Browns Fan
Member
Some of you guys are sick puppies!
Can you recommend a good air rifle to take out beavers?
- Thread starter JoseM
- Start date
- Status
Chuck R.
Member
I can sympathize with anyone going through a Beaver problem!
Last August I bout a 40 acre parcel complete with 9 acre pond. It cost me close to 14K right off the bat to repair the overflow tube, dam and spillway from the cute little ^&&% beavers. They made a dam around the original flow tube and raised the pond level 6 feet. When it washed out the spillway, they made another dam to protect that, adding about another 2 feet. As the water reaches the trees, they’re goners.
I’ve hunted just about everything on North America and Europe, and after 21 years in the Army, I’ve never seen anything like these things. They’re like some furry little aquatic Terminators, they don’t sleep, they don’t rest, and they will never give up. I’ve cleared the brush around the pond, I’ve shot them at night with rifles, a Benelli M1S90, I’ve set #3 leg hold traps, 330 Conibears (careful, 330s really, really hurt), I even burned their lodges to the ground, and they still keep coming. I tried a .22 at first, but it has to be a perfect shot, at around 40-60 lbs they're pretty tough. I managed to chase them off to my neighbor’s pond this winter, but now one (or more) has come back. Where there’s one, there’s many or will be.
Besides cutting trees, as if that’s not bad enough, every time we get a decent rain they try to dam up the overflow tube. They hate the sound of running water, make a break in the dam, or clear the drain and they will come. They’re also adaptive thinkers, shoot a couple at close to dusk, they’ll just start coming out later.
Trust me, there is no peaceful coexistence with these things. Don’t try to “live and let live”, they'll just take it as a sign of weakness.
At this point, they're winning. I’m willing to hire someone and pay a bounty.
Chuck
PS: Also watch out for their nasty little cousins the Muskrats. They have a habit of burrowing into dams to make their dens.
Last August I bout a 40 acre parcel complete with 9 acre pond. It cost me close to 14K right off the bat to repair the overflow tube, dam and spillway from the cute little ^&&% beavers. They made a dam around the original flow tube and raised the pond level 6 feet. When it washed out the spillway, they made another dam to protect that, adding about another 2 feet. As the water reaches the trees, they’re goners.
I’ve hunted just about everything on North America and Europe, and after 21 years in the Army, I’ve never seen anything like these things. They’re like some furry little aquatic Terminators, they don’t sleep, they don’t rest, and they will never give up. I’ve cleared the brush around the pond, I’ve shot them at night with rifles, a Benelli M1S90, I’ve set #3 leg hold traps, 330 Conibears (careful, 330s really, really hurt), I even burned their lodges to the ground, and they still keep coming. I tried a .22 at first, but it has to be a perfect shot, at around 40-60 lbs they're pretty tough. I managed to chase them off to my neighbor’s pond this winter, but now one (or more) has come back. Where there’s one, there’s many or will be.
Besides cutting trees, as if that’s not bad enough, every time we get a decent rain they try to dam up the overflow tube. They hate the sound of running water, make a break in the dam, or clear the drain and they will come. They’re also adaptive thinkers, shoot a couple at close to dusk, they’ll just start coming out later.
Trust me, there is no peaceful coexistence with these things. Don’t try to “live and let live”, they'll just take it as a sign of weakness.
At this point, they're winning. I’m willing to hire someone and pay a bounty.
Chuck
PS: Also watch out for their nasty little cousins the Muskrats. They have a habit of burrowing into dams to make their dens.
sturmruger
Member
Chuck if I lived close to where you live I would take you up on the beaver bounty. Hunting beavers can be a ton of fun if you aren't trying to protect you land from their boundless amounts of energy. All I can recomend is just keep shooting the little critters sooner or later you will hunt them out. Your right about the running water it is like nails on a chalk board to them.
I have a some friends that were in a similar situation to what you are dealing with. They finally installed a overflow that the little buggers can't damn up. It comes out from the road about 8ft then has a 90 degree elbow on the end with a grill over it. Since the pipe is free floating in the pond the beavers can't build up anything to block it up. If you are interested I can see if I could find a picture of it.
I have a some friends that were in a similar situation to what you are dealing with. They finally installed a overflow that the little buggers can't damn up. It comes out from the road about 8ft then has a 90 degree elbow on the end with a grill over it. Since the pipe is free floating in the pond the beavers can't build up anything to block it up. If you are interested I can see if I could find a picture of it.
sturmruger
Member
Double post
oops
oops
R.W.Dale
Member
I'm a bit suprized that nobody has mantioned that beavers can be pretty good to eat, Especally BB-Qed on a sandwich.
