Dave Beck

Trapping season is winding down. It is scheduled to close at the end of the month. It’s been a different year with my season being interrupted multiple times. The monster cold spell in February shut things down for a few weeks with all of my spots being frozen solid. Hats off to the hard-core trappers who powered through that rough stretch of the season. Another delay happened when the lightning quick meltdown happened and temperatures unseasonably spiked. I also came down with a huge cold/flu that not only shut down trapping, but it shut me down for almost two weeks. With all of that in the rear-view mirror: the weather is good, I’m good, and it’s time to get after it.

Lately my focus has been on beaver and otter. Bagging an otter is a nice feather on a trapper’s hat in that they tend to be pretty cautious critters. Catching one will get you a back slap and a handshake from trout anglers because they are the apex predator on trout. I’ve seen differing numbers on how much otters eat and the spread is two to 10 pounds of fish per day. That’s a lot of fish and the smaller the stream, the bigger the impact.

Beavers are easier to catch but there are also a lot more of them. I don’t have a huge axe to grind against beavers, but I do put some beaver meat in the freezer to eat later and to use for baiting fishers and bobcats next fall and winter. Beaver meat isn’t too bad. It tends to have a texture and taste similar to beef.

All that being said, I took off early to run my section of a trout stream where I had six traps. I knew that they were more likely to produce beavers. but the hope is always to bag an otter as they share the same water. As I approached the first trap, I could tell that something was different. The set up was disturbed as if it had been set off. There was a chance that it could have been a misfire but then again, it could be an otter. I was feeling optimistic. I pulled that trap up and was rewarded with a 28-pound otter. That’s a new record for me and I couldn’t help but wonder if my trout fishing chances had just improved for the upcoming season. 

Trap number four was the next winner with a 45-pound beaver. It wasn’t close to a personal record, but it was still a good catch and I was grateful for the offering from the trapping gods. It also went a long ways towards filling my freezer.  

Trap number six was the last chance and it didn’t disappoint. That set had a 25-pound beaver in it being the perfect size to save the back straps and quarters for eating. Honestly, the taste is way more appealing than the thought of eating beaver meat.

What happened to traps two, three, and five? Absolutely nothing, they were undisturbed. Statistically I scored on 50 percent of my sets making it the greatest trapping day ever!

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