I was watching one of those Alaskan shows last nite. This Heimo fella was going on how good it was to eat some b.tail. I have never had any but have eaten lots of beaver in my day. I really like BBQ the best but have had lots of roasts and stewed as well.

I have worked with a lot of tails in my day in formulation work, and skinning them for tanning. For belts and wallets and such. Never found there was much protein tissue for meat value in one. Mostly fat and gristle. They have a lot of oil when rendered down but never was tempted to eat some tail or curious as to what it tasted like.

you tryin ta get me booted off here Mr.Jameson??

Beat me too it
This one time, in band camp

If I was suffering from protein poisoning I'd consider it.its pure fat .

Bob,

I've eaten plenty of beaver tails. Once the hide is stripped off them, I like to lay them out in a cookie pan and bake them golden brown. Then the tail itself, I douse with some Scott's Bar-b-que sauce. I love it like that.

The oil that cooks out of them makes an excellent cooking oil. In fact, I salvage all the fat from the beaver and render it down to get the oil out. What I get left over is some ever more fine cracklings that I eat along with grits, white homoney, baked sweet potato or just as a snack with some hot sauce.

FAIR WARNING.... If there is someone who does NOT like pork cracklings, they'll probably not like the beaver either.

Oh... I do the same thing with my coon fat. It makes even BETTER cracklings than the beaver!

I do, also, use coon fat in my deer burger when I grind it. Easier to get than beef fat, better for you and adds a better flavor to the burger!

One last note.... I've learned the difference between fats. I had a doctor explain this to me. Any fat that congeals when cooled, like pork fat, beef fat and chicken fat, is bad for you! Those are the artery cloggers. The fats that remain in oil form, like beaver and coon, those are the ones that won't hurt you and, in some cases, can be beneficial to you.

I think they ate them only because they lacked fat in their diet. Not because they taste good. No bacon out there for the mountain men, except for on a beaver tail. I've read where the trappers would make a feast out of buffalo ribs for the same reason.

Muddawg that is encouraging to know. I have never known anyone I have spoken to over the years that has tried that. I suppose it just never came up at the time in a conversation.

I was not sure if that fella Heimo was just attempting to give the mountain man image on the TV show or that he and his native wife really enjoyed that tail as much as he was going on about it.

I guess I will see how many fellas have had some tail on here before I give it a try myself... I have been to lots of conventions and mini rendevous' over the years and have never been in on any conversations about eating any tails. Maybe that is some kind of secret delicacy that each keeps it to themselves like your favorite fishing hole.

I watched that episode and they were also talking about eating the feet. I think I'll skip eating the tails and feet.

I have eating the tail before, it is very Rich and Connot ear a lot of it at one time,
I put the base of the skun out tail on top of the hind quarters when I roast them
They get a slightly brown skin on the outside and I eat it with a bit of meat.

The closest thing I can compare it to is the very center of a chuck roast where the
Fat bulb separates the roast. I think most people that eat the fat on a chuck roast or prime rib
Will like the beaver tail.
If you choose to eat a tenderloin steak over a ribeye you probably won't like it

Cannot see why anyone would eat feet! Nothing in them but tendons, skin and bones! But Muddawg is spot on about the oils. Saturated fats can lead to problems, the mono and poly fats are what you should be eating. Lots of omega threes and sixes in those types of oils too. I like cracklings, so gonna have to try me some tail!

I've also found that the very best cut on a beaver has to be the rump! I take the time to debone it from where I cut off the tail, right up to the front limits of the hams. These strips are perfectly marbled and in the slow cooker or even off the grill, this cut is hard to beat! Juicy and tender and wrapped up with flavor!

I also like to debone the hams and split them open on the small ones or cut small steaks out across the grain in the larger ones. This makes a fine cut of meat on the grill!

My wife will take the ribs, put them in the slow cooker and smother them with bar-b-que sauce for a meal fit for a King!

The toughest cuts seem to be the front legs and shoulders. But stripped off the bone and boiled for a while tenders them up. Then add tators, onions, and a pack of butter beans and you've got the makings of a killer stew! Or, again, she'll drop them things in the slow cooker and cook them until the meat just falls off the bone! Fantastic with a side of white rice to soak up the bar-b-que sauce!

I believe Andrew, the trapper with the YouTube videos, eats them. He also eats caribou nose so that may not be saying much for the b tail.

I have had tail and found it very good. Cleaned, seasoned a bit, and pan fried in butter in the morning with eggs etc. Plenty Good.

Osky

I've eaten plenty of them ! I usually wrap it in foil and put it inside the wood stove......but off to the side....not in the fire. After 30 minutes or so the black skin blisters.Let it cool so you can handle it and peel the skin. Chunk up the fatty gristley part and throw it in a pot of beans.

