When You Skin Beaver,

Stu Farish

Stu Farish

Director / Webmaster
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what do you do about the tail? Skin it out too or not?

I've never shot a beaver, but one of these days the opportunity will arise and I'll want to try & save the skin. I'm assuming they get tubed out, but no idea on the tails.
 
You cut the tails off.When you skin one,you lay it on its back,you cut all four feet off at the heel joints,you can either use a knife or a large pruning shear,then you cut the tail off or you can ring it by cutting all around it where hair meets the tail.Then with it on its back still you make one shallow cut just through the hide,from base of the tail allthe way straight up the belly to the lower lip on the head and then start separating the hide from the carcass along the incision by carefully cutting the hie away with your knife,when you get to the legs grab the hide around the legs and push the leg out through the flesh side of the hide an carefully cut the hide away from the leg.When you get the legs done flip the beaver over and proceed skinning in the same manner you did on the belly by working and cutting the hide free, it works better by working from the back end and going towards the head, when you get to the head do as you would with any other critter and cut close to the bone to avoid making big holes by the eyes and ears.If you want the castor glands they are located by the rectum they will usually be hard lumps about the size of a golfball and gray in color there will be one on each side of the rectum.Take your knife and gently cut through the thin membrane to get to the gland and then peel thm out with your fingers and cut them free with your knife where they are connected to the carcass and then hang them somewhere on a nail to dry.This is the best I can do without physically showing you.Goodluck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
It is ALLOT easier to skin beaver by removing the tail first. I always cut it and the four feet off first, then straight up from tail to the lower lip. When your done the pelt will be pretty much roundish. Do not tube skin a beaver. The tail can be skinned out and tanned into leather. Some guys make bullet bags for muzzleloaders, or an even better idea is tanning the leather and making some long lasting wallets.
 
Stu what these guys advise is correct. However I don't cut the tail or feet off. I cut around the feet and tail and make a long cut up the belly from the tail to the bottom teeth. I work the skin around the back feet and partially down the body. Then I hang it up by the tail and finish skinning. I do this to speed up the process. With the beaver hanging up I can 'yank' the skin off pretty quick. Randy
 
Yea, the tail skin is as thin as fish skin.
I've never seen anyone try to save the original tail and leave it with the hide.
The inside of he tail is like soap, except for the paper thin skin.
 
RiverRunner, now you know someone that left the tail on a beaver hide and perhaps only a Polecat would do that. Home tanned it and gave it to Mom's attorney. It's alot more work but it does make an interesting wall hanging. At least there arn't many folks that ask, "What's that?" In many states shooting beaver is illegal and rightly so because if they are in the water they tend to sink unless you get to them quick. I know some guys in CA that shot many of them and seldom recovered the body. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
RR, if the tail had turned out soft, I'd have never given it to a lawyer! It did "open a door" to selling him some raw furs at inflated prices for wall decorations in his cabin up nort. He paid me back tho by flying me up to his cabin in his little airplane. I don't mind flying except I never had to fly one myself for 90 seconds - scared the tar out of me! :eek:
 
What some people who have little or no access to this stuff pay for it never ceases to amaze me.

You done, I say you done good son! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Don't throw those tails away!

Accounts of mountain men eating 5 to 7 pounds (2 to 3 kilograms) of meat at a sitting are not uncommon and certainly within reason. The meat of game animals is lean and large quantities are needed to provide enough energy for outdoor living. Meat was obtained mostly by hunting, but also as a by-product of trapping. Boiled or roasted beaver tail was considered a delicacy.
Click to expand...
A few recipes:
http://www.bertc.com/frdbeavtail.htm

http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/archive_swap40501-40600/40522.html

http://www.visi.com/~wick/axe/beaver-tail-soup.html
 
Heres a trick for you fellers. I trapped beaver and hunted coon with my dad when i was a kid and my mom did most of the skinning. (she also did my homework so i could go coon hunting lol) Now she was a smart lady and found that if you hook a air neddle, like you would pump up a basketball with, to a hand pump or air compresser and insert the needle under the hide near the feet pionting toward the leg you can work air under the hide, thus freeing some of the harder to skin areas! also a big table spoon works great for fleshing of the extra fat after to has dried about a day or two if you streached it.
chopper
p.s. as you can see from my spelling, i should have done my own homework.
 
Below is an article that I wrote a while back. I will try to find the photos that go with it later. Kind of a long post but it is a good way to skin beaver.

Beaver Skinning Made Easy
By Jim Toney

If you invest the time, effort, and money into trapping but; don’t take the time to learn how to handle fur, you are just wasting your time and a valuable resource.
Most beginner trappers (myself included), just jump right into trapping without first learning how to put up fur once it is caught. For the most part, we are competent outdoorsmen who learn quickly but sometimes it is better to at least have an idea how to do something before you start.
The following is a simple, step by step method of skinning beaver.
Step #1 (photo #1) Make your beginning cuts around all four legs and the base of the tail. Remove all four feet from the beaver. The front feet will usually twist right off. It is usually necessary to cut the tendon on the back of the hind legs to remove them.
Step #2 (photo #2) Next, make a long cut from the center of the lower lip through the anus to the base of the tail. This cut is easiest to make using a knife that has a good gut hook.
Step #3 (photo #3) Continue skinning the beaver at the belly cut (the long cut). Carefully skin as close to the hide as you can, working your way past the legs toward the back. When you reach the center of the back you can turn the beaver around and do the same with the other side. When you reach the head, work your way past the ears to the eyes. At the eyes, you will want to skin as close to the skull as possible to avoid cutting the eyelids. When you reach the nose, skin all the way to the tip of the cartilage and cut as close to the hide as you can. Now just finish skinning down to the lips and around the mouth. Once the hide is removed from the beaver, it should resemble the one in photo #4. Now it is time to flesh the hide.
I won’t go into detail about how to flesh the hide since most beginners don’t have fleshing beams and fleshing knives. The most important thing to keep in mind is that ALL of the meat and grease must be removed from the hide to prevent slippage. You can do this with a good sharp knife and a little effort. As you get more efficient at skinning you will all but eliminate the need to flesh.
Once you have completed the task of fleshing, it is time to stretch the hide. You can either use a beaver hoop (which is what I prefer), or you can stretch it on a piece of scrap plywood. Although the hoops are easier, the plywood is probably the most convenient for the beginner.
To stretch the hide you simply tack the hide to the plywood fur side out, trying to maintain either an oval shape or a circle depending on your market or your own preference.
Using small nails, tack the nose to the plywood. Gently stretch the hide down and nail the center of the tail cut to the board. Do the same with the sides. Work your way around the hide until you have nails at approximately one to one and a half inch spacing all the way around.
That’s about all there is to it. With a little practice you will refine this method to better suit your own individual style.
Until next time, keep our heroes in your prayers.
 
Yellowhammer, if you like half-fried bacon fat that tastes like coon grease, then by all means eat them tails. Yep, this polecat tried THAT too!
 


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