Need Help on a Beaver gun?

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ManitobaMan

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Hello all

Some freiends and myself have been asked to look into removing some beavers from farmland in manitoba. I have to admit at first I had very little interest in shooting any beavers as I have never personally seen them as a real problem rodent, but in the spirit of seeing to believe I purchased a turkey tag and was looking forward to possibly running across a gobbler(as I was not interested in beavers but it's still turkey season till the 22nd) and went out with my trapper friend to see just how bad they could be. All I can say was Wholy Moly * :eek: * there was more of these things than I have ever seen or heard of, they have built more dens than I could count and dammed up a stream all through this poor fellas 2 1/2 sections of family land and on top of higher than normal water table levels they are slowly destroying these people's family land. I was amazed at how bad this problem was. so in the spirit of help I was eager to renew my trapping licence :cool: and consider helping in the removal.

So Here is the question

I would be interested in this however my friend likes his .22 but I do not like them for anything other than gophers, I would like to be as humane as possible hence maybee over-calibre for the job a bit, but I dont want to be shooting any super high velocity rounds out there ie 22.250 etc

I have an old 30.30 I would think of using but is that too much gun?

My understanding is beavers can easily his 60-80lb so what would the recommended bush gun be for this?

Like most I'm alaways happy to add another member to the family
so whats a good close range bush gun for large rodents?

Thanks ManitobaMan :)
 
.22 hornet, .223, 7.62x39 is what I'd use, especially if you can use surplus for varmints in manitoba. Really whatever you've got will do the trick
 
Hey guys
Thanks for the replys

My brother noted using a .22 mag But I have never shot one, do they have allot more punch? as the standard .22 seems way too wimpy for these creatures.

I thought the 30.30 would be good as it was used in the trapping days quite a bit, how about a .357 lever or .44? I was a little worried about the gernade effect :)
 
A .22 mag. would work well.

I knew a trapper who shot a lot of beaver and had a 5mm rem mag. rimfire that he thought was the best beavering gun going.

Take some meat off a younger beaver and run it through a meat grinder. Beaver burgers mmmmm!
 
CGN, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? This thread has gone 10 posts and not one has contained any ###uallly innuendo about beavers!!!:adult:

EDIT: Thanks CV32.:D:dancingbanana:
 
get some practice with your deer rifle. I assume you're not too worried about recovery of the hides, correct?

I've seen what a 45-70 shooting 300 grain hollowpoints at velocities well beyond their design can do to a beaver. Humane - sure, I doubt the beaver felt anything at all. A little messy tho :)
 
I would take a .22 and a well placed shot using CCI velocitors over a high powered rifle.

Shooting at water with a center fire rifle is not reccomended. I bet guys are going to jump in and call BS but I would not consider it safe. If you can get your hands on a loaner HMR that's an option too.
 
I've always just used whatever was close at hand, 22lr, .308 or 12 ga with 3"BB. My wife has a preference for her 30-30, and has whacked a bunch with it. My dear old dad likes 12ga with SSG. So really, you don't need to be too picky unless you are trying to save the hides.
 
prosper said:
get some practice with your deer rifle. I assume you're not too worried about recovery of the hides, correct?

I've seen what a 45-70 shooting 300 grain hollowpoints at velocities well beyond their design can do to a beaver. Humane - sure, I doubt the beaver felt anything at all. A little messy tho :)
Click to expand...

:agree:

300hp @ 2350 out of my 45-70 does kill them dead ;)

Turns a prickly pork inside-out & leaves nothing but the bare hide, you have to see it to believe it!
 
I've shot tons of them as they are a problem here in rural Sask., we have a $35 bounty for each tail, and that's good because there isn't much left of them after hitting them with the 45/70 and some 335gr. Hollow pts. that have a large gaping hollow point. The .44 Mag. does almost as well but you still have to cut off the tail, the .356 Win. works good with a 250gr. cast flat point, but more penetration less gore. The .17HMR will kill them but it's a slower process and less humane unless you have a head shot, I wouldn't use a .22 unless you have no other choice. My Uncle has shot lots with the shotgun and #2 or BB lead shot, and quite often it takes awhile for them to float up dead.
 
Ya I would say 22 mag(or possibly 17HMR) if you want the hide(about 2x the power of a 22 lr) and anything else if you are just culling. 30-30 with hollow points does a nice job...... :p
 
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