Was putting up some beaver on hoops the other day and didn’t realize how sharp those babies are!! I was having a tough time pushing through the tail area and when it came through the other side, it buried itself into my middle finger,,, it went in quite a bit,,, It bleed good too,,, took a while to get it to stop.
Just passing it along,,, watch out for them,,, they can bite

A over sharpened knife is what I use.

Yep. Not a fan of the ones that trap suppliers sell. Too small to get good leverage without cutting the crap out of your fingers. I prefer longer ones as they give you room to get a finger under. They arent quite as sharp so I keep a bench grinder running beside my hooping station to sharpen em.

Now that is a great idea

A stout sharp awl work well to pre punch holes.
I made mine out of a short screwdriver.

Sounds like too much work. I'll stick with plywood and nails.

This is what I prefer

The advantage of wire hoops is it shapes the hide as you hoop it, it dries from both sides, lightweight and adjustable never had a complaint on my beaver sold some top lots using hoops. Just a matter of choice what ever works for a guy really.

I've always used boards and nails. I would like to try a few hoops, though.

Yup,I would never go back to smashing my fingers with a hammer with nails, or those heavy, expensive, greasy plywood stretchers that dont store well.

I keep a sharp awl handy for the neck and tail area and just pre punch those, but just sharpened hooks punch through most.

If it festers see a DR right away. A kid working at a local furbuyers ended up in the hospital after gouging a finger on a wire coon stretcher hook. Waited a while to go to the DR. It had been festered up for several days.

I have been using an ice pick as needed to pre punch some holes as necessary in the tough areas of hide. Probably why the old gals years ago that did a lot of hand stitching found the need for thimbles.

I use an adjustable leather punch. It looks like a large pair of pliers. I put a couple holes in nose area, a couple in tail area and then on each side. Stretch on a hoop and then punch a hole about every 1/2 inch between and adjust to size. My old worn out hands couldn't push a hog ring thru a beaver skin.
Gary J

How hard are they to remove after the hide has dried?

I can do 8 beaver on 4 boards. The hoop guys will have to have 8 hoops. I think I would rather store 4 boards.
Nails last forever and don't need sharpening.. How about those hoop fasteners.

They don’t get closed just hooked on the hide and the hoop use a poke tool works the best and sharp rings snag the hide more then used hooks do. A guy could hang a dozen hoops on one nail with one hand vs the room 6 boards would take up and weigh. Sometimes the hides tight on the hide if it shrinks around it twist with the wrist or pliers and they pop right off.

You can shake the rings off most of the time.

I was a die hard plywood fan,,, until I needed new beaver boards,,, I couldn’t believe the price of a sheet of 4x8 half inch had gotten. I saw that I could buy 6 hoops for the price of one sheet of plywood,,, and that’s how it started for me,,,, I wish I would have gone to hoops earlier,,, I honestly think I put up beaver faster on hoops than I do on plywood… I don’t have any storage issues, and I can hang the hoops and still have room to move around,,, instead of fighting with plywood sheets being constantly in my way

Look around on the web you can find some good deals on the pig rings often. It was a while ago but a place was called essential hardware that was was the best if you bought over a certain dollar amount.