Hate Fleshing Beaver

I love setting for, catching, skinning and boarding beaver. But man do I hate fleshing them. One of these days gonna have to learn how to clean skin. Not sure why this one was so troublesome but it took me an hour to flesh it. Saddle just didn't want to peel off. Also tried my hand at boarding without stencil lines for the first time.

I don't mind beaver at all.Hate fleshing otter

Looks pretty clean.Any reason you left the nose and whiskers on?

I like doing both.

I always left them on.

I predict your life will go well Mr Idaho. you got the right attitude,go get em and do it till it's done
don't worry about the nose

Just the way I learned to do it a couple years ago. Is there a reason for taking them off other than presentation? I don't sell most of my beaver with all the work I put into them. I tan them.

I actually much prefer putting up otter to beaver.

we can trade.I'll send you my otter green if you pay for shipping

Clean skinning is not that hard. It might take a couple to figure it out. Once you do you will never look back. I fleshed one beaver one time. After that I taught myself how to clean skin.

No problem leaving them on for your own use.Standard handling procedure is to remove the nose and whiskers/lips an inch ahead of the eyes.
That is where the beaver are measured from even if the nose is left on it wont gain you anything and could lose you a size if boarding to the size lines.
Takes longer for that thick stuff around the whiskers/nose to dry so if you need your boards to meet a deadline etc you can get the hides off a day or two quicker.

Never could get the hang of clean skinning. It takes me about 10 min to beam flesh one.

I can flesh the 20-25 pounders pretty quick, but those 40 to 50+ pounders kick my butt. With beaver price so lower I sell green , as I only gain a few dollars more for finished beaver pelts.

Thanks Boco and I didn't know that. But I will definitely start trimming off the nose and whiskers if I start selling the hides if prices come up. The tanned pelt I gave my woman this Christmas she commented how much she liked that the whiskers were attached.

Yep I leave the nose and whiskers on for the ones I tan and hoop also.

And I keep coming back to look at your pic Boco. That is some seriously nice put up. None of mine are nearly that clean as you can see

Once I got one of Lee Steinmeyer's fleshing knives, I never minded fleshing beaver, in fact I enjoy it now.

One of those is on my list of things to buy to make life easier.

fleshing beaver is all about a sharp knife , if you think your knife is sharp its not ,you have to know its sharp , I take mine to a knife shop before season starts an have them put a edge on it ,

Get yourself a beam and a good knife and beaver and otter both flesh easy. I also leave the nose on. I have tried to clean skin and I don't like it for one reason, you still have to scrape them to get the oil from the hide. On a beam that is pushed out as it is fleshed as I doo very little cutting, mostly pushing.

X2

I bought myself a Necker 600 this year, two weeks ago in fact. Now to catch some of these Pennsyltucky beavers....

first 1000 are the hardest.guy watched me do one the other day and when i gently went right down the center and 2 in wide piece came of perfect from neck to tail with almost no effort he about passed out.if your working too hard-your workin too hard.

Back in the day before the neckers and the rest came out ,for years I used a machete simply adding another handle to the other end.

i get asked a lot "how sharp is that knife."--i've had to give myself stiches and superglue twice from barely bumping it by accident.have another for coon that isn't anywhere near as sharp but when i get a rough necked coyote or coon i run for the sharp one.

with good tools-clean skinning or fleshing can be a breeze

Agreed pcr2. To properly clean skin you have to be able to maintain a razor edge on the knife through the whole process. It makes all the difference, for me anyway.

No thanks.Think I will pass.

Paul Millette used to say,"be careful,my knives are so sharp your eyes will bleed from looking at them"

Whenever I would loan a knife to someone I used to say, " My uncle always told me a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one, so be careful, this is dull". LOL

i have 3-the razor
the cooner
the lender.

I fight fleshing them but get it done, not that good or fast at it.

