# Skinning a beaver



## Al33 (Mar 13, 2008)

I have skinned out plenty of critters in my life but this was my first ever beaver. A buddy found this 42” long fat lady in one of his traps this morning in a small lake near here.  This was his second one in as many days and he knew I wanted one so he dropped it off. I wasted no time getting busy but first I had to educate myself about beaver skinning. I Googled “skinning a beaver” and found all kinds of methods and advice and after a little reading I got busy with the knife.







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I opted to skin her on a table versus hanging and I got started off pretty well being careful not to cut a hole in the pelt. This first pic is of one belly side skinned down and the following pic after I had both sides peeled back and rolled her over for the back work.






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Next was working up the back from where the tail used to be. I found the areas around the back of the back legs to be the most confusing for me and I ended up with a good bit of flesh on the pelt from these areas. I had read where it is best to leave too much flesh with the pelt than not because you can always take it off on the fleshing board. I thought I was leaving plenty of fat between the hide and the knife but obviously I didn’t as I worked my way up the back. You can see my mistake in the pic. Fortunately I did not do this again so this was the only hole in the pelt once completely skinned.






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The pelt .






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I decided I wanted to save the skull, front feet, and tail skin. I did not read any anything about how to go about these but just did them like I thought I should.






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I put the head in a large pot of boiling water and went to work on the other parts. The feet took me a long time but the second one went a lot faster than the first one.






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The tail was kind of tricky and I wasn’t real happy with the outcome but I kept the skins and have them curing in Borax along with the feet. Not sure what to do with the tail skins but just looking at them they look like shoe bottoms.

Here is the head after boiling. I had hoped the flesh would have boiled off but it didn't. Guess I'll hang it high somewhere the ants and bugs can clean it up for me and the critters will leave it alone.






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I have the un-fleshed .pelt in a bag inside the fridge and will likely flesh it out tomorrow. It weighed exactly 10 pounds but I am sure a few of those pounds are flesh I left on. I suppose I will need to dry it like I do other pelts. I will do some more studying to see how best to proceed from here. I want to tan it myself so I may end up trying to brain tan it which is something I have never done.


I have no idea what a taxidermist might charge to do a beaver mount but whatever it is it ain’t enough. You trappers that trap them and sell the pelts sure do earn your keep.


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## Jim Ammons (Mar 13, 2008)

Good job-you should have baked the tail in the oven-good eating-meat from legs and back makes a good stew or a good roast. If you want to repair the hole in the hide-use a needle and sew it from the flesh side.

Good luck with tanning it.


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## JTMontana (Mar 13, 2008)

Yeah, a couple years ago me and a buddy got permission to thin out some beavers on a guys pond, bet your hands still stink like beaver don't they.  Your right, skinning one is no easy task, we did the same thing you did.  My buddy just kept the pelt I think he tanned it but not sure  Think I washed my hands 10 times a day with gasoline to get that smell off stinky beav!!


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## Al33 (Mar 13, 2008)

JTMontana said:


> Yeah, a couple years ago me and a buddy got permission to thin out some beavers on a guys pond, bet your hands still stink like beaver don't they.  Your right, skinning one is no easy task, we did the same thing you did.  My buddy just kept the pelt I think he tanned it but not sure  Think I washed my hands 10 times a day with gasoline to get that smell off stinky beav!!


I'll bet you guys cut into the castors and that's why your hands stunk for so long. Mine do not stink at all but I did wash them many times during the skinning process.

Jim, the meat did look good and I wondered about it, even the white tail meat.


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## BrowningTech (Mar 13, 2008)

Those are some massive chompers


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## Nicodemus (Mar 13, 2008)

Nice work Al. I`d recommend braintannin` it. Flesh it good and then lace it in a hoop. Cut you a thumb thick sized willow and bend it into a circle. Tie off the ends. Then you can lace the fleshed hide into the hoop. 