A guy working hard in sub zero temperatures for weeks on end needs a lot of carbs. The beans are high in protein and the beaver tail provides the energy to break down that protein. Add some liquid smoke or I guess BBQ sauce and it's all good IMO

After skinning the tail, take thin slices about the thickness of bacon lengthwise down the tail, fry like bacon. Texture and flavor are somewhat like bacon, I think if it were cured and lightly smoked it would be even better.

I believe the base of that article came from the book called Fat of the Land

The crew of the Lewis and Clark expedition were particularly fond of beaver tail. It provided much needed fat and calories. They burned 9000 calories per day draggimg their long boats up the Missouri.

This is what I have done also and it is great eating.

A friend of mine likes to cook exotic things. He's normally an excellent wild game cook. He knew I was a trapper and asked if I ever trapped beaver because he had found a recipe for Beaver Tail Soup. The next couple beaver I caught, he got the tails. He made the soup with lots of veggies and some pork. The castor smell was overwhelming and it was oily when he gave me some. He never made it again. He even tried making a gravy with the tail, but it was oily and he couldn't get rid of the castor odor.

I like the smell of castor; just not to eat it, though.

I'll just shoot more deer.

I'm coming to your camp Newt.

Trapper 7 you need to use a different knife to remove the castors and oil sacs
Any cross contamination will ruin the beaver meat or tail.

I cooked a few this season. I removed the skin and cut thin strips of the fatty meat. Cooked on a griddle with salt and pepper until crispy. I thought it tasted like fried chicken skin. It is very rich, like others have said.

I was watching some survival show on ROKU a couple nights ago, they found a dead beaver that a tree had fallen on, in the middle of winter, supposedly the night before. LOL. He didn't have to pull very hard to get it out, was obviously a setup. Anyway the guy cooked up the tail right away and it looked like he was going to puke when he tasted it, even said it was horrible.

It looks like I will have to eat some tail to try it myself. Looks like I have been missing out all these years.

That could be, but it's also very oily. The soup and gravy he made had an oil floating on top. Too many other good things out there to eat.

Great marten bait !

ya'll outta check out this stuff called beef.

Go on and git with that city talk.

This months T&PC has a recipe for Cajun ‘Possum Chili!
I’d try that so I know I’d eat beaver tail. Post a recipe if you find a good one.

ny strip,baked tater and turnip outta the foodplot.----venison may be substituted according to seasonal supply.

On it!

all the hamburger helpers with that venison is amazing.i'm in the canned venison rut,40 quarts this year.

My father lived and trapped in northern Saskatchewan in the late 40s. He enjoyed eating beaver tail. Said it had to be fresh and he would roast it over red hot coals with the leather (skin) on. Said it would puff up kinda like a football, then you could peel the leather and have it at it. Could be he was deficent in his diet tho, he got a bag of oranges at Christmas one year and ate the whole bag.
We tried cooking a tail once that had been frozen , he claimed it wasnt as good as fresh. Didnt really appeal to me but maybe ill hafta try it again. Bring back some memories.

Only way i would eat a possum is if i had it caged and fed it corn for a month. Probably not worth the trouble. I just found a dead possum with fox and coyote tracks around it. Looked like all they ate was the liver. If they wont eat one..........

If I catch some nice young ones, I’m gonna clean them real careful and try them out.

Have never thought about eating it actually wouldn't even consider it, but a small piece of it works great on an ice fishing jig for panfish

I trapped on a old retired farmer that also drove a school bus... liked his 'possum. He's stop and pick up a road kill in the morning as he knew it wasn't there yesterday. He's stick the whole unskinned, and not gutted, 'possum in a Walmart bag and stick it in the freezer. When he got wanting one he thawed it out and cleaned it then... couldn't get him to eat a coon though... true story.

Beaver tail is ok, but one time I was staying with Heimo and Edna and for supper we had cold pickled beaver feet. I ate it but there’s not much meat on them, all grisley and such. One good thing, you could use their toenail as a toothpick when you were done. I asked Edna after supper how she pickled them and she told me they had eaten a five gallon bucket of dill pickles and throwed the feet in the juice. Don’t know if she boiled them first, didn’t ask.

That's interesting Steve !! You'd think she'd at least boil 'em clean first.

I have eaten beaver heart & tongue and it wasn't bad at all......and I'm not a fan of heart from anything

Yeah Ken, to tell you the truth I was almost afraid to ask her. But if I’m a guest somewhere I’m going to eat anything my host gives me as long as they’re eating it too.