Tried several different fleshing knifes . Then i got a caribou, cut my time in half, takes hardly any effort to use, so now I can do more beavers in less time and effort. THE only fleshing knife i'll ever use PERIOD !!!!

clean skinning is all I ever know how to do a beaver that's how my grand dad and my dad always done them I always enjoyed doing them , but not as much anymore with my arthritis in my hand

i started with a bent over paint scraper and a rapala filet knife.limit was 3 so it worked.

Exactly!

I don't own a standard fleshing beam or fleshing knife.

Clean Skun and be done!!! I have seen folks flesh beaver in all kinds of crazy ways. It’s all struggle to some degree even for those with a mastered efficient system. I have gotten to the point that I would just rather clean skin while standing comfortably upright and take em straight to the board.

I'd sooner skin and flesh a beaver than a coyote any day. Too much fussing around with a coyote. Besides that, some of them stink like a dog that rolled in something rotten. I like the smell of castor.

I’ve been working doing beavers the last two days. In the past, I worked around the outside of the hides, taking off the easy stuff, then would do battle with the center.

I read your post yesterday about shaving down the center from head to tail. I got out the whetstone and worked up the Wiebe, which I would have said was already sharp. I probably used that sharp side on 80% of the beaver hides. I did 5 big ones in half the time that I spent yesterday doing 7. I never nicked any hides, they came out great.

It comes down to what you're comfortable with. Once you learn to do it a certain way any other way will seem clumsy. I always felt like skinning and then fleshing was redundant. Clean skinning does both things at the same time. I no doubt would feel differently if I had learned to rough skin and flesh on a beam.

One can argue about which is more time efficient but I don't honestly think there is that much difference for those that are experienced in either way.
I average about 15 minutes to clean skin a blanket and about another 15 minutes to board it. I'm sure there are lots of guys faster than me.

It is an unfair world where diseased, parasite infested long legged opossums are worth 5 times as much as beautiful well groomed beavers.

amen Dirt

There's a reason beaver is always the last thing at the bottom of the freezer when everything else is put up.

Yeah I hear you on what we're comfortable with. I need to at least try clean skinning beaver a few times to see if it grows on me. I've only done roughly 30 beaver in the last 2 seasons but every one of those was rough skinned then put on a beam. We will see if I adapt to the change or stick to the way I've learned.

I use both methods but when i have 20 beavers to skin in front of me i just rough skin and frezze to flesh and board an other day .. that being said i feel clean skining is less messy in the shop and easyer on the paper towel lol

This is a very, very true statement. Neighbors dog got into the fur shed today and was caught red handed carrying away a beaver pelt I was thawing out. No damage done but I was glad it wasn't a $70 coyote. A finished beaver pelt is one of the most beautiful furs available.

What do you guys do when the beaver are mostly dry but you have some spots that have been missed. I never had so many beaver till this year when I got a hair. Trying to make a blanket, so all will be for me. That said I seem to always have this problem with beaver. I have scraped the rest off with a spoon. Has a worked appearance after but never got docked at NAFA. thoughts? Thanks. Always learning.

So are you clean skinners doing a bunch of touch up when you board?

Most of my beaver trapping was done away from home and clean skinning wasn't feasible. So I got to where In most cases I could rough skin a beaver In 5 min flat.

Have any of you guys tried fleshing them on your knee with a knife?I saw it on you tube and tried it once and quit using the beam.Trick is having a burr on your knife blade just right.I can do a beaver in 15 minutes this way.

Years ago when testing our body grip setter with my buddy Robbie in Canada we had a pile of Beaver at the bottom of a steep portage. From his pack, he took a set of sharpening sticks, a Victorinox skinning knife, a utility knife with hook blade, and two large fish hooks with barbs pinched down and light wire attached to eyes. He flopped a Beaver on a fallen log and made opening cut with hook blade. He wired the hooks to brush behind the log and used them to hold the carcass where he wanted as he worked his way clean skinning around the Bev. I watched in amazement as he finished the first one. He looked over his shoulder and said, "I can undress these girls if you wanna get our gear up over the hill". I made one trip with the canoe and one more with the gear. When I got back he was done with all but the castor removal. I think it was 5 or 6 Beavers, I couldn't believe how simple and matter of fact he made the task. A task that at the time would have consumed most of my weekend to do rough skinning and fleshing. LOL When I told him how I rough skinned he said " why would we wanna pack all that extra weight up the hill?" Over the next few days I learned to clean skin and never went back to rough skinning.