It`s gonna be a job, for sure. A beaver hide is thicker than the oldest, toughest buckskin out there, and you will need to make sure that you have the hide saturated in the brain soultion good. You can do it though, and it will be worth the effort.


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## dawg2 (Mar 13, 2008)

Put that skull in a wire cage witha tray (to catch all the teeth if they fall out) so no dog or other mammal can get to it and let it lie for a couple weeks.  Let nature clean it, then soak it in Hydrogen Peroxide overnight, do it again if any stains remain, them place in the sun for a few days and it will be clean and white.   You can use elmers glue or a hot glue gun to put the teeth back in.  Nice job!


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## 4wheeling4life (Mar 13, 2008)

I want to extend my congrats on your skinning job. I have trapped a few flat tails in my day and must admit skinning one is a job. First I would recommend some latex gloves. Just like the wise folks on here, beaver smell is not real easy to get off. Also, if you could get your hands on a fresh beaver, they are pretty good eating. The darkness of the meat and smell may remind you of a old rutting buck but all in all they are good to eat. My only advice is it is getting very very close to there time to mate so a male will be extra strong and the females will be in season. Once again congrats on the skinning job.

Chris


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## Al33 (Mar 14, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words!

GaTrapper, I started out intending to tube the legs but decided to just slit 'em. I didn't realize the tubing allowed the pelt to lay flatter, I thought it had something to do with marketing them and I knew I wasn't going to sell it so just slit them.
I am open to any fleshing and/or any more curing advice anyone cares to offer.


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## packrat (Mar 14, 2008)

*Beavers*

Skinned A Many, Toughest Varmit To Skin. If You Can Buy A Pelt Already Tanned For $35-$40 You Got A Smokin Deal.
It's A Lot Of Work.


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## Nugefan (Mar 14, 2008)

would the tail be good for moccasin bottoms..

cool pictorial Mr Al ....

good tradin' plunder , you know everyone likes dead animal parts ....


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## ClydeWigg3 (Mar 14, 2008)

*Where to start.........*

To many things I could say here but will just let it go.....


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## ClydeWigg3 (Mar 14, 2008)

One thing though....what do you do with beaver feet?  I've got a gator foot back scratcher, and a deer foot coat hook, but never seen a beaver foot.


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## Al33 (Mar 14, 2008)

ClydeWigg3 said:


> To many things I could say here but will just let it go.....



Wise restraint sir. A few should have been as wise.

Nugefan, I was thinking trading blanket while salvaging parts.

Not real sure what I will do with the feet other than to display them for conversation pieces. I think they will go well in my animal parts emporium here in my home.


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## Al33 (Mar 14, 2008)

The pelt is now fleshed out. Took it to Missing Ridge's place where we made a really nice fleshing beam to work it on. 

Not having done this before I was VERY uncertain about my efforts and fearful I was going to really mess it up. Finally figured out I had to get aggressive with the draw knife to get it done. Put a good sized hole in the back. Several more much smaller holes but all in all I felt pretty good about it. I will sew up at least the one hole in the back but do not think the others will be necessary.

We used all kinds of tools but one of Butch's homemade woodcarving knifes really helped out a lot, especially in the head area. For the most part the draw knife was the ticket.

I will try to get it stretched Sunday then salt it down good.

Pictures coming when I get Butch to email them to me. I took my camera but forgot to put the card back in it. We used his instead and got quite a few shots of our efforts.


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## Nicodemus (Mar 14, 2008)

Al, there is no need to salt it. Once it`s fleshed properly, there is nothin` to spoil. Lace it in the frame or hoop, and let it dry. Then you can begin whatever tannin` process you want, at your leisure.


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## Handgunner (Mar 14, 2008)

Nice work Al!

I can understand wanting the pelt.  But what are you going to do with the skull, feet and tail?


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## Al33 (Mar 14, 2008)

Thanks for the advice Nic!!!

