So how much can you leave on the pelt to increase weight?

You????
Probably none, you are tooooooo OCD..,,

Don’t forget to hide them lead weights well haha!

Looks good! She’s ready to go. $$$

looks good to me

I’d remove the castor but other than that, looks good. Maybe a couple more nails and trim the lips so they don’t sour. Leaving the front hoof in the hide like you did stage left helps save on time…no need to close the hole that way! I’d keep it in a sunny location to help it dry faster.

This getting paid by weight nonsense is ticking me off.

I should dip all my finished pelts in sand

Red River gumbo is much heavier than sand

BTW, in all seriousness my blanket beaver are weighing in at 2 lbs. A tad less than what Don Wolf says they should be at. But i do trim off ears nose and lips, shave down shoulders a bit, and don't leave any grease on the leather.

that 2 pounds is about right, they had to weigh the watermelon tubs before shipping

I trim mine the same way, and will never sell them by the pound.

You’d be crazy to sell by the pound in today’s market. Selling by weight is for the hatter market.

The beaver we have in SD have almost always sold by the lb. We don't have the right color. I leave the ears, lips and nose all on. I do flesh them clean. I have made more money the last 2 years because of the felt market then the previous 10 years before that.

At $20/lb those blankets are still at $40....not too bad really.

Not so good either if we figure increased production costs.

Won't deny that Steven, but a couple of years ago I was averaging about $15 ....so averages over double that have their appeal.

You know what they say. Crap runs down hill so beings your are in Oregon and south of Portland I would expect the beaver to weight more.

You need to take into consideration what you’re selling…there is a premium for shearable goods. That’s where they make a killing buying by the pound. If they want to pay by the pound, give them the damaged stuff…

Good point BvrRetreiver. Probably more of a thing in your neck of the woods. Southern goods and late Oregon beaver it probably wouldn't apply.

Never heard of this by the pound buying. If they're paying $20 by the lb that's not very different than what the market has been giving at recent sales.
BP, how hard where you laughing by yourself when you nailed that to the board?