Well I want to thank everybody who bought my flys at the last meeting . Oh and they are guarenteed as long as you can read my license plate LOL . Anyways the moneys from the flysale went into my thirsty trucks gas tank and this enabled me to go over and set some beaver traps for the last week of the season wich ends on Easter .I got out 10 traqps wich is the limit for pa beaverin I set 3 parts of the pennnypack and I do believe they are 3 diffrent colonies . The 1st check had nothing and maybe they were holed up due to the weather but this morning was diffrent . The second trap on my 1st stop held a liveone and he was up on the bank at my approach he dove in . I walked over thinking he just got caught afew minutes ago and had not gone down the drowning wire . When I came up to the set location it was all tore up and the drowning bag was dragged al the way to the bank and the beaver was abel to have a lot of freeway to go under the bank or up and down the creek as long as the drowning wire wich was 10 feet . I positioned my self right above the bubels and waited with my walking /hook stick when he surfaced to get a gulp of air I hooked the trap and the fight was on he was rewaly strong and I was holding him under it was like having a pony on the end of a broom stick an trying to flip it strong . As the fight insued I felt a great surge and then nothing kind of like fishing when you loose a big one and everytrhing goes slack well when I pulled up the trap my hook was in the jaws of the trap and the beaver won his freedom . I guess when I hooked the trap I had it by the lever and during the fight it released the jaw tention enough to free the beaver . I would have shot him with my 22 pistol but there is a big apartment tower there aslong that stretch and I do not want to scare the tenants cause they are elderly .I did not redo the setand pulled the trap I left the drowning bag up on the bank and I will reset it tomorrow after a day to let everything kool down . It amazes me how that beaver dragged that drowning bag over to the bank and the n climb up on the bank that bag had to weigh 50 lb or better . The next time I will redo this set with a conibear they wont get away with a broke neck .
The trapping season is now over I finished off with 4 beavers caught and 3 retained . I pulled all my traps up on Sat the 1st stop was behind the gloria dai towers on Welsh rd the site were I had the live one last tuesday . I pulled that trap the same day the one got away I refreshweneed the set dowen stream on thursday .As I was aproaching the set I noticed a fresh chew stick and the trap was gone and there was a beaver down at the bag drowned like they are supposed to be that made #2 for the beavers this year . The next stop was down the road on huntingdon pike .I had 4 traps down stream and 4 upstream wich I could check from the bethayers train station being it was Sat and the parking permit does not apply . The 4 downstream near Meadowbrook golf club were untouched and they were all pulled up for the season 4 to go up at Bethayers train station . After stowing all my stuff in the truck I proceded to Bethayers Train station to pull up the last 4 the first 2 were empty but the third one upstream had another beaver a twin to the last one they will both stretch out to mediums and wont be worth much so this season wil go down as sucessful one with only 3 traps lost to floods and one on a runaway fox and 3 more on another flood on my muskrat line . None were lost to theft wich is one reason I gave it up back in the 70's I was cleaned out more than once with more kids playing in the woods and not on the couch playing video games wich is good for me . I am already planning for next year and might try my hand at turtle trapping here in Pennsy at 2bucks apound a man could make a good living off those snappers . I froze the 2 beaver pelts I got sarturday cause I did not want to flesh them but the furbuyer is gonna dock me 10 bucks a piece so I guess I ll thaw them out and flesh em myself maybe Ill do them on the fleshing beam ans stretch em after they are fleshed .
Suburbia Beaver
Posted - 03/26/2013 : 12:39:12
Thanks for sharing them. 
