You can hunt beavers using a trap or a gun. Most hunters choose the second method of hunting, considering it more humane and interesting. Beaver hunting begins in October and continues until the end of February.
It is extremely difficult to take beavers by surprise. These are very careful animals. They settle in families, the number of individuals in which can reach 10. The territory of a beaver settlement can stretch along the shore of a natural reservoir for no less than a kilometer. The trees and shrubs surrounding their home are used to build the platinum.
Beavers build their huts with access to the water. This protects them from attacks by predators. They can remain underwater without surfacing for up to 20 minutes. Beavers have powerful incisors. From them you can determine the age of the animal. In adults they grow up to 9 cm, and in young ones their length does not exceed 3 cm. The body of the animal can grow up to 120 cm in length, and they gain weight up to 35 kg.
Where to look for beaver?
When searching for an animal, you need to pay attention to the strength of the current in the reservoir. They choose quiet rivers or lakes (swamps, irrigation canals) with standing water to build their huts. The fast current is a big problem for them. They can't handle it.
When looking for a body of water, animals choose for their lives those shores that are covered with aspen, alder, birch or willow. When searching for a beaver's lodge, hunters pay attention to tree trunks with characteristic marks of the animals' incisors. They should be fresh and white. Black spots on the sections indicate that the tracks are old and you need to look for the beaver in another place.
The location of animal huts is also determined by branches that can float on the surface of the reservoir, as well as by the tracks of animals on the shore. Signs of their presence may include well-trodden paths covered with silt and holes. Experienced hunters know very well what time of day a beaver leaves its hut.
The rodent is nocturnal, so it can only be discovered after sunset . Young individuals are the first to emerge from their burrows. More cautious adult animals leave their hut some time later. If during a sally they hear rustling or cracking of branches, they will immediately hide in a hole and can sit there for more than a week.
Hunting with a gun
Firearms for beaver hunting are selected according to the person’s weight. It should be 20 times lighter than a hunter. This could be an 18 gauge shotgun or a carbine. Any hunter knows perfectly well how to properly hunt a beaver. A charge in the form of shot can ruin a beaver's skin, so they go at it with bullets.
The choice of weapon depends on the distance required for the shot. As a rule, cautious beavers do not allow humans to get very close to them. You must try to hit them with the first shot. Unlike a trap, in which it is unknown who will fall into it and when, a hunter with a gun can independently choose the specimen he likes to kill.
When hunting a rodent with a gun, a person must approach it from the leeward side. The ambush is set up on the bank opposite the beaver huts. It is not necessary to build a hut or any other shelter for her. Hunters hide behind trees and bushes. They arrive at the place in the late afternoon.
In autumn, a lot of dry leaves and branches accumulate on the ground, which can make rustling and crackling noises. Therefore, the hiding place is cleared of them. Any noise and even a splash of water can alert the animal. For hunting, when a person has to patiently wait for prey for several hours, equipment is required. Mandatory items include the following:
- gun. It must be well targeted;
- waterproof clothing and boat;
- loot bag;
- car headlight for illumination with battery.
You can replace the battery and headlight with a high-power flashlight. It is better to wear boots made of urethane foam with thermal inserts on your feet. Experienced hunters recommend that beginners go beaver hunting in the fall with a gun loaded with 6.5 mm buckshot. Such a charge can provide the necessary accuracy of fire. The average distance for such charges is 25 meters.
Most often, in Russia, guns of the brands IZH-18, IZH-2, Saiga-12, as well as MTs-20 and MTs-21 are used for hunting beavers. The optimal weapon is one that can be used to hit an animal in the eye from 50 meters away.
Before hunting, any gun is sighted. To test the penetrating power of the charge, a board with a thickness of 30 to 40 cm is used.
Rodents leave their huts at dusk and work until 6-7 o’clock in the morning. While waiting for a beaver in a blind, a hunter may encounter a muskrat. You can't shoot at her. Having heard a shot, a beaver will not come out of its hole for a very long time. You can’t rush to shoot even when he appears on the surface. It is necessary to hit the animal with the first shot. After a hit, you must immediately rush to the prey and be ready to finish off the animal.
You need to shoot at the animal's head or its front part. It is very important to cause as little damage to the animal’s skin as possible. Beaver fur is used for clothing and is in quite high demand. The wounded beaver continues to swim, so without a boat and a lantern it is impossible to find and get it. Autumn beaver meat tastes like salmon.
The advantage of hunting with a gun is that a person can always see his prey.
Rules for choosing weapons and equipment
The hunter must be equipped for all contingencies.
Beaver hunting is often carried out with a gun. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of choosing it correctly. It is also worth thinking about preparing suitable equipment, without which fishing will be incomplete and problematic.
The following rules apply to the selection and preparation of equipment and guns:
- You should definitely take a mosquito net with you if you plan to fish in the warm season. When fighting mosquitoes, you should not use aerosols, as they have a strong aroma.
- For footwear, it is best to choose waterproof boots, as the hunter may need to go into the water.
- You should grab a thick polyethylene bag. You need to put caught animals in it.
- If the hunt is carried out at night, you will need a powerful flashlight that will illuminate the area. It is also worth taking a carbine with you.
- For autumn fishing, like any other, a double-barreled weapon is suitable. It can be either rifled or smooth-bore. It is necessary to choose a weapon from which the hunter will hit the beaver the first time. Otherwise, the animal will have a real chance of escaping from humans.
