That’s a good morning!!

Awsome Dale. I’ve only found 3-4 and I worked in the woods for 30 years.

Nice furry lookin' beaver too. Nice!

NF, what did you do for 30 years in the woods if you don't mind my asking?

Had to give up on making my river run today. A coat of ice over everything and raining right now on top of that...river is supposed to go up 2.5 ft by tomorrow. I envisioned backing down the boat ramp and not being able to stop!

So I'll stay home and keep the wood stove stoked.

When your back tires hit the open water, you will have traction and can stop. That doesn’t help the traction much pulling out. Just get a running start in the water and hope it carried you through!

You got a nice section of beaver over there.

We had a good day in shop today, nail man is back on duty.

BP, I was a lumberjack, Third generation. I have worked as a carpenter on and off for a number of years. I haven’t cut any timber in couple years.

NF, as always your put ups are art pieces. Never tire of seeing them.

Interesting you worked in the woods. In my youth I was a tree planter and later served in the Peace Corps as a forester. Also have spent a lot of time commercially picking mushrooms in the woods.

Boco, I catch some nice furred beaver here.
Two years ago I had a couple colonies of very dark one that furred up early and brought good money for the price at that time

NF nice put ups , I see your fleshing board by the door. Next year I'm doing some changes and putting up a new fleshing board more horizontal like yours. The older I get the more my back likes fleshing in that position. I've been shaping a new board and am almost done with it.
I'll leave the old set up seeing as it won't be in the way, I've sure spent some pleasurable hours on that beam honing my craft.

Dale this is how I set mine up, I have no back issues with this setup.

BP, Thanks, as much as I would like to take credit, Gerry was the artist on that pair.
I still do a little consulting forestry work, I have an associates degree in forestry, but building occupies the majority of my work nowadays. I still love it in the woods and around beaver ponds, it’s the only place that hasn’t changed, and still makes sense to me. I’m very comfortable in the woods.

Nice Newfox, simple and out of the way. I need the end of my board about 10 inches higher. Thanks for showing me your set up

My version of a beaver trough. Have a drain in the bottom so it can be washed out. Also have a piece of plywood that will lay on top so I can use it for other things. All the wood was scraps leftover from building my work bench.

ETex, looks like a nice sturdy trough. Like it.

NF, always nice to learn more about the lives of other esteemed beaver men on here. Interesting stuff. In my group of Peace Corps foresters I was the only one w/o a degree. Qualified by experience and having taken some forestry courses while in ag school. Ran a native tree nursery and consulted with farmers on agro-forestry projects in Ecuador's amazon region. Was a hoot!

Nice blanket today.
Finally got to bottom of the freezer, just three beaver and one otter and Gerrys fur will be done, well except for those five coons.

Great job guys..Turtledale you should try the English way if your having back issues while fleshing ..that's how I do everything with beaver being open skinned I use a big like gator clip to clip the head onto the beam..

I did try that. Thanks for thinking of me. Set up my board one year and did a couple woodchucks in the spring. It was certainly better on the back. Should of made a video so you guys could laugh. Talk about a learning curve! My muscle memory for a beam the other way had me looking like I was throwing a ball with the wrong hand. The pulling part was not much problem but holy cow the few times I tried shaving was comical to say the least.
I tried a couple clean skinning this year again and I'm slowly getting better. Had to put them back on the beam to clean them up but at least I didn't cut any major holes. Around the legs is my hardest part to learn.

NF, nice job on that big ole plew. You guys do a bang up job on your put up.
I never tire of seeing how other people do theirs. It's an art form that not even all the trappers have. I'm always looking for ways to improve.
Seeing Bocos put up and the ways he does it is always an education for me even if I don't have those furbearers here.
Many here have great put up skills and them showing us how they do it is an unselfish act that I respect.
I've learned a lot from all the trappers here and hope some have maybe learned a little from me.
Well all, get those pelts fleshed and drying and ready for market. The start of the selling season is upon us.

Turtle, you're right about leg hole areas being a challenge when clean skinning. Wish I knew how to post video' or I could show you how I work that area. It's really quite easy after you get comfortable with it.

Next time I'm skinning beaver maybe I can get my stepson to take some pics of that area of the pelt as I do them.

BTW, I agree with you about how cool it is to see how others do their put ups. These days I have a functional beaver put up that works for me but is certainly not the masterpieces that have been gracing these pages. But I put up 3 an hour doing it my way and they look decent.

BP. They don’t look decent! They look very good.

Its been a fun week chasing beaver.