Beaver scraping question

I still do not know after like 5 years what I'm doing here.

Can anyone help me answer this?

Question: How deep do you need to go on the bottom part of the beaver when scraping?

Here is a picture of a perfect example of me not knowing how deep. I sort of cut deeper, then thought, "Well, maybe too deep." I don't know.

I've sold several beaver in FHA auction that weren't marked down at all. Maybe it doesn't matter?

I DO want to learn how to do it correctly. Thank you.

I would take more off there. That area is thick and tough. A sharp fleshing knife will shave that off good and clean.
Take it all the way to the skin.

If your selling as hatters don’t take anymore off lol

I use a slicing motion going left to right on a beam, around the legs and other thin parts I use a dull edge and push it off. The put up looks nice.

Agree if for hatters dont worry if heavy shearing type beaver shave it off no fat left no but not deep enough to cut into hair roots

Nyhuntfish, where in ny are you from, I’d be glad to show you how I do it, mine come out pretty good, send me a pm.

I clean skin beaver and those areas, (the shoulders and tail area) get shaved down while I skin. Scraping is just a light go over with a pull type paint scraper to pick up a any liquid grease and tags of flesh I missed.

THANK YOU ALL. I'll keep working on it.

Thank you for posting a picture. Very nice.

Thanks. I got the methods all from Coon Creek Stu (youtube).

Here are a couple that are ready to come off boards, no matter what market you are selling for you should strive to do your best, just my opinion.

Thanks for posting the picture.

Best demo ever .I just got a new Dunn knife for clean skinning.Probably won’t trap a beaver till next season as I have a bad aortic valve that’s going to need replaced soon.Thank you for taking the time to do these demos at the sales!

Best demo ever Beverpeeler.I just got a new Dunn knife for clean skinning.Probably won’t trap a beaver till next season as I have a bad aortic valve that’s going to need replaced soon.Thank you for taking the time to do these demos at the sales!

They're supposed to look like this.

Boco's the beaver put-up king!

Boco, they look great.

Dang. Boco would you consider making a video of the scraping process? I would love to see that. I can also put it on Trappers Report, maybe people will start using it.

nyhuntfish,

Be patient with yourself. Finishing beaver and doing it like the better ones shown on this thread is not an easy task to get a handle on.
Practice, practice, practice.

Mac

I have been fleshing mine on a beam now but finish that area between the back legs and tail with a beaver knife after it is put on the board. I still have some issues there also, that's why I go old school.

Looks good to me

lol,those are frostscraped,I know not everyone has conditions to do that-but,you can get them pretty close by giving them a little attention after boarding.Take a sharp beaver skinning knife and lay it almost flat on the skin and use a few long fast strokes,this will tale off any fat around the tail area very easy.Using a little different technique,use the knife in a similar fashon but more deliberate and heavier pressure to clean up between the front legs and head where the leather is thicker.You can thin it down with a sharp knife easily with a bit of practice.Dont worry about any bits of red meat left on the middle of the back as long as they are not too large they can be removed with a one hand scraper like a paint scraper or a bell scraper.Same gors for any of the fat left on the flanks and around the legholes.this will also get rid of any liquid fat left in the skin which makes them dry nicer.Once you have gone over the whole skin on the board with your one hand scraper trim and nail the legholes.You can remove the ears at this time too, if you want.
I put up a good number of beaver when conditions are not conducive to frostscraping.

Thanks. I will do that.

Nice beaver BP and nice stack.

That looks as good as any beaver put-up around. Good job Dirty!

X2^^^^
Nice Job DDT

Heres a nice one.

That looks like mine when I first started

Boco yr put looks very nice. I had a fur buyer that only put one nail for every two of yours. Explanation was he still got the sizing right and when tanned doesnt change.

A good fleshing knife helps.....Zeph

That works if you stretch them hard enough so the scallops remain over the size line.
I dont like to overstretch beaverpelts especially fall pelts that are going to the auction..
If you are sending to the tannery it doesnt matter,You could do 12 nails most likely. It can be taken care of when blocking the tanned skin.
I do all my beaver the same regardless because I dont know which ones will be sent to the auction and which will be sent to the tannery until I grade them.-I generally know which ones I will tan myself-(the small ones).

The only time it might be better to overstrtch a skin is if you have damaged skins or otherwise poor quality skins.In that case size might trump weight.
I stretch my beaver to the industry standard-nails 3/4 to 1 inch apart.
If your nails are 2 or 3 inches apart on all your beaver you will definitely loose money on size on a collection going to auction.

Remember the old addage-You cant turn a 20 dollar pelt into a 30 dollar pelt but you can easily turn a 20 dollar pelt into a 15 dollar pelt.