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Summer beaver meat taste test ? #7271071
05/23/21 11:06 PM
05/23/21 11:06 PM
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Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline OP
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Northof50  Offline OP
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Manitoba
Serious question Does the beaver meat cooked with beaver harvested in the summer have a different taste than one in the fall, or iced in beaver in late winter.
Is there a rank taste in summer months meat ?

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271072
05/23/21 11:13 PM
05/23/21 11:13 PM
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Northern Michigan
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J.Morse Offline
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Can't imagine a taste difference unless the summer stuff sat in the trap dead too long.....


Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271079
05/23/21 11:34 PM
05/23/21 11:34 PM
Joined: Mar 2011
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williams,mn
trapper les Offline
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williams,mn
A fella should fatten a few up on corn and see how they are.


"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271084
05/23/21 11:39 PM
05/23/21 11:39 PM
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Oregon
beaverpeeler Offline
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First off, I don't know....I never harvest beaver off season. But in general, animals that graze take on the flavors of their feed. My dad speaks of having fed hogs carp that they speared in the flooded fields and tasting of fish. I think summer beaver feeding on succulents, roots and such probably taste alright.

Last edited by beaverpeeler; 05/23/21 11:39 PM.

My fear of moving stairs is escalating!
Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: trapper les] #7271088
05/23/21 11:51 PM
05/23/21 11:51 PM
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Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline OP
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Northof50  Offline OP
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Jp you have harvested beaver in the summer months what did they taste like ?

It is a cultural sensitive question, so JP with your Metis heritage what do they taste like. Does the Metis traditional harvest beaver in the summer for food ?

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271092
05/24/21 12:04 AM
05/24/21 12:04 AM
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,518
MB
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Jurassic Park Offline
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MB
Originally Posted by Northof50
Jp you have harvested beaver in the summer months what did they taste like ?

It is a cultural sensitive question, so JP with your Metis heritage what do they taste like. Does the Metis traditional harvest beaver in the summer for food ?


I have no idea what a spring, summer, fall, or winter beaver tastes like. I’ve trapped tons of beavers during the summer. RM’s need beavers trapped no matter what season it is.


Cold as ice!
Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271131
05/24/21 05:16 AM
05/24/21 05:16 AM
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 13,964
Michigan
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Trapper Dahlgren Offline
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I've ate summer beaver ,we notice no different , smile

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271181
05/24/21 07:49 AM
05/24/21 07:49 AM
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Beatrice, NE
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loosegoose Offline
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Ive got some I'm the fridge right now that I harvested less than a week ago. It's good to go.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271205
05/24/21 08:48 AM
05/24/21 08:48 AM
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Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline OP
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I have raised this question because of my studies in archaeological sites and considerable beaver bones are always in the fire hearths.
and it goes on to what a site was seasonal or not.
There is always a considerable vast knowledge on this Tman site across a broad expanse.
So more input would be welcomed.

I know there is a photo of a beaver being cooked open over a fire from an area just north of Boco.
Sorry Mole this is not a pig castration thread, JP does have a habit of derailing threads.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271273
05/24/21 10:18 AM
05/24/21 10:18 AM
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Ontario, Canada
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slydogx Offline
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I have eaten 2 beaver so far. One was caught in Feb, another in May. Flavor was similar in both.
Beaver here eat a good amount of soybeans and corn IF they live near a farm. Suburban beaver just cut whatever trees they can get.
I found the flavor very similar to stewing beef.


Just happy to be here.
Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271274
05/24/21 10:19 AM
05/24/21 10:19 AM
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,421
Yukon
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yukon254 Offline
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Originally Posted by Northof50
I have raised this question because of my studies in archaeological sites and considerable beaver bones are always in the fire hearths.
and it goes on to what a site was seasonal or not.
There is always a considerable vast knowledge on this Tman site across a broad expanse.
So more input would be welcomed.

I know there is a photo of a beaver being cooked open over a fire from an area just north of Boco.
Sorry Mole this is not a pig castration thread, JP does have a habit of derailing threads.


I know the FN in western Canada ate beaver throughout the year. This is something a lot of scientists that have been studying the paleo diet miss entirely. They think the interior FN people ate a very low fat diet because wild game meat is lean. This of course is not the whole story because moose and caribou have a lot of fat at different times of the year, and even leaner animals will have fat in the body cavity. Beaver was a very important food source because they are always fat, and easy to harvest. In northern BC and up here in Yukon, you will almost always find old camps in areas with good beaver populations. When I was growing up in northern BC, the Cree always had beaver meat.


