A few weeks ago a friend asked that if I got any beaver could he get some meat. Seems his son watches someone on youtube who cooked and ate a beaver and he was begging to try some. The kid is an animal nut in a good way. I got a few last weekend and gave him a big bag of meat. They went so far as to use it on home made pizza. Now he's asking about traps and how/where to get some more. Might have created a new trapper or two.

Funny, I gave a guy some and he now wants to go beaverin!

Hey 10bands, Annie was asking me the same thing. She ate the back feet of one along with the backstrap. Thinks one’s as good as the next

Beaver is some of the best meat you could find. I have created some beaver eaters and trappers by passing some meat on.

Yep when people experience the "fruits" of the wild they tend to want to get more involved in it


Had beaver for dinner Thursday night at our home

Been living on beaver stew all winter. Still not tired of it.

Is it prepared like most wild game. I personally have never tried it. ( I am always a skeptic.)

Just pretend it's lean beef. It seems to be popular as stew meat. Marinate and slow cook the back straps on a grill like you might do a pork tenderloin. By slow cook I mean not over direct fire. Put the coals over on one side or just use one burner in a gas grill. It'll take a few minutes longer to cook but won't burn.

Here's some back strap pieces I marinated and stir fried last night at my trapping camp...tastes as good as any beef.

If you like liver and onions don't pass on the liver. The best liver and onions going.

I don't like much wild game to be honest. BUT beaver is good food. I've fed all kinds of meat to my dogs. Their absolute favorite is beaver. They are very mellow/old dogs but beaver meat they will actually fight over.

Try feeding a dog coon meat any way you want to prepare it? None of my dogs will touch it. Hmmmmm

I have found the back leg meat the best, actually. I don't take out the loins anymore. They aren't like deer loins.

Or maybe just sell him the beaver at a reduced price? Benefits both of you and the animal gets used?

The dog mushers that run the Iditarod and other long races, keep beaver meat with them for when their dogs get so burned out they quit eating. The only thing they will eat then is beaver meat.

I love it ,pressure cooked, or baked. there is not much for " backstraps" . I just eat the legs.

An adult beaver will yield about 3/4 to a lb each for the backstraps. Just the perfect amount for a hearty stew. Nice thing about beaver is that the tendons and fat are not gamey so you don't have to clean up the meat as much as you do with venison.

Just make sure it's cooked through. Don't leave it pink in the middle.

I tried some for the first time this winter and can't wait for the spring thaw to trap a bunch more.

Has anyone canned beaver? I plan on trying it on the next few I trap. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Had beaver for the first time tonight. Did some in the slow cooker with carrots and onions and did a back strap on the wood fire grill. I expected it to be just ok but it was really really good! My wife won’t usually eat any wild game but she liked this. Glad I have time to trap some more for the freezer.

I get this all the time with people I initiate into the beaver eater ranks.

One thing though is to make very sure that there is no cross contamination with castor juice. Back when I was in college I had the misfortune of eating some of my home-cooked beaver that had got some castor on it. Couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for days and it took 20 years before I would even try it again.

I thought you were supposed to squeeze the castors on the meat like squeezing lemon on fish.

Yea I really want to try the method Boco mentioned recently to snip the ribs along the back straps and lift the whole backbone to get to the back legs. It makes me nervous cutting around the back legs that I will cut into something I shouldn’t. I’m also not very good at cutting the castors out yet but I always do that last. It’s really nice having people like boco and beav posting so many tips for those of us just learning.

I quit deer hunting decades ago simply because beaver tastes so much better, and I can harvest an unlimited amount of meat.

As was stated, do NOT get any castor on the meat, but also make sure to remove any fat.

Beaver roast and onions over a mound of mashed tators is prob my favorite, with beaver and noodles a close second. Beaver chili is quite good as well.....Heck its all good!