Decent calibre for beaver?

Beater said:
my personal fav for beavers

rasheed.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice !
Shoot them from behind the wheel of your truck with a military surplus rifle using FMJ .
Make sure you post the vid to YouTube !
:bangHead:
Are you OOYFM
 
In Ontario, it's against the law to shoot beaver, muskrat etc.
You must have a trapper's lic.
Is it worth it, to get caught having fun shooting beaver,knowing what the penalty is for getting caught?
Can you say bye bye to your guns and lic and afford a heavy fine?
If so, enjoy!!
 
Wow, thanks for all the input guys!
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!" 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.

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.
 
Beaver is a major nuisance on my property, I have shot at least 50 over the years using 22lr to 270 WSM.

Your 10/22 with high end ammo will do the job fine.

Don't expect to recover many unless you want to dredge, when shot they dive and find somewhere or something to keep them underwater. Very very rarely, do you ever see one float, doesn't matter what you hit them with.

Even point blank shots, they seem to be able to dive.
 
JoshHanson said:
Wow, thanks for all the input guys!
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!" 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.

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.
Click to expand...

To properly hunt beavers, you want to get them OUT of the water; this way, you can make a head shot and not worry about bullets bouncing off the water.

They are largely nocturnal, but begin to come out at dusk. In order to entice them to get out, go early to mid afternoon and break their dam with as large a hole as you safely can. (This will take you a while - these things are well built!)

About an hour before dusk, set up in full camo so you get a shot at the hole in the dam. They will come out and investigate the breach in their dam, and begin to repair it. They will usually come out of the water to do this, and when they do is the best time to shoot. Failing that, you will have a close range shot that won't tend to ricochet off of the water.

I've used everything from .22LR to 30-06 and even bows, and let me tell you, they are TOUGH buggers; only a solid head shot will anchor them right away.

Use a shotgun with #1 buck if you can get fairly close, and a .22 Mag if you can pick your shots.

Hope this helps!

:dancingbanana:
 
Thanks scout, thats pretty much what I was looking to find out. Maybe I can borrow a chainsaw that weekend to cut into the dams. I have yet to check out this property, so Im not really sure what the topography will be like. I'm getting excited though!
 
Boomer said:
A 25 Kg case of high density explosives works well, and if numerous cases are placed at 5' intervals along the deep water side of a dam and there doesn't seem to need much need for shooting or trapping afterwards. If you're cheap, use a single case at the dam center and let the force of the water do the bulk of the work, but chances are it won't kill all the beavers. For those blasters working in Ontario, please try not to wash out the TransCanada again.
Click to expand...

Nah, thats overkill!! Many, many years ago when I was posted out east in Saskatchewan I had to beaver dams on the base I was posted to as the stagnant water created caused a bad mosquito problem. We dug 1 foot holes 5 feet apart, 2 kg of ANFO, 500 grams of DM 12 plastic explosive and a bit of det cord. Result, no dam. ANFO dug in 1 foot will give you better lift qualities than a 25 kg box of dynamite on the surface.
 
I recommend a specialist for your beaver problems.

They can be dangerous if not handled properly...

And now, let's talk about the real beavers. I think 22lr will do.
 
shooting beaver

22 works ok use cci stingers, 223 works ok if useing fmj rounds assumeing you are shooting them in the head with both calibers have done this for years on my trapline
 
tactical870 said:
I'm pretty sure it's illegal even if you are the property owner in ontario. Last advice I got from the MNR was to contact a licensed trapper. That being said a 270 works awesome.....
Click to expand...

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.
 
JoshHanson said:
Thanks scout, thats pretty much what I was looking to find out. Maybe I can borrow a chainsaw that weekend to cut into the dams. I have yet to check out this property, so Im not really sure what the topography will be like. I'm getting excited though!
Click to expand...

Chain saw is not going to help :D too much mud in the dam, going to dull the chain and potentially screw up the bar. But if its your brother-in-laws chainsaw go ahead :D
 
Garand said:
Nah, thats overkill!! Many, many years ago when I was posted out east in Saskatchewan I had to beaver dams on the base I was posted to as the stagnant water created caused a bad mosquito problem. We dug 1 foot holes 5 feet apart, 2 kg of ANFO, 500 grams of DM 12 plastic explosive and a bit of det cord. Result, no dam. ANFO dug in 1 foot will give you better lift qualities than a 25 kg box of dynamite on the surface.
Click to expand...

No, no, no. I wasn't suggesting you put a box of dynamite on the surface of the dam, but a case of dynamite or emulsion at the base of the dam on the high water side does wonders. The water provides good stemming and wave shaping to the blast energy. Finesse has its place but not when blasting dams (provided nothing is close by) and a small blast won't kill the beavers. Actually I've done some under water stuff with Anfo, but you have to go to a great deal of trouble to waterproof the bag, and then you have to anchor it due to Anfo's low density (.79 more often than the published .82). Anyway, a length of det cord going to a single 1X8 stick of dynamite is sufficient priming, then watch the sky.

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!"
 
You don't need to do much damage to the dam to get them to investigate.....they seem to be wired into investigating any sudden increase in the noise of the water over-flowing the damn dam...and want to "jump on it " before the whole dam departs.
The times that I accompanied a trapper (strickly as an interested observer, of course) most head shot(between the eye and ear) beaver floated , we did however have a canoe and a rigged pike pole handy for the few sinkers .
Trappers do not normally damage a dam, unless it is a nuisance call....they are interested in keeping the population sustainable as they have a "Quota" to fill every year...but again you shouldn't be constrained by this .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom