I’ve often wondered why no one is cutting a small oval out of the center of the board for more air flow ? Would this make the board warp , or am I the only one that’s ever thought of it ?

Any hole in the board would preclude touch up while boarding Scraping grease for example.

No good for scraping the liquid fat and blood corpuscles out of the pelt.

As stated above as well it's not necessary as long as you raise the pelt up on the nails and furthermore the fur should be basically dry when you board the pelt.

Well If you beam scrape and your good at It you don't need to do any touch up.

Yea but not many beaver trappers rough skin.Why skin it twice?
And most of the ones I have seen done on a beam could sure use a good touch up with a one hand scraper so they dry clear.

Because for some It's easier and faster then clean skinning.

I admit I’m one of the ones Boco is talking about.

Serious question. Why does it have to be dry, when you board it, if you raise the pelt on the nails, therefore allowing the fur to dry right along with the skin?

If the fur is damp there shouldnt be any problems boarding it and raising it on the nails.
I like to lay out my beaver for a couple days so the fur dries on the carcass before skinning(not always possible).I find they skin better too.
The worse thing is some guys board a wet furred beaver.The fur when it dries is all matted looking and it takes considerable time with a brush to make these beaver gradeable.The graders wont do it,they toss it in the low grade if they cant properly assess the grade.
If beaver are handled with dry fur,all it takes is a quick blow with a shop vac or compressor to blow the dust and dirt out of the fur.This can be done on the carcass before skinning or after taking the pelt off the board.

When you have the pelt boarded to the proper size, when raised on the nails the center will sag to the board and air circulation will be poor to none on the fur side and mold could occur.

I do them wet. The fur is not matted. Why would it be matted? It is drying just like it would on the beaver. I comb them when I remove them. Takes a minute or two.

Yes they sag and touch when horizontal. When I put boards vertical for drying, not touching.

What about all the fur processors that STAPLE a beaver hide to the board?
I agree with boco on letting the beaver dry for a few days before skinning. I've gone as many as 3 to 4 days under the right conditions.

But I have to agree with Dirt on the matting issue even If they are boarded wet. I have never seen a matted beaver. And I don't use staples but I never raise the hide up off the board. The FUR Is DRY we are trying to DRY the HIDE and It Is exposed to the elements so I see no need to lift the hide off the board.

Beav I have to raise mine on the nails, because they are wet. I understand that you guys like to dry your beaver first. Drying a beaver here is far more complicated then in civilization. If I don't have to, I don't want to. Far simpler to board them wet.

I get your drift.

I've put up lots of beaver at the camp-no problem drying the fur.

Hoops have their place too

Nice looking pelts 3 fingers.

Very cool pic 3 Fingers . Sorry for the dumb questions guys , I’ve not messed with beaver much. I have seen Boco use a shop vac to blow off a beaver pelt to clean it and fluff it up , why not use one to remove excess water ?

Beautiful put up beaver,were they frost scraped?