The hunt for beaver is a very interesting and exciting process. Experienced hunters know that although a trip to a beaver is not dangerous, however, a quick reaction, dexterity, agility are needed here, because this beast is especially sensitive.
Many hunters are mainly attracted by beaver hunting in the fall. A successful hunt depends on the correct behavior of the hunter and skillful preliminary intelligence. First you need to find the beaver settlement. It can be a hut, a hole, gnawing trees near a reservoir. After the dwelling is found, it is necessary to establish observation of it in order to determine the time of the appearance of the animal. You also need to choose a place convenient for the hunter. The main methods of hunting beaver are guns and traps.
Since the beaver has excellent hearing and great caution, it is impractical to set two or more traps on the same beaver settlement. A hunter with experience and skills in catching beavers knows that after the first successful attempt, traps are set in this place only after a week and a half.
Installation methods for traps are weather dependent. In the autumn period, when the pond is not yet covered with ice, they are installed on rifts, in rubble of rivers and streams, on dams built by beavers, at the exits from burrows or huts, as well as on the huts themselves. Correct placement of the trap at the bottom of the reservoir is very important. In this case, a smooth and clean soil is selected, and the trap itself should be fixed as tight as possible so that the animal does not drop it.
Hunting a beaver in winter involves installing traps at places of beaver marks, which are the allocation of odorous enzymes from the sub-caudal glands. Beavers mark their territory usually on tubercles or on tufts of grass. And since they exhibit an aggressive reaction to the smells of others, hunters use baits: they apply the beaver stream taken at another place to the existing odorous marks.
One of the most used methods is hunting for a beaver with a gun. Experienced hunters know that beaver settlements are most often located under high banks. Also, beavers prefer deep places of water bodies - whirlpools and pits. Find such places is not difficult. Near such settlements, the water is always turbid. Beavers mostly come up at dusk, with young animals being the first to do this, as they have less caution, unlike older animals.
After finding a home, the hunter, moving with extreme caution, must find a convenient place to wait for the beavers to appear and so that nothing interferes with the control of the gun. In addition to finding a place, hunting for beaver must take into account many nuances: the depth of the bottom near the shore, the nature of the vegetation on it, the speed of the water flow. The current plays a huge role in the speed of the beaver, and if successful, it can be carried far from the coast. It should be noted that while the animal is in the water, only its head, which is too small a target to hit from a gun, comes into view . Here, the experience and accuracy of the hunter will already play a role.
Another important circumstance should be taken into account in the hunt for beaver: a killed animal is most often picked up by the current, but if the beaver is relatively young, it will remain on the surface of the water and will be well visible. If the beast is older, then, as a rule, he will sink. Therefore, the direction of the current and the depth of the bottom play a very large role. So to shoot a beaver is half the battle, you must also be able to extract it from the water, and since the hunt for a beaver begins in the fall and ends in the winter, the water at this time is very cold, and hardly anyone wants to dive into it for their trophy. So you need to choose a place so that, if successful, a beaver caught in the current can catch on a snag or a fallen tree. The decisive role here will be played by the quick reaction, which will allow you to evaluate the whole situation in a matter of seconds and catch your prey with maximum speed .