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Pesky Beavers...
#7461149
03/18/19 02:01 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
Got a call from one of property owners saying that beavers were damming the spillway on his small lake and causing the pool level of the lake to rise. I have hunted here the previous couple of years. Beaver are a challenging target in open water, low profile, often moving, usually just exposing their heads. The problem in open water is a lack of recovery of bodies. If you shoot a beaver, it may thrash about on the surface before going submarine, it may float, it my dive and die in the depths, or it may just get away because you didn't actually hit it. From previous experience, I have shot beaver that disappeared, but had the bodies surface the next day after they bloated, but that was on a very small pond where a floating carcass was readily noticeable. I made shots on at least 7, two of which appeared to have been missed with the first shots at which I attempted to shoot them again. In all, I had three confirmed kills as determined by seeing bodies and/or ballistic destruction of the beaver. The last beaver was very interesting. It was up on the bank with me, but behind a bunch of vegetation. I was able to identify it with my handheld thermal scope, but it was inside the focal range of my rifle scope, so when combined with the vegetation, it just looked like a blob. However, it feel into the water when I could visually identify it. This is but a sample of the beaver present on this lake...
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#7461178
03/18/19 02:30 AM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,696
krmitchell
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,696 |
In my experience they will always float to the surface if you hit them.....but wind, vegetation, etc. can make them a challenge to recover. If I have one go under, I always check back 1-2 hours later and have recovered everyone that I know I shot. I wish I had thermal. I hit them with the spotlight and let the AR go to town.
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#7461179
03/18/19 02:30 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 65,528
SnakeWrangler
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 65,528 |
I believe in science and I’m an insufferable [censored] Actually, BBC is pretty damn good "You Cannot Simultaneously Be Politically Correct And Intellectually Honest!"
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: krmitchell]
#7461232
03/18/19 03:24 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
In my experience they will always float to the surface if you hit them.....but wind, vegetation, etc. can make them a challenge to recover. If I have one go under, I always check back 1-2 hours later and have recovered everyone that I know I shot. I wish I had thermal. I hit them with the spotlight and let the AR go to town. They should come up, eventually. However, in a 10 acre lake with all sorts of snags and lilly pads (not there now) and other submerged vegetation, I am not hanging around to see if something looks different 120 yards out in the water, LOL. At my folks place, I have shot them and lost them, only to recover them the next morning. Then again, I have shot them and watching them go belly up, then sink, found pieces of flesh floating in the water, and not found them the next morning. More than once at my folks' place, the only way that I knew I had taken care of the beaver issue is that the beavers stopped repairing the dam that I would break open.
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#7462039
03/19/19 01:14 AM
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Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 2,078
TKandMike
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 2,078 |
That's a lot of beavers! Good work
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#7462169
03/19/19 11:02 AM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 19,249
TEXASLEFTY
THF Whiskey Sommelier
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THF Whiskey Sommelier
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 19,249 |
Cool! Thanks for posting!
Never been to a camping world. I prefer Dick's to be honest.
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Re: Pesky Beavers...
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#7462266
03/19/19 01:35 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
Got a call from another landowner about the same problem. He says he has a big problem with the beavers. So that is where I will be tonight...
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