do unto others as you would have them do unto you

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Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271276
05/24/21 10:21 AM
05/24/21 10:21 AM
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Wisconsin
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virgil1972 Offline
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I think animal taste has more to do with how you prepare and cook it myself.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271277
05/24/21 10:23 AM
05/24/21 10:23 AM
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Posts: 256
Montana
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Jackdale Offline
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Reading historical accounts about what natives preferred makes me think our tastes wouldn't have been very similar. What we think is good because it's mild flavor might not have been preferred back then to those people.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271290
05/24/21 10:48 AM
05/24/21 10:48 AM
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Posts: 524
Northern MN
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atrapper Offline
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Some very interesting archaeological studying you're doing, Northof50. I'm not sure that I can completely answer your question because I haven't eaten a whole lot of beaver and that beaver I have had was in jerky or sausage form. However, I can say that I have noticed a distinct difference in scent from some beavers while skinning them. Males and older, larger beavers seem to have a much stronger smell to them than smaller females do. It's not necessarily a bad smell but a "gamier", more defined beaver smell. I would imagine it's the same as with any animal such as a rutting buck deer versus a young doe.
Another consideration may be the likelihood of a beaver having a disease like tularemia or worms in warmer months versus colder months. What's the old adage with rabbits? Only eat them during months with an "r" in them? I would imagine this is because of the diseases or worms they are more likely to carry during warmer months? In the end I would imagine it wasn't the flavor of the beaver that early people would have been so worried about as much as it was the danger of getting sick from eating in at different times of the year.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271302
05/24/21 11:31 AM
05/24/21 11:31 AM
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Posts: 17,550
Rodney,Ohio
SNIPERBBB Offline
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Summertime they're definitely more grass fed but I've never tried to cook summer beaver as when I get them home they look like blimps.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271378
05/24/21 01:55 PM
05/24/21 01:55 PM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,144
AK
bfisch Offline
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AK
From what I hear around here (a small part of interior AK), traditionally (not sure how far back that goes) beaver were harvested by chopping a hole into the beaver house and taking the beaver out that way. After snares came around that became the preferred method. Both of these activities were done during the winter months from about February to April. This is said to be when the beaver is the fattest and best eating. Beaver were still harvested at other times for dog food. Summer food tended to be more fish with the occasional young goose or moose to off balance constantly eating fish. Survival was tough and you were out of meat and came across or had a chance at a beaver you would take it. If possible and you are not in need of food leave the beaver alone so they can raise their young was kinda the rule of thumb.

I have eaten September beaver that tasted just as good and to me seemed just as fat as March beaver that was no different than late May beaver. I have heard the best tasting are lake beaver that eat water plants. I have heard they taste better that beaver who chew mainly on trees. I cannot tell the difference. I have also heard that beaver that stressed before being dispatched will not be very good. To my knowledge I have never eaten a stressed (caught in trap/snare but not drowned) beaver. Proper preparation and gland removal are very important in my opinion.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: J.Morse] #7271414
05/24/21 02:58 PM
05/24/21 02:58 PM
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The Hill Country of Texas
Leftlane Offline
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The Hill Country of Texas
Originally Posted by J.Morse
Can't imagine a taste difference unless the summer stuff sat in the trap dead too long.....



You might be right and here is something I take as a sign. I was raised hearing how only cold water / north atlantic this or that fish was worth eating. First time I ate some shrimp and flounder out of the warm gulf I knew I had been lied to all those years.

The little hogs I harvest in the summer months eat just as good as the ones taken in the cold- I just gotta process them a lot quicker is all


“What’s good for me may not be good for the weak minded.”
Captain Gus McCrae- Texas Rangers


Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271549
05/24/21 05:32 PM
05/24/21 05:32 PM
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Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline OP
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Manitoba
Thanks for the input..so far
There are several camp sites that are being reviewed as to them being seasonal or permanent and the topic of beaver in the diet,
Archaeologist only work in the summer and thought the First Nations could not get them in winter.
But you have 3-4 feet of ice was their belief....not knowing the channel can only be 4-6 inches deep and easy to spud through with a adzel ( pointed rock laced on stout stick)
Then you are into a blow hole spearing catch mode.

The Uof Manitoba research coming out of the Minn. Boundary Waters area on the wolf collared animals waiting 24-36 hours to ambush a foraging beaver got me thinking that a person could have done that as well.

Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271551
05/24/21 05:39 PM
05/24/21 05:39 PM
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Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline OP
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bfisch I know that in the paper that Conibear wrote about his NWT winter trip that they opened houses and sat back to shoot them. This was in the Canadian Hunting Trapping Magazine 1920 era. I think this was sent down to Bob Whites trap June rondy and maybe Cohunt has it now

Also remember that the pelts were used for winter sleeping blankets and only became valuable after the guard hairs were worn off. Because of the felt being easier to process to hats.

Last edited by Northof50; 05/24/21 05:42 PM.
Re: Summer beaver meat taste test ? [Re: Northof50] #7271807
05/24/21 10:17 PM
05/24/21 10:17 PM
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Posts: 1,144
AK
bfisch Offline
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AK
From what I understand it was not a shooting affair. You literally grabbed the live beaver out of the house. If you grab them by their front legs and hold them out away from your body I guess they can't bite you. One lady didn't hold the beaver far enough out and died as a result. Back in the day when people axed bears to save ammo (if they even had a gun). I don't plan to try either method.

I wonder how long it takes to wear off the guard hairs on a beaver.

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