Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
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- Bawl Mouth
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Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
Was just wondering if anyone has ever heard of dogs being used for beaver the only two times i have heard of them being used was in the far north of the u.s and Europe the job is to run along the water line and find the den's by smelling the beaver through the ground in the u.s the den's would be dig open and the beaver clubbed in Europe from the little I have find when the den's are find the dog is called off and the hunter sets up and shots the beaver as it comes out in the late evening then the dog brings it to the hunter if anyone has heard of this would love to know how they teach the dog to do it and what breed would you think would be good
Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
I was starting pups on coon a few years back and had a young go getter that liked Beaver took a while to figure out what the heck was going on the swamp was full of coon that slapped their tail
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Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
I have not tried this so should probably keep to myself, but I find it hard to believe that a beaver would remain in its den as you dig down to it. I am quite sure it would dive down through its underwater den entrance to get away from all the commotion. Also, As a general rule, I do not participate in or encourage the destruction of an animals den. (But I give human homes and safety priority over any animal)
The second method of finding the den and waiting for the beaver to emerge...
Well, you don't need to find the den to wait for and shoot the beaver in the evening. In fact, he will be more likely to come out on schedual if he has not had predators tromping around on his roof.
Beaver leave the most obvious sign of any animal I can think of. You will know they are working an area and can wait for a shot in the evening.
The idea of a dog to retrieve the beaver is an excellent one! I think any retrieving breed would be very easy to train to retrieve shot muskrats and beaver. The drauthars and German wire hairs, were bred for fur as well as feather, and off the top of my head, that is where I would start. I have never had that beaver retriever dog, but have thought of it a few times.
They would just naturally find dens once they understand we are beaver hunters.
There is a breed called Otter Hound that might be worth looking into, but I know nothing about them.
Some states have laws against shooting them. ND does not allow shooting muskrats during early trapping season.
Do not shoot an otter unless you have a dog that will dive for it. They sink and you will loose it. If a shot beaver does not surface, you did not kill him. When he does surface you may only see a very small patch of fur.
When I was young I looked forward to spring flooding when every one told me to stay out of the river with my canoe. And, that was perfect because then I knew I would have no competition. But all day long I could shoot beaver as the water was too deep for them to stay in their dens. It was not a problem to retrieve them, as they were pulled along by the same current that was pulling me. Also at these times I have spotted them motionless on the banks. It was a day's work, but my canoe would be very heavy with beaver before dark.
The problem with big river beaver in the spring though, is they get traveling fighters and some of the hides will have beaver teeth holes.
The second method of finding the den and waiting for the beaver to emerge...
Well, you don't need to find the den to wait for and shoot the beaver in the evening. In fact, he will be more likely to come out on schedual if he has not had predators tromping around on his roof.
Beaver leave the most obvious sign of any animal I can think of. You will know they are working an area and can wait for a shot in the evening.
The idea of a dog to retrieve the beaver is an excellent one! I think any retrieving breed would be very easy to train to retrieve shot muskrats and beaver. The drauthars and German wire hairs, were bred for fur as well as feather, and off the top of my head, that is where I would start. I have never had that beaver retriever dog, but have thought of it a few times.
They would just naturally find dens once they understand we are beaver hunters.
There is a breed called Otter Hound that might be worth looking into, but I know nothing about them.
Some states have laws against shooting them. ND does not allow shooting muskrats during early trapping season.
Do not shoot an otter unless you have a dog that will dive for it. They sink and you will loose it. If a shot beaver does not surface, you did not kill him. When he does surface you may only see a very small patch of fur.
When I was young I looked forward to spring flooding when every one told me to stay out of the river with my canoe. And, that was perfect because then I knew I would have no competition. But all day long I could shoot beaver as the water was too deep for them to stay in their dens. It was not a problem to retrieve them, as they were pulled along by the same current that was pulling me. Also at these times I have spotted them motionless on the banks. It was a day's work, but my canoe would be very heavy with beaver before dark.
The problem with big river beaver in the spring though, is they get traveling fighters and some of the hides will have beaver teeth holes.