HG, not sure yet what i am going to do with any of these parts but I know if I throw them down on a trading blanket somebody will want them. Actually, I'll prolly just keep 'em for conversation pieces.

Here are some of the pic's we took today.

Thanks for the help Butch. I had a great day!


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## Handgunner (Mar 14, 2008)

Nice pelt!


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## dawg2 (Mar 14, 2008)

Really nice pelt.  Lot of work though.


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## 4wheeling4life (Mar 15, 2008)

alot of work but what a great reward it will be


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## Al33 (Mar 18, 2008)

Here it is all stretched and drying. I used a 10' piece of 3/8" rebar to make a 36" diameter stretching hoop. A buddy welded the ends for me. Worked pretty good because the cleats on the rebar helped to hold the cord in place. Actually it needed to be a little bigger than 36" but I didn't realize that until after I started stretching. Because the head went outside of the hoop I made a bullet shaped wooden disc and slipped it inside the head and stretched it out to a point it would but up against the outside of the hoop and stay taught.


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## Chippewa Partners (Mar 18, 2008)

This beaver was a gift to me from a client up near the Canadian border a couple of years ago.  (Balvarik, you will appreciate this pelt) 

A black beaver pelt.    Priceless.


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## Nicodemus (Mar 18, 2008)

Mighty nice, on all pics!


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## Chippewa Partners (Mar 18, 2008)

Here's a nice beaver that weighed in the mid-60 pound range.  The largest beaver I ever saw in person weighed 85 pounds and had, get this, 12 kits inside her.  I think the world record beaver is way over 115 pounds  although I am sure HILLARY weighs more than that.






The white wolf was trapped in Alaska with a MB-750


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## JerkBait (Mar 22, 2008)

JTMontana said:


> Think I washed my hands 10 times a day with gasoline to get that smell off stinky beav!!




yep!


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## GAnaturalist (Mar 22, 2008)

Before you tan it (after you dried it on the rack), use oderless mineral spirits to cut the grease out of the fur. 

Soak the dried hide in water, get it soft again, then put it in a bucket of mineral spirits, wash it around, then take it out and spray it with a garden hose. repeat until you get the grease out.

Maybe someone already posted about that, it is the only thing that has worked good for me, and I have tanned several. I bought the tanning agents out of Van Dykes, google it.

Otter and muskrat have a lot of grease too.

Here is a pic of a piece of otter fur I tanned in the background.


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## horsecreek (Mar 23, 2008)

Think I washed my hands 10 times a day with gasoline to get that smell off:rofl: stinky beav!!:cool:[/QUOTE said:
			
		

> Im sure a few of us have had that exp before...


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## FX Jenkins (Mar 28, 2008)

this is a great thread...


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## WarrenCo (Mar 28, 2008)

Too Much Work!.


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## BKA (Mar 28, 2008)

FX Jenkins said:


> this is a great thread...



I thought it was going to be about something else......


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## MustangMAtt30 (Mar 28, 2008)

BKA said:


> I thought it was going to be about something else......



Yeah me too.


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## Oldgold Buck (Mar 28, 2008)

FX Jenkins said:


> this is a great thread...



I concur.


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## ClydeWigg3 (Mar 31, 2008)

I agree, this is very interesting, plus if you have a juvenile mind you have to wonder how many times we can say beaver in a thread.

When I was in high school I worked as a helper at a local taxidermist for few months.  Seems like every time I skinned something like this I managed to cut into the glands and stink the joint up.  I remember skinning an otter and man alive we had to open the windows and turn all the fans on high.

Al33 and CP do you truly "tan" these pelts so they are soft, or just dry them?


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## GAnaturalist (Mar 31, 2008)

You can tan them into very soft and supple leather. Seems like there is a million different ways to do it, and everyone has thier own way.


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## HorseCreekHunter (Mar 31, 2008)

That's a very pretty beaver!


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## duke13 (Mar 31, 2008)

Nice thread Al! 

 I bet you got some good sites on that google search!


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