And NO I'm not being perverse
And NO I'm not being perverse
I trap and drown skunks, but if you want to have some fun and have a fat wallet these guys can help you out:
www.swivelmachine.com
They don't have it on their site anymore, but their AR style air rifle is also available in .38 caliber. Its a pricey rifle, and the ammo is hard to come by, but a 38 caliber semi auto air gun that fires pellets at 1100 fps is worth dumping some coin on. My friend has one, and its fun as hell. Plus, it makes an effective anti personell weapon.
www.swivelmachine.com
They don't have it on their site anymore, but their AR style air rifle is also available in .38 caliber. Its a pricey rifle, and the ammo is hard to come by, but a 38 caliber semi auto air gun that fires pellets at 1100 fps is worth dumping some coin on. My friend has one, and its fun as hell. Plus, it makes an effective anti personell weapon.
Foxtrot427
Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 512
Id just use a .22 Seems it would be a little easier.
beerslurpy
member
Beavers are very tough with thick skulls and thick pelts. Dont bother shooting them with any of the weak calibers. Use a trap or use a rifle cartrdidge.
rangerruck
Member
you would need a specialty ari rifle, firng a 30 cal size bullet, i think Arizona arms sells them , but they are very expensive, you would do better with a trap or crossbow.
Ash
Member
The point is, a beaver is a big animal, bigger than most realize and weighs, generally, more than a coyote. They are dangerous if cornered (not likely given their circumstances, but I do know of a logger who caught a baby beaver to take home to the kids, but when he picked it up, it mauled his arms terribly). They are a menace and their populations have been expanding. You cannot transport them anywhere else (would you gather up all the termites in your house and give them to your neighbor?) so the only thing that can be done is to humanely kill them.
If you hunt them, you do so at night with a 12 ga shotgun or a decent rifle. Trapping is generally the best option, using a neck-breaking trap to kill them quickly and as humanely as possible. They are like having rats in your house. Few people really worry about killing rats, or bats in their attics. Beavers, in the wild, are fine animals. But when they move (and because of aggressive parents, young beavers DO move), they enter areas which are not wetlands and cause tremendous damage. Worse, if you allow beavers to live on your property long enough, you end up with a federally protected wetland and then you are "up the creek".
In any case, the most effective option, given the location, is trapping. As far as I know, every state has an animal damage control agency which can take care of this. Being a city, you will have no trouble getting permission to have them erradicated.
Ash
If you hunt them, you do so at night with a 12 ga shotgun or a decent rifle. Trapping is generally the best option, using a neck-breaking trap to kill them quickly and as humanely as possible. They are like having rats in your house. Few people really worry about killing rats, or bats in their attics. Beavers, in the wild, are fine animals. But when they move (and because of aggressive parents, young beavers DO move), they enter areas which are not wetlands and cause tremendous damage. Worse, if you allow beavers to live on your property long enough, you end up with a federally protected wetland and then you are "up the creek".
In any case, the most effective option, given the location, is trapping. As far as I know, every state has an animal damage control agency which can take care of this. Being a city, you will have no trouble getting permission to have them erradicated.
Ash
I feel your pain ... believe me. Been there - done (and still doing) that. These things are about as bad as illegal border jumpers .... but allot smarter. If you see 'one' .... you know there's usually many more you don't see, and you sometimes don't realize the extent of the problem, until it's too late.Chuck R. said:
Beavers are extremely tough critters, especially when they get up in the 50lb range. Even with the smaller ones, you'll need something larger than a .22 to get the job done quickly, and cleanly.
Unless you're way out in boonies, with no close neighbors, I'd suggest not using a snare, (unless it's underwater) because you could easily end up with the neighbor's (or your own) dog in it .... and they can easily kill an animal, by strangulation. If you do use a snare, be sure to anchor it to something 'substantial'.
There are two other ponds besides mine, within 1/8 mile. About 5 years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to another friend of his, who had hunted & trapped since he was a kid. He came by and set out a couple conibears .... on my place, then at the neighbors'. Within a couple weeks, he pulled a total of 11 beaver out of these ponds.
Actually you usually set these conibears, in the creek (underwater) that flows into the pond. It gets 'em when they go upstream in the creek.
Ummmm.... if you shoot it with a freakin' air rifle, a good beaver is likely to take you out.
I had 'em on my property a couple of times over the years. Tree damage and a flooded, overflowing pond made me appreciate the wisdom of bringing in a trapper. He made a few bucks, got to keep the carcass, and I got my property back sans giant water rats.
Win-win.
Except for the freakin' beaver.......
Foxtrot427
Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 512
Ewwww. That sucks. But how exactly could they prove you fired it? Plenty of things sound like a .22 Plenty of tools for instance.
StrikeEagle
Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2004
- Messages
- 709
I love air rifles and I have a few really nice ones. But beavers are HUGE. The can go 60 or 70 pounds NO problem.
Beavers are just out of an air rifle's class. I guess I'd try a .22 (.22 Mag is better) and go for real accuracy. Beaver is about like a pretty fair-sized dog.
Beavers are just out of an air rifle's class. I guess I'd try a .22 (.22 Mag is better) and go for real accuracy. Beaver is about like a pretty fair-sized dog.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