To each his own. I think the biggest lesson I got at the time was to not make to big of deal out of the skinning. He did it just as matter of fact as if he were setting a 330 in a run, it was just one more step. No more or less important than any other in the process. Before that trip I dreaded the task, since its no big deal.

Here's a pic of a pile of clean skinned Bev's.

great pic.

most of mine have been for buyers and thats how it was done.

its a no right or wrong way thing.

I am a person who sets goals for myself since before I fleshed my first beaver when I was 14. The goal is to get a top market pelt to the sales and to enjoy the trip as an added bonus. When working my pelts I feel the reward of catching the animal & knowing that my hard work will put me in top percentages in the sales market and I enjoy that work . Never used a Pattern for my beaver pelts as the body shape using diagonal nailing back and forth will give you just as good a finished product anyway. I use lots of nails which allows a full stretch without fur tearing as it dries. I have also used stiff cardboard between pelt & board for beaver pelts for extra absorption on the fur side coupled with better circulation in the process. Also grips the nails as you are trying to line them up into the wood.

My first thought when I saw that pic was Global warming!

When we had beaver to tote up the hill or back In a way's we just gutted them. Just grab them by the rib cage and go. Know I would be lucky just get myself up the hill. LOL

Yes I believe most "clean skinners"do a bit of touch up when boarding the pelt. This picture is an example of what I consider a clean skinned beaver ready for final 2-3 minute touch up and trimming.

The best way to learn clean skinning(or any other method) is to watch an experienced person do it and have him explain the technique as he goes along.Then have a go and he can critique your effort so you dont make mistakes that can become ingrained.He will also explain the tools and how to maintain them properly so efficiency is maximized.Then once you have the proper tools and technique down pat,speed will come with repetition
Stuff you cant learn from reading or on your own.
The two main things for fast and efficient cleanskinning is a razor sharp knife (and the knowledge how to keep it that way)and a feather weight hold on the knife.

Agree with Boco. The knife sharpening aspect of it is crucial to the success of the clean skinner.

Yup, sharp knife and hands on advice. Saves years.

Come on down and Jerry will teach ya how to clean skin

I agree with that. I usually spend a couple minutes with a hand scraper during the boarding process. Here's one about ready for the hand scraper.

I have just started to flesh beaver on a beam and getting the hang of it. I do know if you keep that fleshing knife sharp it works a lot better. And the smaller beaver go fast you can push the flesh off just like a coon.

A little touch up, in the head area, and a little scrapping with a dull blade along the belly sides. I am particular around the leg holes when I skin clean to begin with.

Right now, if you left the lips and any trim on, it will just add weight.

If you want weight dry them with the saddles on.

I have just started to flesh beaver on a beam and getting the hang of it. I do know if you keep that fleshing knife sharp it works a lot better. And the smaller beaver go fast you can push the flesh off just like a coon.

If you rotate the hide on the beam,locating the left hind hole to the top of beam and scraping sharp side down to opposite leg hole, you can remove that tight backbone/hip meat
a little easier. Started that procedure after watching Joe Edminster do a demo for the DNR years back. Works pretty good if you work down the sides first.

I have given that some thought, as some folks are buying by weight, lol.

You can dry the meds and smalls with the saddle on,the big thick skinned ones might be a bit tricky,maybe if you slashed the saddle it would work,or frost dried them for a while first then finish inside.

? Leaving the saddle on?,...where is that market?

Les said some ejit is buying beaver pelts by the pound,and we is figuring out a way to make them heavier.

carry on!,..Im still laughing,..lets get rhis figued out!

mnsota I have been starting right behind the ears and going right to the tail. Once I get the saddle removed I turn the pelt and start in the middle and work out pushing the easy stuff then. I am up for trying other things but now need to wait until I get some more beaver.