The
Great Miami Blitz
Article from Mar
- Apr 2005 Buckeye Trapper
by Dan
Dickerson
I was on second shift at work. Jim Keith was on a long weekend.
A good weather forecast finally had coincided with our schedules.
Our plan was to trap beaver on a section of the Great Miami River
out of a canoe. I had never trapped beaver before but Jim accepted
the offer to partner up for the next five days, a move he would
probably regret later on.
Day one found us on the river a little after daylight. The temperature
was around 20 degrees with no wind. Jim had trapped raccoon on
the river earlier in the year and had some good spots scouted
out. I set up the first spot, a bank den with a large food cache
pile all around it. I made two castor mound sets on each side
of the food cache and a slide set on the other side of a big tree
hanging out in the water. I couldn't believe the size of the slide
going up the bank. It looked more like a cattle trail.
We traded off setting traps and holding the canoe steady as we
went downstream. One location looked really good. This was a backwater
area with little current and steeper banks. Peeled sticks were
floating everywhere with plenty of slides going up the bank. Both
of us made sets at this location. For the day, we ended up making
a dozen castor mound and slide sets with #3 coil springs traps
.
Day two dawned cold and clear, 16 degrees. With no wind, it didn't
feel that bad. As we pulled up to the food cache and saw that
my first trap was gone, I got real excited. I pulled on the cable
attached to the drowning bag and up came an empty trap. Oh well,
maybe I got one on the other side. That trap was gone too, but
also empty. Maybe I hadn't set them in deep enough water. I was
a little upset, but when we pulled around the big tree, there
sat a live beaver on the bank in my slide set. We quickly dispatched
the beaver and remade the set. After a few high fives and some
pictures, we made our way downstream. My first beaver was 52 pounds.
Downstream in the backwater area, Jim picked up two more beaver
in what turned out to be our honey hole.
We set a few more traps on the way to our pickup spot. We made
it to the truck at 12:30 and I had to leave for work at 1:30.
That left Jim with taking care of the beaver that evening. I skinned
some raccoon for him earlier in the season, but I think I got
the better end of the deal. Work went slow that evening. I couldn't
wait to get back in the river the next morning.
I crawled out of bed the next morning to 15 degrees. I was tired,
but ready to go. The river dropped about six inches that night.
All sets had to be remade. Jim said welcome to river trapping.
Jim caught a huge beaver at the honey hole that weighed 62 pounds.
I caught a beaver half that size ten feet away. Further down the
river in a set that was made the day before, Jim had a trap missing,
but so was the anchor stake. We knew the beaver couldn't be very
far, but we had no luck trying to grab the drowning cable with
the oars. We would have to make something and try later. Back
at Jim's house, I helped with the skinning and fleshing until
it was time for me to go to work. I felt guilty leaving Jim most
of the work, but he never complained.
Day four was spent lowering traps again until we got to the honey
hole. Jim's set connected for the third day in a row, another
big adult beaver. We picked up a small kit beaver to finish the
day. We were getting tired, hadn't slept much, and Jim had to
go back to work. We also talked about the lack of muskrat sign.
I wish someone could explain what happened to this neat little
furbearer. Twenty years ago, it would have been easy to catch
a hundred on this stretch of river. It seems like they have just
disappeared.
On the last day, we didn't paddle much. The canoe was sitting
pretty low in the water with all of our equipment and three large
beavers; we just let the current float us along as we took in
the sights. Canadian geese were everywhere. They seem to know
when the season is over. We saw many different breeds of ducks
and had a flock of seven huge white swans land in the river not
too far away. It had been a great five days. Jim said the best
part about it was that I didn't tip the canoe over on us. We ended
up catching three muskrats and ten beavers, including the one
that pulled the anchor stake. Dad welded up what looked like a
huge treble hook. We tied a rope to it and Jim snagged the drowning
cable on his third try. We learned a few things too, like using
solid staking and heavier drowning weights. Beaver are big and
strong animals. The biggest problem I had was trap placement.
Setting traps in deeper water and farther away from the bank was
hard getting used to, but it paid off.
Our beaver topped the sale at Xenia in February. That made us
proud. I want to say thanks to Dad for dropping us off and picking
us up everyday. Jim, for helping me catch my first beaver and
putting up most of the fur. Special thanks go to my wife Lori
and Jim's wife Dorothy for putting up with us during trapping
season. You help make it possible by supporting what we love to
do. Love ya! Hopefully next year, there will be another Great
Miami Blitz. ### Dan Dickerson, 1271 Middletown Eaton
Rd., Middletown, OH 45042-1522
Editor's Note: Dan explained this is his first
attempt at putting his trapping experience down on paper. He saw
the ad in the BT and thought he would give it a try. Thanks Dan,
we're all glad you did, great story and well written!
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