Beaver Hunting?

[BEvans]

After watching a large beaver swim by while fishing last weekend, I felt motivated to try hunting beaver for the last two weeks of season. With everywhere I know to hold beaver still snowed in, I started following rivers on google maps and found what I presumed to beaver dams. As soon as I arrived, it looked promising, with a series of dams and banks lined with castor mounds. After spending the day walking up and down this series of dams, I was spotting muskrats left and right but not a single beaver. My initial thought was the beavers were long gone and the area has been taken over by muskrats, but both the dams and what I believed to be castor mounds, had fresh, still wet, mud plopped on top of them.
So do muskrats build dams? do the build mounds similar to beavers? Am I just bad at spotting beavers? I have very limited knowledge on beavers and have only seen muskrats twice before today.


Here is one of the dams. Its clearly not new, and for all I know, may not even be a beaver dam, but it did have fresh mud stacked on top of some of the grass.

This is what I thought was a castor mound, and like the dams, some of them had fresh wet mud stacked on top of them.
So what are your thoughts? Not beavers? Was beavers but no longer around? Beavers are still there and I just can't find them? Any help is appreciated and would love to hear how other people manage to locate and hunt beavers on public land.

 

[Steve in Canton]

Are you allowed to hunt beavers in Colorado? Many states the only legal way to harvest a beaver is by trapping.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Are you allowed to hunt beavers in Colorado? Many states the only legal way to harvest a beaver is by trapping.

That was my first thought but then CO is pretty anti-trapping, maybe you can’t trap them. Not familiar.

Can’t hunt them in Montana but I always thought it would be kind of fun. Looking forward to how your hunt unfolds. Good luck.

 

[Flynarrow]

Beaver in the West contribute so much wetland habitat for other species including furbearers, waterfowl, fish, amphibians, moose, as well as water storage in streambanks. Not that taking one would likely devastate a colony, but loss of beaver colonies does have consequences.

 

[BEvans]

Are you allowed to hunt beavers in Colorado? Many states the only legal way to harvest a beaver is by trapping.

With a small game and furbearer license, you can both hunt and trap all furbearers. I'm unaware of and specific rules against hunting beaver, but if I'm missing something please let me know! In order to trap in colorado it has to be a live cage trap above water and I don't have the slightest clue how I'd do that for beaver.

 

[BEvans]

Here is one of the mounds from this morning, once again, with fresh mud pushed on top. I don't know what would be making them if it isn't a beaver.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I have no interest in trapping a beaver but if they were legal to hunt, I would definitely shoot one (only one) to have the pelt tanned and mounted like this:

 

[shb]

Beavs don't come out till it gets dark.

Sit quietly downwind where you can see the water at dusk.

 

[Akcabin]

Possibly a young male out searching for a home. Not a lot of traffic

 

[Trap]

Beaver in the West contribute so much wetland habitat for other species including furbearers, waterfowl, fish, amphibians, moose, as well as water storage in streambanks. Not that taking one would likely devastate a colony, but loss of beaver colonies does have consequences.

Overpopulation of beavers has consequences as well. Could have more detrimental consequences by too many beavers. Beavers can be good but trapping is important management tool. You can have TOO much of a good thing. It’s already been said but I’m surprised the op can hunt beavers we are only allowed to trap? I would say if you are not seeing beavers I would move on regardless of sign. I usually have no problem seeing beavers when they are around and they rarely seem to care that I am there

 

[BEvans]

With so many concerns over the legality of hunting beaver, I reread the regulations and the only time beaver is mentioned outside of season dates and bag limits is "Raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, striped skunks, beavers and red, gray or swift foxes can be hunted at night" and "It is illegal to destroy or damage beaver or muskrat houses, dens or dams, except to maintain water flow or prevent property damage." There is nothing stating beavers can only be trapped.

 

[BAKPAKR]

@BEvans, If you want to find a new spot, just get on GoogleEarth and look for meandering streams, willowy bottoms, and ponds. I wouldn’t waste time in any place that didn’t have sign of a lot of recent activity.

They were active in the spot in the photos below. I had one pass within a couple of feet of me as he shuffled down the trail between his logging job and his pond.

 

[BEvans]

@BEvans, If you want to find a new spot, just get on GoogleEarth and look for meandering streams, willowy bottoms, and ponds. I wouldn’t waste time in any place that didn’t have sign of a lot of recent activity.

They were active in the spot in the photos below. I had one pass within a couple of feet of me as he shuffled down the trail between his logging job and his pond.

View attachment 273117View attachment 273119

That's definitely a lot more sign than what I've been seeing. I guess I'll move on and look for a new area. Thanks!

 

[TOGIE]

That was my first thought but then CO is pretty anti-trapping, maybe you can’t trap them. Not familiar.

Can’t hunt them in Montana but I always thought it would be kind of fun. Looking forward to how your hunt unfolds. Good luck.

can't trap them in co, ag and ranchers exempt. however, there is a beaver season, just need a small game license and a .22.

can hunt at night (can use light at night with written permission from local warden), unlimited bag limit.

it's all kind of odd honestly.

 

[Flynarrow]

Truth be known, my Alaska hunting partner and I killed one with our bows in the late 70s.....as food when the plane was a week late coming to get us due to weather issues. It wasnt bad meat given all we had was a few dried potatoes to eat for the week. However, after parting it out and eating much of it, we took it up the creek a ways to kick streambank over it as griz were about. The next night we were digging it back up to gather what meat was left on it and wash out the sand......we were about to cook it once again and we heard a plane coming in to rescue us.

 

[BEvans]

Truth be known, my Alaska hunting partner and I killed one with our bows in the late 70s.....as food when the plane was a week late coming to get us due to weather issues. It wasnt bad meat given all we had was a few dried potatoes to eat for the week. However, after parting it out and eating much of it, we took it up the creek a ways to kick streambank over it as griz were about. The next night we were digging it back up to gather what meat was left on it and wash out the sand......we were about to cook it once again and we heard a plane coming in to rescue us.

Wow that sounds like a crazy experience. I've heard the tail tastes pretty good, but haven't heard much about the rest of them. Hopefully I'll be able to try it, but with only one weekend of season left, I might have to wait until next year.

 

[Sask hunter]

Yes that’s beaver castor mounds. Break out the 17 and hammer him. My dog makes for easy retrieval

 

[NAHMINT]

Truth be known, my Alaska hunting partner and I killed one with our bows in the late 70s.....as food when the plane was a week late coming to get us due to weather issues. It wasnt bad meat given all we had was a few dried potatoes to eat for the week. However, after parting it out and eating much of it, we took it up the creek a ways to kick streambank over it as griz were about. The next night we were digging it back up to gather what meat was left on it and wash out the sand......we were about to cook it once again and we heard a plane coming in to rescue us.

Found beaver is the best game meat I have ever eaten.......could be its like black bear,Depends on water location and prep.....
as for 'Rats, they stink and taste about 14 times worse!!!!!!! even hot sauce can't make them edible..........where I lived in the country ,as a kid, 2 people I knew personally, LOVED MUSKRAT STEW !!! looked more like onion stew........but it could be smelled 1/4 mile away !!! yes,depends how hungry you are!

 

[BearFoot]

I've come across a lot of Beavers. Mostly in daylight hours,

with a slap of the tail, their done with me. Dammit!

 

[F250]

I shot 19 beavers for the state last spring. They were on state land and had flooded a farmer’s field. I used a .270 Win. Best time of day was the first two hours of daylight.