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Those Dam Beavers!!

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Just unpacked from a beaver set. I can say this has been quite the experience. I’m tired, had some action tonight, worked hard earlier busting up the dam. I thought I was going out there with my NV setup but ran into hiccups on my pre-hunt sight in.

Below was my intended setup minus the Caldwell turret.
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Ended up dumping the Pard NV008s LRF and the external IR torch because I didn’t take enough time enough time sighting it in again after swapping scopes. After two unsuccessful sight-in attempts I said screw it. It cost me an hour. So I threw on my Bushnell Engage 4-16x44 IR FFP and sighted it in. After two bullseyes from 25 yards I was ready to go. I went out with my thermal scanner, my ScanPro headlamp, and a rifle-mounted torch. Unfortunately no videos or photos other than a few thermal images of a beaver that was pretty close to me on the other side of a thicket in what I assume is their feeding area on the other side of the dam. That is unless the trail cam picked up some of the action. I also have photos of the dam, pond, lodge, and other elements of this permission.

This is a beaver lodge
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These are areas that I dug out today to breach the dam.
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I’ll try to work on updating the thread this weekend as I’ll be working this permission this weekend. All I can say is this is a different type of hunting. A lot to take in.

View of beaver pond through an AGM Asp Micro TM160
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This is the beaver (I spotted through some brush with a thermal scanner the black spot on the photo below ). I didn’t know it was a beaver for some time . It didn’t appear to have moved much. I thought I was picking up a patch of water through the thicket until I scanned minutes later and it was gone. The water was still warmer than the air so it showed up black as well. Shortly after I spotted a beaver on top of the dam and shot it standing behind my Primos Trigger Stick bipod. The animals’s position was close to a perfect broadside, I knew the range, i knew my holds, there was no wind, and a half moon. I would not have known it was in the area without my thermal scanner. I didn’t hear it move onto the dam. It was tough to hear over the running water from the breaks I dug into in the dam, industrial activity, and automobile traffic in the background. It was also quite humid this evening. It rained the night before. Humidity was around 74%.
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I’ll return to the pond tomorrow to see if a carcass floated to the top of the pond somewhere. I also need to see how much patchwork they’re going to do tonight. I suspect they may try to build a new dam downstream a bit. About a half hour before I left, I heard them fell a pretty good sized tree. Despite all of the activity, I left by the time I’d notified the Sherriff that I’d be out of the area. One thing about it, this is new territory and I’m working on this permission in another state. They have different regulations and I had to talk to a couple of agencies and departments. These beavers are destroying a bridge here and they have destroyed quite a bit of timber as well as breached several people’s ponds in the area. I’ll post more about it tomorrow.

Thank you to @Monkyshine and @TheIceman for sharing your knowledge and guidance.
 
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Ahhh, beavers. I hunt a small dairy farm that has a creek running through the back woods. I had a stand set up 25 yards off a crossing in the creek. One morning in the dark that stand is in the middle of a now mini lake in two feet of water. Further inspection found a beaver damn a bit down creek. I told the farmer about it. He took a trip out and a bit of dynamite later the mini lake was gone.........
Gotta love those farmers.
 
Kill confirmed.
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I shot from the upper right corner in the above photo. If you can see the tree the felled over there (to the right of the tree in the water close to the bank), I was standing just in front of it. My shot hit about 1” low into the face and I’d say that’s a generous estimate (probably 1.5” low). I didn’t notice a pass through. It was shot with a .25 JSB King Heavy MKII 33.95 grain diabolo pellet. It flopped off of the dam and kicked towards some water plants. I couldn’t see it through the foliage to deliver a follow up shot. It thrashed in the water longer than I expected, BUT from the sound of the impact (pellet on bone) and sounds it was making in the water I had a strong feeling it would not be able to dive. My inclinations were correct on both fronts. There is no excuse for the low shot. That’s on me. I’m just glad that it died minutes after being shot and didn’t swim away wounded. I only took the one shot.
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The messed up part is my trail cam didn’t pick up any of the action, but it recorded me me retrieving the carcass this morning. I moved it to what I hope is a better location.
 
