Watch a few videos and like mchewk said, go slow. Ideally, you're not doing in the field if you don't have to....

Yeah, I subscribe to Trappers Post and get the NTA Magazine. Lots of good articles. I was actually going to drive down to the Foothills Trappers meeting next month and see if anyone would come up and walk my swamp and share some knowledge.

I skinned and fleshed it and got it on the ring. Took me a few hours. Overall, I would grade my performance a solid F-. Haha. To be expected. It kind of looks like I hung it up for target practice. I put a few holes in it. Skinning it I only poked one hole surprisingly. The others came when I fleshed it. Just not knowing what I was doing. I stopped and watched a couple more videos and then finished. It went a little smoother. Skinning I had a lot of trouble at the head and really butchered that part. And the tail end around the castor was a little confusing. Otherwise, the main body went pretty well considering I have zero experience.

It was a great experience and I was excited to be doing it, regardless of the outcome. Kind of like your first deer. You're finally a deer hunter. First beaver. I finally feel like a trapper. I've read the first 100 are just practice anyway and now I know why!

Any tips, as usual, are greatly appreciated.

It all takes practice.

On the fleshing part you have to get to know the sharpness of your fleshing blade. I have one end sharp & the other end very sharp. The backside is kept squared off dull for 'pushing' off fat at times.

Check your fleshing beam for smoothness. Any small nicks or dips can cause you a hole in pelt. Sandpaper will usually fix things up

If it’s any consolation they do get easier , they say the first thousand are the hardest. From my experience I’m afraid that’s probably too accurate.

Congrats man!!!! It gets easier on both the setting and putting up fur. It also gets a lot more fun as time goes on. Check out coon creek outdoors for putting up fur. He does a pretty dang good job on explaining how it is done.

Sometimes it’s beneficial to comb beaver before skinning to remove any Matts or burrs in the fur, all of wich will create a hole when fleshing.

^^^^^this is good advice