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- Babble Mouth
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Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
Back in the 70's I was doing a lot of fur hunting, and an old Mountain Man I was hunting with was a real expert of beaver. In previous years he made a good deal of his income when beaver shined, and prices were high. This was up in Montana, and when the ice went out in the spring and would bridge up and really flood the beaver were easy pickings. We used a 22 magnum with solids and took only head shots. We rigged up some jointed painter poles and used a big pike lure with treble hooks and it was easy to snake them out without getting wet. Occasional we had to get down in that ice water and my old friend suffered from pneumonia several times and nearly died from it.
We were careful to watch and listen for the ice jams to break because you could really get a wall of water for a bit when one of them first broke. On a nearby creek aptly named (Beaver Creek) that ran into North Dakota 3 fellows we knew were beaver hunting out of a small flat bottom boat with a small motor on it. These guys were all seasoned fur men and knew the game well. When I got in one evening my Dad was not around and I was told he went out to look for one of the men that had fallen out of the boat. The two other guys got out and get this( none of them could swim a stroke.) They all had life vests on and Vernie who fell out was also wearing a vest but they said when he hit the water and came up he appeared not to fight or yell out he just went sweeping away in the fast current. A friend of mine called me later and said he had joined the search of the man and that my Dad had found him floating around and around in a whirlpool along one of the banks. He was dead and when they fished him out he was stiff as a board. This man and my Dad had hunted and fished together for years so I knew it had to be tough on him. He had spent a lot of time in the Service and had seen a lot of things overseas so he had learned to cope as best one can. Vernie apparently had suffered a heart attack when he hit that ice cold water so he really didn't drown. This sort of put a damper on our beaver hunting after that.
I did have the opportunity to be around Otter Hounds some as the old fellow I originally mentioned had several of them and also crossed them on some of his regular hounds. they had great noses on them and with their longer water repellant coat they could really handle the water. He never to my knowledge used them on beaver because for his other hunting they were too valuable. A big beaver in swimming water can cut a hound to shreds like crazy. If you have ever seen hounds that got into a group of javalena pigs an how those little tushes can dice them up believe me those cutters on a big super blanket beaver cut like razors.
One night years back way up on the Green in Wyoming I was crossing back after crossing over earlier on a big riffle to go to my hounds who had swum and treed on the other side. I had 2 big coons which I had skinned in my little pack and my handheld light, and my little Colt pistol. It was pretty late in the fall and right at freezing. It was dark outside as the inside of a cow and as I got to wading back I slipped off into a pretty big hole and I was treading water. I was alone but always a strong swimmer I didn't panic and just sort of kept treading like I was walking going with the current and trying to keep my light out of the water by holding the handle in my teeth. After a few seconds I felt the bottom and soon could sort of bounce myself forward until I was standing chest deep in the flood. I took my light and swung it back to see if my 2 hounds were following me and there about 8 feet from my face was the red eye of a big old beaver coming right at me. I hollered and slapped the water, and he seemed to stall a little and I doubled my effort to get to the shallows. I looked back again and that thing was just about in my hip pocket. Well my pistol was wrapped in a doubled plastic bag in my little pack to protect it from the water as best it could so that was no option. I could almost feel that beaver grabbing me as I charged out of the water but I made it. I looked back and he stayed right there swimming back and forth almost like he was daring me to cross again. I wanted no more of that! I am not sure why it acted so aggressive to me , when usually they will just slap their tails go under and get away, but not this one.
Clumsy and slow moving on land in the water with those big feet and tail they are incredible.
We were careful to watch and listen for the ice jams to break because you could really get a wall of water for a bit when one of them first broke. On a nearby creek aptly named (Beaver Creek) that ran into North Dakota 3 fellows we knew were beaver hunting out of a small flat bottom boat with a small motor on it. These guys were all seasoned fur men and knew the game well. When I got in one evening my Dad was not around and I was told he went out to look for one of the men that had fallen out of the boat. The two other guys got out and get this( none of them could swim a stroke.) They all had life vests on and Vernie who fell out was also wearing a vest but they said when he hit the water and came up he appeared not to fight or yell out he just went sweeping away in the fast current. A friend of mine called me later and said he had joined the search of the man and that my Dad had found him floating around and around in a whirlpool along one of the banks. He was dead and when they fished him out he was stiff as a board. This man and my Dad had hunted and fished together for years so I knew it had to be tough on him. He had spent a lot of time in the Service and had seen a lot of things overseas so he had learned to cope as best one can. Vernie apparently had suffered a heart attack when he hit that ice cold water so he really didn't drown. This sort of put a damper on our beaver hunting after that.
