Decent calibre for beaver?

Thanks woodchopper for the chainsaw tip, wouldnt want to go wrecking my equipment. Well I don't have any dynamite guys, so thats out.... Im sure I would have a "blast" if I did though...I have a bunch of Remington Yellow Jackets I think I will use on the beavers if I can't get my hands on any Velocitors or Stingers.

I guess I will try and find another way to get the beavers working..thanks for the help thus far.
 
maka said:
O.K. guys listen

I am a licensed trapper. In Ontario it is illegal to "harvest" fur bearing animals with out a license to trap. Coyotes & wolf are exceptions in most areas.

A trapper may use a gun to remove them however. Doesn't have to be trapped.
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Best to read the first post..
The OP wasn't looking to make a hat out of it, he wanted to make a "swamp situation" stop. If it affecting his property there are 4 different options here in Ontario, he can hire a trapper, he can shoot it himself (or use any other means he choses to simply make it dead), he can have a direct relative dispatch it, or he can bring in a PPA from the MNR. Trapping is a solution, but not the only one.
Again, this isn't a guy looking to "harvest" beavers, he just want to stop the destruction of property.
I still vote for the Ruger .204 and a bi-pod.
 
i will second that a farmmer may shoot all the beavers he has to to protect his property .i hate to say it as it is how i make my winter money trapping problem beavers DUTCH
 
Boomer said:
My favorite beaver dam blasting story involves a rancher who took his 6 year old son with him to do the deed. They set the charges, ran the wire back to a safe position, and the Dad pushed down the plunger on the hell box and . . . nothing happens. Well he gives his son instructions not to wander away, and he walks the firing line in an attempt to find the problem, neglecting to unhook and shunt the firing line. Now out on the middle of the dam he faintly hears off in the distance, "Daddy, it still doesn't work!"
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We really need to get together for a beer one of these years, to discuss favorite beaver blasting stories !!!
 
I've been invited to come out to Alberta and help shoot some of the pest beavers on a huge farm/ranch.

I will only be shooting them with my single shot T/C Contender carbine in 223 Rem with 40gr V-Max @ 3400fps.

It's not the only rifle I will have along but it is the only one I'll shoot beavers with.
 
Canadian Bush Wacker said:
I had a permit to kill, I used full rifled 12 gauge with 2 3/4 copper tip slugs. When those cute little buck tooth f**kers start costing you thousands of dollars in road repairs, You will hunt them down with you wife's knitting needle if you had to! Alive, they are the most useless thing we got in this country! Next to bears! They both should be all shot on site!
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You got that right! Two years ago, I hiked over de-activated logging roads for an hour to pick Alaska Blueberries. Only to find that beavers had dammed a creek, and flooded the whole @#$% valley! :mad: I hiked back to the truck, and drove for another hour to another site. ELEVEN bears in less than one square kilometre! :mad: I didn't even get out of the truck. I checked that spot this year, and all the blueberry bushes are gone. When a bear strips the berries, the bush usually dies. In BC, only trappers can shoot beavers. The logging companies used to have permits to shoot them, but I don't think they issue them anymore. .410 shotgun was the preferred gun, or a .30-30 rifle.
 
KDX said:
How can you tell what kind of ammo is in the mag (if there is any)?
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I don't know what the regs are there, but in BC you aren't even supposed to use the hood for a rest. If you load your rifle in the truck, you could be fined. You're not even allowed to carry a loaded rifle on a bicycle. I can see #1BCSHOOTER's point, as the picture implies hunting from a motor vehicle. But I don't know the law, it may very well be legal to hunt from the truck where Beater lives.
 
It isn't legal to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle anywhere in Canada as perr the Act Of Parliment called the Criminal Code. There are provincial statutes that overlap and have the authority to exempt this.
Otherwise, stupid picture to post on the net.
 
I used 222 once, and my ex-wife's grandfather used to do very well with a 25-20, for many years on his trapline. Lastly, a friend of a friend, in northern Manitoba uses a 22-250, as a rural municipal employee, day in and day out, with no complaints.
 
22 mag, or 223 with FMJ. Don't care if they are not worth anything, keep the carcass for spring bear bait & give the pelt to a trapper.

A little conservation never hurt, altho the beaver pop isn't hurting for certain, just respect life in general.

JT.
 
I do live in Alberta, and will review the regs before I go and try and take down some of these big rats. I was interested in the minimum calibre, I guess out of a need to be somewhat humane. I don't want to find out they have super thick skulls and my .22LR bounce off.."ping ping ping!"
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In Alberta you need a trapping licence to trap beavers. However you can shoot beaver with the permission of the landowner and without a trapping licence.

I've killed beaver with a .22 rimfire but it requires a headshot. This can be done even when they are swimming because the top of their head sticks out of the water. The bullet won't bounce off the skull.

Beaver can be fricken BIG animals so headshots are a requirement when using small calibers. The one I killed weighed over 60 lbs which is roughly three times heavier than the average coyote.

But from what you have all told me, just about anything will work for them, obviously within an effective range at the proper target on the animal. I may even get my 870 before then, who knows. If it comes down to it, I will use my 10/22. I don't beleive the pelts are worth anything except their obvious use as a wicked halloween costume.. If I find a monster beaver maybe I will take his pelt, for the memories.
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Don't think I'd use a 12ga on beaver cause you have no control over where the pellets will hit and it would be easy to wound or lose and animal. Skinning a beaver is interesting. They have a distinct musky kind of a smell.

Now, Ive been hearing that most of their activity is nocturnal? Anyone have any sort of tips that can help me get them during the day? Somewhere in my head I am thinking of a bag of fireworks (screecheroos and the like) and some very pissed off beavers.
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You will need to be setup to watch over their pond about and hour or so before sunset. You will likely not see anything during the day. It is best to scope out the area really well. They will have all kinds of secret hiding places and escape routes and no amount of noise is gonna get them to leave a secure hiding place.
 
Sweet,
well I have a couple months to select the proper rifle and case their areas.. I really appreciate the help. It is in the Moose Hill area of Alberta that I will be working.

I guess the next thread I start might be about skinning these things. Wouldn't mind a single pelt, for the memories.
 
When I was in SW Ontario about 15 years ago, beavers moved in and were flooding uncles corn field, couldn't even combine it. Natural Resources wanted $18 per beaver to have them trap them, and they just threw the pelt and all away. We said we would shoot them for alot less, and they said ok. What worked? .22LR out to about 15 yards with high enough angle down into the head, .223 & .22-250 with the expected results. Beavers would nearly always sink when shot, and float up onto the dam the next day.
 
rem338win said:
It isn't legal to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle anywhere in Canada as perr the Act Of Parliment called the Criminal Code. There are provincial statutes that overlap and have the authority to exempt this.
Otherwise, stupid picture to post on the net.
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how do you know it's loaded?
 
I was speaking to someone at the MNR's Aurora office about Trapper's courses and dealing with nuisance animals in Southern Ontario when I was told about "Term Agent Authorization." For someone who's not a landowner, immediate relative or licenced trapper, they can ask for the TAA from a District Office to deal with nuisance wildlife. The TAA normally lasts for 30 days from the date of issue, but at least it provides an option for helping a friend or acquaintance with nuisance beavers that won't get you in trouble with the law. While I'm looking into getting my trapper's licence over the long term, I might just apply for this permit in the spring to help a friend who's asked me about harvesting some troublesome beavers. I'll probably end up using a .22 mag or .22 hornet, maybe my Stevens 200 in .223.

Cheers,

Frank
 
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