can, hunting them at night is about the most effective way that I've seen in killing them.
Eddie
). The pelts are only worth something if harvested in cold weather and then not enough to justify the work. All of the guys I know trapping beaver these days are doing it for homeowners or the county as nuisance prevention.Willow shoots do make good bait and a hole in the dam also gets their attention. A .22 will kill them but you must be very accurate -- they are the second largest rodent in the world! If wounded fatally but not retrievable they will end up at the dam the next morning. 
