Decent calibre for beaver?

JoshHanson

JoshHanson

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Hey CGN'ers,

I've been invited to help clear some private land of pesky beavers. Apparently they have been creating some swamp type situation. I guess two years ago they were all killed off, but have returned in greater numbers. It sounded like some fun to me..

At this point I have a custom Ruger 10/22, with a red dot. I was feeling that this might be too small of a bullet? I have heard some cull 'yotes with 22LR, some kill pigs with it...etc. With a decent head shot at a reasonable range Im sure I would drop them.

Does anyone have any experience with beavers? Should I look for a shotgun or something larger then a .22lr?
 
.22-250 seems to be the favorite around here. One fella I used to work with loved the .22 WMR for beaver work. Looks like any of the centrefire .22's work work fine
 
Be carefull shooting beavers, its against the law where I am to shoot them, must be trapped by licensed trapper .Can be hefty fines.
manitou
22mag works well and as other say 222 etc
 
Ruffed Grouse said:
I'm pretty sure that on the request of a landowner to prevent property damage in Ontario is legal.

RG

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Even the guy from the UK knows the law better than some Ontario Residents.

In Ontario, it is VERY legal for one to destroy the beavers on your property if they become a nuisance. However, I don't know about the legality of keeping the hides, but I know it would be very illegal to sell them.

Like said earlier as what to use, if you're not planning on keeping the hides go with a 12gu loaded with 0, 00, or 000 buck. You could try slugs too but that might be a bit of an overkill. If you only have the ruger try to borrow something bigger. Since its also private property you can use whatever you'd like to shoot the beavers... like a 30-06 or a 45-70.

Have fun.
 
Shotgun loaded with lead 4's or steel BB's. If using a rifle I found that loawer velocity rounds are more effective if the beaver is slightly submerged, lower velocity slugs will travel deeper in water ane are less likely to disintegrate on the surface. We used a Marlin 1894 .44 mag loaded with .44 special equivalent loads it work very well with minimal pelt damage, less even than the .22 mag we also used.
 
my personal fav for beavers

rasheed.jpg
 
If you are head shooting them for the pelt any of the 22 centrefires are good.
Ideal place to use the old Winchester/Marlins in the short calibers like 25-20 or 32-20 as well.

Back when I was still trapping I caught 3 nuesance beaver one spring that had been wounded with shotguns so I'd personally stick to the rifle calibers.

With perfect shot placement 22 rimfies will work but they're pretty light if you happen to touch any water at all.

If the idea is simply to get rid of them without saving the hides then a 30-30 or 303 is just about ideal. (big boom-cheap ammo)
 
.22 Magnum is a great Beaver round. If you are going to use your 10/22 try some "Velocitor" by CCI. I have taken a few Badgers with them and they work much better than Stinger or Yellow Jackets for tougher animals.
 
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