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Snaring beaver under the ice is one of those unique subcultures within trapping – only a few have the ice conditions that permit it, and even fewer are willing to put in the work necessary to be successful. It’s a challenge, but it’s rewarding. Not in terms of pay, mind you, but the satisfaction of hauling a snared beaver through the ice in the dead of winter is pretty awesome.
Like any other type of trapping, there are as many opinions on under ice beaver snaring as there are trappers. Size and type of cable, locks, loop sizes, bait poles, set locations and a variety of other details make things interesting, but can confuse beginners.
John Lee and Harold Linskey employ a simplified approach to their style of under ice beaver snaring. The Wisconsin trappers share their methods in their Under Ice Beaver Snaring video. During the time of the video, the two men regularly teamed up to catch 100-150 beavers through the ice each winter with snares.
Though I don’t use all of the same methods, I picked up a lot from Lee and Linskey’s video. They primarily use baited pole sets with multiple snares per pole, mount the snares in a quick, efficient manner, and absolutely carpet bomb active beaver lodges with snare pole sets. The video shows snare building, set making and actual catches and remakes on multiple beaver flowages. It’s a great resource for trappers who want to try their hand at under ice beaver snaring, and even an experienced snareman may pick up a thing or two from these guys.
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