Who uses the steel beaver hoops instead of nailing to plywood? I’m thinking about picking up some but know nothing about them,, anything I should know about them?. With the cost of plywood,, it’s cheaper now to invest in the hoops

That’s all I use you will hear all kinds of this or that from people who I’m guessing never used them. I have never had a complaint and have gotten top lot a few times sending them to the big sales. One thing to deal with the face I have a variety of rings to deal with the face dimensions. If you need bulk rings a little searching on the net will save you money .

I use them a lot and like them. Faster than plywood for me and easier to move around if you need to. Plus I have a fly in camp so much less freight. My 2 complaints are that mine have a tightening screw and when releasing one on a dry pelt it slides back and catches the rings and causes it to tear out. So I will sometimes cut the ring beforehand. Also mine will only take up to a 68 inch b’ver so bigger gotta use plywood.

When I could make money trapping beaver, I always used hoops. I gave up plywood when I was a teenager.

Some people will suggest you can't get the right shape or you'll make more by putting them on wood. That simply isn't true, but old timers can have a closed mind.

If I really wanna get a good oval shape I just hang a weight about 10 lbs off bottom of the hoop until it’s dry enough to hold the shape which usually isn’t too long

I have and use a couple hoops, but only when I'm out of boards or I don't have time to dry a wet Beev. Since I don't use them often, I usually go around the hide with a leather punch, one of the squeeze types, and punch a hole every 1 1/2" or so for the hog ring to hook in. Mine came with a bar you can adjust to pull the middle in to make oval.

I used to work in a steel shop... We had all kinds of round stock and a large set of rollers...So, I use hoops...

Hoops are very fast when you get them figured out. Light weigh and easier to store. Beaver seem to dry so much faster on hoops to. I bend my hoops the shape I want them before ever putting a beaver on them. I don't think I'll ever go back to boarding beaver again.

'one can take wire and fasten across middle of bvr pelt and hoop and draw in to get a oval shape. OR one can make a two piece sliding hook on rod with lock bolt to keep rods fm sliding back to keep oval shape. Anything close to blanket size pelt will try to dry like a potatoe chip UNLESS very heavy stock hoop material.

I use wood because I can do 8 beaver on 4 boards.

Get the 1.75 or bigger hog rings. They really make hooping easier and saves your fingers a lot of cuts.

I dont prepunch holes. Occasionally i might have to sharpen a hook, which is why my hooping station is right besides my bench grinder.

I think you could store 8 hoops in the same space as 2 boards also though.

Stoat rings

A over sharpened thin knife works great for poking smaller slits around the edges for the hooks.

Thanks for the tips guys

Crab/net rings. Stoat rings are still too small.

what size of rod do you use to make the hoops? 1\4"? 7\16"? 3\8"?

Good, sharp hog rings punch right through the hide with very little effort. If a ring starts to dull, in the trash it goes.

I've had some many Top Lots on hoops that I know that using wood is not a better solution.

Look at Essential Hardware on the web they sold the pig rings, I don’t use the hump type ones and if you buy in quantity they have free shipping then along with the lower prices it’s a win win.

So the question Is what do you do with your smaller beaver? I assume you can't squeeze down a steel hoop to accommodate all beaver sizes. With wood you have no problems with size.