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Congratulations, Dave! Those standing shots using a shooting stick, at night, can be rough. It can be a tough hunt, but the reward makes it worthwhile. Get that Pard problem worked out. You'll have an easier time shooting with it compared to a red LED light. By the way, all that work you did making holes in the dam? Perfect! Nice and shallow, so the beavers have to be visible, and shootable, while working on them. I hope you get the rest of them this weekend!

James
 
@TheIceman Thanks. The spotlight situation took some adjusting on the fly. When I had it with the ScanPro when I went to look through the scope the light wasn’t aligned with the animal. Then switched on my torch which I am not able to use with my pressure switch on and tried to steady myself to take the shot. It seems that the beavers first use grasses and weeds to begin their patch work.
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After this one was shot I think they called it quits on the dam for the night. The other two holes were still flowing this morning. After I recovered the body I cleared out the grass from the largest hole and the water rushed out once again.
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You also asked me to share somethings that I learned. One things for sure, when I go into the woods it’s common to come back itching from something. One the night of my first set I placed my backpack on the ground for a few hours in some ferns. While I was posted I had what I assumed to have been mosquitos flying all around me on my hands. Trying not to move much I took most of the bites. However, when I left I put my rifle in my pack, threw it over my shoulders and walked out. When I got in for the night I felt a tick crawling on me. The next day I had flea bite like bumps on my hands and arms. They’re still going away. I don’t know what caused them, but this time out I sprayed my clothes with insect repellent and out some on my face, neck, and hands. When I returned last night I didn’t have any bites on me. Oh yea I hunted with my backpack on my back the entire set. I didn’t take time to locate a sturdy enough branch to hang it from, so I just wore it until I left.
 
@Billinoregon No fleshing here. These are nuisance beavers and it is not fur bearer season. I can kill then, skin them, and eat them, but I can’t flesh them as I am not a licensed trapper in this state yet.
Recover the castors. It's easy and there's a market for them...or use it to make castor mounds for the same purpose as your dam breaks.
 
@Ranchibi This one probably weighed 35-40lbs. I was sweating by the time I made I back to the truck carrying it out of there about 1/5 of a mile. When I shot it I was thinking that it was a yearling. It looked smaller at night in the spotlight.
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OMG! Thank you for sharing that photo with me! That is BIG! That's like carrying a bag of cement out of there...what a work out! I do hope you get any that are left, good luck and be safe!
 
An established beaver pond will have an adult pair generally 35-70 lbs and two years worth of young. The older batch of young ones will get pushed out about now to make room for the coming litter. Those dispersed will be traveling up/down stream looking for a new residence. I'd weigh that beaver. That is useful info.

When you skin that out or remove the castors look for the baculum (penis bone). It'll tell you which part of the breeding pair you took. Extra points if it's the girl. Save that castor and the oil sac. After he's missing her for a little while, use it.
The castors/oil sacs and baculum are all in the same area fitted next to each other.
@Ranchibi This one probably weighed 35-40lbs. I was sweating by the time I made I back to the truck carrying it out of there about 1/5 of a mile. When I shot it I was thinking that it was a yearling. It looked smaller at night in the spotlight.
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Removed the castors and oil sacs earlier. I ripped one castor sac and cut the other. I’ll still use them. Their scent smells kinda good. Still used gloves. I appears to have been a male. No scale to weigh it. Guess that’s next on my to-buy list.
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Photo of the castor (scent) sac and oil sac.
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Here’s a castor sac as I removed the thin muscular membrane.
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I tried separating the castors upon removal. It appears best to remove them intact connected to one another. These didn’t take to too much firm handling. The yellowish material inside reminded me of contents of a rumen with a heavy acorn diet. There was a little fluid inside the castor sacs. They were pretty flat too. The oil sacs felt full. When cutting the flesh and viscera holding these sacs in place fluid was coming out of the vent. It smelled musky and had a yellowish color. I didn’t know if it was urine, the contents of the castors, or a combination.

If any of my labels are incorrect please correct me. I got my information from people claiming to be trappers on YouTube. I have been studying their habits and how to hunt and trap them for about a year, but I did not study their anatomy. Shame on me. Well I’m learning now.
 
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