- When hunting waterfowl, it is recommended to use cartridges with 6.5 buckshot.
If a beginner is engaged in beaver fishing, then he should enlist the support of an experienced hunter who will help him properly prepare for the task.
Autumn catching beaver with traps
You can replace a gun for hunting with a trap or trap. Their mechanism should not have defects. A malfunction of the trap leads to injury to the animal, but not to its capture. Before installing a trap or trap, you must carefully select a place for it. The following conditions must be met:
- the place must have signs of frequent presence of the animal;
- At the site where traps and traps are installed, nothing should interfere with their operation.
As a rule, beaver dams, their rookeries, small canals, and animal trails are chosen as places to install animal catching equipment. The most frequently visited places by the animal are dams. For a hunter, they are the most accessible and convenient for setting traps. Beavers visit dams more often than other places.
Rodents make animal trails to their feeding areas . Autumn is the peak time for stockpiling. These trails are the second most likely to catch prey. Hunters prefer to set traps on feeding trails not only in autumn, but also in winter. They are laid by animals in the form of channels. It is best to install walk-through traps in them.
Manufacturers produce traps of various types. The most common of them are devices with a compressive operating principle. Such traps are often called plate traps. They are quite powerful. For beaver hunting, traps No. 5 and No. 7 are used. No more than 1 trap should be installed in one beaver settlement. A beaver with excellent hearing, hearing the sound of a triggered trap, will understand that he is being hunted. It is unlikely that any of the animals will fall into the second trap, so after a successful hunt it is repeated no earlier than a week later.
Such devices are not without drawbacks. They are difficult to disguise and do not always work. Dish traps are designed to capture only the animal's paw. This does not guarantee 100% capture of the animal. Very often, an animal caught in a trap gnaws off its own paw in order to free itself.
KP-250 traps are considered more reliable. Their principle of operation is the same as that of mousetraps. The mechanism of the device is configured to capture the animal's neck, not its paws. In such traps, the prey dies very quickly, which saves it from a long and painful death. The effectiveness of KP-250 traps is estimated at 100%.
The optimal option for installing traps is considered to be the entrance to huts and channels leading to animal food supplies. The main feature of how to hunt beaver with a trap is careful preparation of the site. Beginners to this type of hunting are not recommended to set traps themselves.
It is better to search for beaver habitats without a dog. The smell of a dog can cause animals to be very careful or change their habitat.
To catch beavers in water, traps are set at different depths. If they are placed to fix the front paws of animals, then the installation depth should be 1-2 cm, for the hind limbs - from 5 to 10 cm. A feature of the autumn installation of traps is the importance of their placement on level ground and fixation on it.
How to hunt beaver
The optimal time to go beaver hunting is after sunset.
Beavers are hunted in different ways, which allow you to get excellent prey. The person decides for himself which method to give preference to, so as to be guaranteed not to be left with nothing.
With a gun
The easiest way to hunt beavers is with a gun. This is a quick option for catching an animal, since the hunter does not need to spend a lot of time preparing the traps, as well as a good place to place them.
There is one point that makes catching a beaver with a weapon not the best option. Any extraneous rustle can scare away the animal. It will also try to immediately hide as soon as it feels a threat to its own life. At such moments, the rodent immediately dives into the water and it is no longer possible to get it out. His beaver will be mortally wounded, he will simply drown, and the hunter will not get his prey. Therefore, it is important to take a targeted killing shot.
The prey should be approached from a non-leeward direction. Otherwise, the animal will immediately hear the person and run away.
Walk hunting for beavers is not a good idea, as this option gives poor results. If a hunter intends to catch a rodent using a weapon, then it is best to choose the ambush method.
It is advisable to use a camouflage robe. This is especially true if the ambush is planned near a reservoir in winter. You should arrive at the chosen place where the hunter plans to wait for the prey at about 5 o'clock in the evening, since rodents prefer to get out of their holes after sunset.
For hunting with weapons, cartridges with shot from 1 mm are ideal. A good choice is 6.5mm buckshot.
Out of hiding
If you manage to find a rodent's hut, then you should choose a fishing option such as beaver hunting, which is carried out from ambush.
It is best to choose a shelter on a hill. This is because beavers do not expect an attack from above, so the hunter most often goes unnoticed. To avoid giving yourself away, you should not smoke or use scented products. It is recommended to shoot at a distance of 10-11 m.
From the boat
Hunting using a boat is only suitable for experienced hunters.
An interesting option for catching beaver is hunting from a boat. This method is appropriate if the body of water is not frozen and you can move around it on a boat.
Beginners should not choose hunting from a boat, as it requires certain skills and dexterity. Only experienced professionals can cope with it.
It will be possible to catch the animal if the hunter is close to beaver burrows. You need to get to them as silently as possible so as not to frighten off the rodents.
At first you can move by oars. As you approach the huts, it is best to set the boat adrift so as not to make unnecessary sounds.
Hunting permit
The existing procedure for beaver hunting in the Russian Federation requires obtaining a special license. It can be of two types. Legal entities issue a one-time management license for hunting. Such a document can also be obtained by single hunters. The second type of document is a long-term license.
Documents are issued based on an application, passport, hunting license and a receipt confirming payment of the state fee. The document contains information about the license holder and its validity period. It also contains information about the age of the animal allowed for hunting. Issuance of licenses begins in early October. Until this time, you can only explore the habitats of beavers and determine their numbers.