I did have the opportunity to be around Otter Hounds some as the old fellow I originally mentioned had several of them and also crossed them on some of his regular hounds. they had great noses on them and with their longer water repellant coat they could really handle the water. He never to my knowledge used them on beaver because for his other hunting they were too valuable. A big beaver in swimming water can cut a hound to shreds like crazy. If you have ever seen hounds that got into a group of javalena pigs an how those little tushes can dice them up believe me those cutters on a big super blanket beaver cut like razors.
One night years back way up on the Green in Wyoming I was crossing back after crossing over earlier on a big riffle to go to my hounds who had swum and treed on the other side. I had 2 big coons which I had skinned in my little pack and my handheld light, and my little Colt pistol. It was pretty late in the fall and right at freezing. It was dark outside as the inside of a cow and as I got to wading back I slipped off into a pretty big hole and I was treading water. I was alone but always a strong swimmer I didn't panic and just sort of kept treading like I was walking going with the current and trying to keep my light out of the water by holding the handle in my teeth. After a few seconds I felt the bottom and soon could sort of bounce myself forward until I was standing chest deep in the flood. I took my light and swung it back to see if my 2 hounds were following me and there about 8 feet from my face was the red eye of a big old beaver coming right at me. I hollered and slapped the water, and he seemed to stall a little and I doubled my effort to get to the shallows. I looked back again and that thing was just about in my hip pocket. Well my pistol was wrapped in a doubled plastic bag in my little pack to protect it from the water as best it could so that was no option. I could almost feel that beaver grabbing me as I charged out of the water but I made it. I looked back and he stayed right there swimming back and forth almost like he was daring me to cross again. I wanted no more of that! I am not sure why it acted so aggressive to me , when usually they will just slap their tails go under and get away, but not this one.
Clumsy and slow moving on land in the water with those big feet and tail they are incredible.
MIKE LEONARD
Somewhere out there.............
Somewhere out there.............
Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
In Sweden large spitz dogs (of Jämthund type) were sometimes used when hunting beaver in the old days. The dogs were used to locate were the beaver was dened, then the dog were tied up and beaver nets put out upstream and downstream or just around the entrance. Dog were released and send to the den to drive out and also sometimes pull out the beaver. Men used spears to kill the beaver at the entrace or when caught in the net. This is according to the book "Norrlands jakt och fiske, 1910".
Around 1870 the last swedish beaver of the old stock was killed. Then 1922 the beaver was introduced in Sweden again from norwegian stock. We have around 100 000 beavers today in Sweden. Anyway dogs are not used for beaver hunting today in Sweden.
Around 1870 the last swedish beaver of the old stock was killed. Then 1922 the beaver was introduced in Sweden again from norwegian stock. We have around 100 000 beavers today in Sweden. Anyway dogs are not used for beaver hunting today in Sweden.
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- Bawl Mouth
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Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
Thinks guys from the little bit I found was the dogs were trained to not make any noise when they find one they would just set and move their head which ever way the beaver was in the u.s before the den was dig up the openings would have stack's dive into them and in Europe the dogs were used the same way but the day before the hunt then the hunter would be as far as a hundred yards from the den but for you guys that take them with the gun what kind of things do you look for I saw you all talked about when the ice brack up so would you ways work here our season is from late November until mid February and the water does not ice up all the way here
Also jamt do you know of any books or website that would tell how dogs were worked to do that in English also want a beaver net would look like and how they were made you change Spears with 22 and you would have a way that could work here
Also jamt do you know of any books or website that would tell how dogs were worked to do that in English also want a beaver net would look like and how they were made you change Spears with 22 and you would have a way that could work here
Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
hillbilly boy: I don't know any article in english. But regarding the beaver nets the mask size was the same as for salmon nets. 4-9 feet deep.
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- Bawl Mouth
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Re: Anyone ever hear of a beaver dog
Ok do you know if the nets got them around the neck or the feet also what kind of stuff the net was made from and lastly what a mask size would be I have never mad a net before thanks for the information always like picking up different ways than what we do
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