Re: Skinning beaver on the go
[Re: K9BeavCoon]
#7038094
11/04/20 01:30 PM
11/04/20 01:30 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492
james bay frontierOnt.
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Fresh beaver bleed. I skin them at camp or at home after brushing the fur and leaving them lay on their backs on a chunk of carpet.I leave them lay in cool weather(fall) for a couple days.This will dry the fur,stiffen up the fat and let the blood coagulate.This makes clean skinning much easier and also a better finished product. Beavers handled this way rarely if ever bleed much at all unless you leave them lay too long.You want to skin them before the rigor leaves the carcass. If you have to skin fresh beaver make a skinning trough or frame out of 1inch wire mesh,that way the blood wont get on the fur and you can put a few rags or a pan under to make cleanup easier.
Hanging beaver to dry also promotes bleeding.
Last edited by Boco; 11/04/20 01:33 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Skinning beaver on the go
[Re: K9BeavCoon]
#7038283
11/04/20 05:41 PM
11/04/20 05:41 PM
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Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 4,766 Beatrice, NE
loosegoose
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 4,766
Beatrice, NE
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I process my beaver for food, and my wife really doesn't like the blood all over the countertop. On the last one I did, I did my first cut up the belly like usual, and then skinned just enough around the neck/head area, and then cut almost all the way through it's neck and let it sit in the sink propped up so the blood could drain. It worked really well, there was a lot less blood. That may not work for your purposes, though, if you're doing it on your tailgate.
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Re: Skinning beaver on the go
[Re: K9BeavCoon]
#7039986
11/06/20 12:42 AM
11/06/20 12:42 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,492
james bay frontierOnt.
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If the weather is cool,skinned beaver pelts will keep for 5-6 days no problem.They need to be skinned promptly,fur dry and kept cool. At the trapping camp some trappers here dig a hole in the cold ground,line it with boards/wood big enough to keep a good sized metal box like an ammo box,then cover with a thick layer of moss.Make sure water doesnt come up in the hole.(high water table).Its good for keeping food also in the fall as stuff wont freeze or get warm when temps fluctuate above and below freezing during the day and night.
Last edited by Boco; 11/06/20 12:43 AM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Skinning beaver on the go
[Re: Co�s]
#7040258
11/06/20 09:59 AM
11/06/20 09:59 AM
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Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271 MN
K9BeavCoon
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271
MN
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Not to hijack the thread, but how do you deal with storing the pelts while you’re camping like this for a few days? I’ve been toying with a few day deer/ beaver trip in the UP this fall, and not sure how to deal with the pelts hanging around for a few days, other than hoping for good cold and freezing them on the spot. I’ve only been trapping beaver for 3 years and so far I’ve had cool weather. I let them get dry as possible and then they go in the big cooler. Got the biggest cooler made by ORCA so I have a divider in there. Food/ice on one side, fur on the other. Unless I get a deer then venison care trumps the fur. Luckily, the weather has been on my side so far. If you’re planning a longer trip - When we hunt out in SD and ID, we haul an enclosed trailer with a chest freezer loaded with ice. Plug in the freezer at night.
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Re: Skinning beaver on the go
[Re: K9BeavCoon]
#7041564
11/07/20 03:11 PM
11/07/20 03:11 PM
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Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 1,870 Pennsylvania
patrapperbuster
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 1,870
Pennsylvania
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Try one of those plastic snow sleds to skin or put carcass in. I use sled for dragging deer & beaver out of woods.
Till that day.....
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