Beavers

titch--

titch--

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Hey I might have a chance to be paid to shoot some problem beavers here soon and was thinking of using my 17hmr for it. Do you think the 17 has enough juice for beavers or do I have to step up to my 223?

Also would you shoot them in the head or the chest?

thanks
 
Ok thanks

Ive never went after beavers before so Im kind of new to this. I just wasnt sure if I would catch a few on banks or not, so I thought I would ask.

Head it is. :)
 
The 17hmr will do the trick i would assume. Never tried it myself but hell, i shoot em with a .22lr if that's all i have with me and it does the job just fine. Good luck and kill as many of the vermin as you can.:cheers:
 
cool cool

its a laser so I should have a problem with hittin their heads.

Ill post abunch of picks if and whenever we get out.
 
I helped a friend eliminate a bunch of nuisance beavers on his property this spring. The best way to do it is find a section o the dam that you can tear open and sit back and wait for them to come repair it. They are most active in the later afternoon based on my experience. I used my .22 WMR with CCI 40gr JHP and head shot them when they came into the opening in the dam. My range was usually 25-35 yards.
 
Hey Joe thanks for the tip. That will come in handy.

I havent been out to the sites yet but I did hear of bunch of dams by some bridges. Sounds like easy pickins
 
Taking head shots on a beaver is difficult at best, especially if they are moving in the water. Also there is the safety issue of shooting at the surface of water with ricochets. The method I always used was to find the dam and pull apart a hole in it until the water is rushing pretty good over it. Do this mid afternoon. Find a spot to hide in full camo close by in the late afternoon and wait. They will instinctively come by and investigate the break and then repair it close to dusk. If you're patient, wait for them to climb out of the water before you shoot and you'll have a choice of headshot or body shot. I used a .22 Mag for years and it was a great cartridge so the .17 should be fine as long as you don't blast away at a 1/2 inch moving target in the near dark-you're liable to wound or miss it and it will alert all the other beavers with a ker-slap of its tail on the water. Using this method I once shot 6 beavers in one evening, all one shot kills. Good luck!
 
Right on! thanks scout for the help.

Like I said I havent been out to the sites yet, but I think they are kind of narrow rivers and Im guessing with higher banks on the sides because I was thinking about ricochets. If I can get them up on the banks, even better. :)
 
I never saw one actually leave the water and go onto shore, they all swam around where the holes were and used material from within the water amd on the dam to fix the holes. Everyone we shot was inside of the holes we opened up. Dependin on the layout of the land, camo may not be necessary. Where we were shooting them, one spot was one the edge of a field and we sat in lawn chairs parallel to the dam, they didnt even see us as they were more concentrated on their dam. The second spot we set up in we were directly in front of the hole and again they never saw us.
 
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Thanks Joe for the picks and explanation.

Lawn chairs eh? I like the sounds of that. lol

Looks like mid afternoon to dusk it is. :)
 
Just curious, what do you need today as far as permits, permission and licenses go from the appropriate agencies outside of a trappers licence in season?

Years ago I had a permit from F&W to shoot beavers outside of the trapping season as well as to blow up lodges and dams on our lands. We would tear holes in the dams and then head shoot them with .22 mag when they came to make repairs.
 
Set up a target and practice at 30 - 50 ft - a shot that is an inch low is a miss - water soaks up energy. A head shot is not ideal - but a lip shot is - they will come up on land to die rather than sinking. It seems that the beaver may not be able to hold its breath so goes to dry land - but it takes very good shooting - do practise at close range. A retrieving dog is nice - our Mastador loves it - seems to think that she is saving the beavers life.
 
Body shots on land would be preferable to head shots in the water. The 17 hmr would be my first choice in rimfire for head shots on swimming beavers if its allowed where you are. They are highly frangible and will very rarely skip off the water if you do miss. I would also choose a HP vs a ballistic tip for this reason. The CCI 17 gr TNT's always gave impressive results for me.
 
I shot one with a 17hmr. Head shot. Wasn't exactly a clean kill: the beaver thrashed around for quite a while. I think the bullet may have exploded on the skull. It did eventually die and sunk so I couldn't recover the body for a post-mortem. I'd suggest the 20gr hunting round as a minimum and I might even go so far as recommending a 22mag over the 17.
 
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