I mainly wanted them for bait purposes but Ive heard many folks enjoy eating them -how many eat them and what parts do you eat ? tia

I use the backstraps and bone out the hams. Here's one of the batches of beaver stew I made.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthr...another-batch-of-beaver-stew#Post7162349

What Paul said. Back legs & backstraps.

Lisa & I actually prefer beaver over venison

Ditto what Paul said. After I skin them my wife butchers the carcass. Excellent eating and is similar to bear imo. We had beaver roast the other night with potatoes and onions, good stuff. Muskrat is mighty fine eating too.

Back legs, front legs, back straps and I make into sausage

I know some guys that eat every ounce of meat other than the bit on the tails plus the kidneys and liver.

Personally I just stuck with the legs and backstraps. Ribs and flank meat just arent worth it to me unless you're just gonna crockpot everything till it falls off the bone.

My preferred way of doing the hams is smoking. Ill leave em bone-in(less work). and trim the fat. Add your favorite beef rub to the meat and place it in aluminum pan.Add a 1-1.5 cup of apple juice to the pan. On the smoker at 225 till they hit 160 internal temperature. Let rest 30 minutes. Debone the meat. What doesnt come off or left overs go in the crockpot with beef stock till the rest of the meat come off the bone and thats lunch/dinner the next day.

Backstraps you can just pan fry or throw on the grill. When im being lazy...ill just pull the backstraps out of the freezer, throw them in sous vide at 140* for 2 hours then sear on cast iron skillet.

If you like chicharrónes, that is a good way to eat the tail meat!

I don’t mind eating beaver at all it’s especially good canned but as much as I’ve sold and given away nobody has ever asked for more.

Had it for my retirement get together. People who were skittish liked it. Sear it in the frying pan with oil and then the crock pot for a minimum of 2 hrs with any Cream of ? soup (mushroom, onion, rice, etc). Salt and pepper to taste. Here because of the corn, they will taste like beef - lean for some folks but its healthier for you that way but this how I fix it (legs, backstrap or loins, neck and belly meat). I would be chicken to try it as summer sausage because of giardia and other bacteria, but cooked, with some pork fat, it would be good - guessing. .................the mike

make snack sticks!

Similar to moose in my opinion. Same dark red, almost purplish meat, with a similar flavor. Of course they eat the same things so that isn't too surprising. Personally I'll only eat them on a 24 hour check. Our water is cold enough I'm sure they would be fine, but I just don't like the idea of eating something that could have been dead with the guts in it for two or three days.

You're not going to get big steaks out of them but stew meat or bite size steaks fried up are good. Never tried making sausage out of them but I'm sure it would be good. Truthfully mine usually go for bait, if anything, but I've ate it on occasion and always found it good.

My wife hates it when this topic comes up at gatherings. I always tell my uncles/cousins “ I haven’t yet, gut I guarantee you I will one day”
I think you’re supposed to check for tulerimia or something by checking the liver and cooking well?

Definitely cook it well. We crock pot ours 6 hours on high

In the great basin states (maybe others as well) an added area of concern is to be sure they're not beaver from areas that have poison hemlock growing on the streambanks. There is a reason for the naming of the "Malade" river in Idaho.

Cut the belly slag into real small pcs and render out and fry in it's own fat til right crisp and crunchy.

Are beaver immune to it or something? Hemlock and all it's fun cousins are usually dead during the season here

^^^Some of the Hudson Bay Brigades discovered that the hard way. Whole camp deathly ill after eating beaver flesh, several days to recover.

Now y'all are making me hunger all over again ...

The tap root gets dug up and consumed...hence the nickname "poison parsnip".

That makes more sense. Luckily a lot of the hemlock here seems to be around the road ditches and there's not many beaver here in said ditches