How to skin Beaver

BeCoole · January 12, 2009, 10:34 AM

I skinned a beaver last year that was caught in a conibear trap. After being in the cold water for several hours, that animal was harder to skin than anything I have ever seen. Any clues on how to make skinning these critters easier?

kraigwy · January 12, 2009, 11:07 AM

You dont skin beaver, you have to cut the hide off. Need a wetstone to keep your knife sharp.

Use to trap beaver with I was younger. Toughest thing to skin. (or cut the hide off). Then you have to scarp all the fat, meat and tissue off.

BeCoole · January 12, 2009, 11:14 AM

Quote:

You dont skin beaver, you have to cut the hide off.

LOL, Kraig. That's a perfect description.
By the time I got that hide off, I was wore out and the skin looked awful from my cuts. Took a couple hours doing it.

Scorch · January 12, 2009, 01:22 PM

How did I know that was coming??

BeCoole · January 12, 2009, 03:26 PM

Scorch, will you do readings for us?

I knew I was in for it before I posted this, but man, I had to ask anyway. It's a helluva job getting one of those critters skinned.

I'll just have to put up with the comedians!

FrontSight · January 12, 2009, 03:32 PM

Best skinning "knife" I have ever found; replacable scalpal, basically

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=377480

shortwave · January 12, 2009, 05:03 PM

This will be either the funniest or shortest threads we`ve had lately.

BIGR · January 12, 2009, 10:48 PM

Very Carefully........i Couldn't Resist....

stevelyn · January 13, 2009, 10:35 AM

They way I learned from the Athabascans is they use moose bones cut flat lengthwise and sharpened with a bevel edge across the width of the end.

They then lay the beaver on its back. Cut lengthwise from top to bottom and cut the skin back enough to grab and then hold the bone in your fist and strike downward between the skin and fat. It'll separate the skin from the carcass and flesh it at the same time.

MrClean · January 13, 2009, 11:08 AM

<talking to self>
Don't say it.... Doooooon't say it...... Moderators will ban me......
Do nooooot say it........

crowbeaner · January 13, 2009, 10:28 PM

I trapped when I was a teen (around the time dirt was invented) and I never liked skinning a beaver. The best way is to take it to somebody that has the patience and enough money to give you $25, let them skin, flesh, and stretch it, and go waste your time trapping and skinning easier animals to dehide. I always made more money off muskrats anyway; coons aren't all that bad, and mink and otter are where the money is.

cat9x · January 14, 2009, 02:10 PM

much easier when they're wet

Lee Lapin · January 20, 2009, 07:31 PM

BC,

My dad ran a little country store while I was growing up in the 1950s. There was an air compressor in the toolshed, and one of our regular customers was a part time trapper. When he got a beaver, he would come by with it in his truck. In preparation for skinning it, he would cut a small slit in the hide on the inside of a leg, insert the nozzle of the air hose, and inflate the sucker. Seems that helped separate the hide from the carcass and made the critter easier to skin.

So he said anyway...

Thanks for the memory, that was a long time ago.

hth,

lpl

January 12, 2009, 10:34 AM	#1
BeCoole Junior member Join Date: October 2, 2002 Posts: 170	How to skin Beaver I skinned a beaver last year that was caught in a conibear trap. After being in the cold water for several hours, that animal was harder to skin than anything I have ever seen. Any clues on how to make skinning these critters easier?

January 12, 2009, 11:07 AM	#2
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,061	You dont skin beaver, you have to cut the hide off. Need a wetstone to keep your knife sharp. Use to trap beaver with I was younger. Toughest thing to skin. (or cut the hide off). Then you have to scarp all the fat, meat and tissue off. __________________ Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071

January 12, 2009, 01:22 PM	#4
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	How did I know that was coming?? __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

January 12, 2009, 03:32 PM	#6
FrontSight Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2005 Posts: 1,712	Best skinning "knife" I have ever found; replacable scalpal, basically http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=377480 __________________ To kill something as great as a duck just to smell the gunpowder is a crime against nature. - Alan Liere Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw

January 13, 2009, 10:35 AM	#9
stevelyn Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: Fairbanksan in exile to Aleutian Hell Posts: 2,655	They way I learned from the Athabascans is they use moose bones cut flat lengthwise and sharpened with a bevel edge across the width of the end. They then lay the beaver on its back. Cut lengthwise from top to bottom and cut the skin back enough to grab and then hold the bone in your fist and strike downward between the skin and fat. It'll separate the skin from the carcass and flesh it at the same time. __________________ Stop Allowing Our Schools To Be Soft Targets! http://fastersaveslives.org/ East Moose. Wear Wolf.

January 12, 2009, 03:26 PM	#5
BeCoole Junior member Join Date: October 2, 2002 Posts: 170	Scorch, will you do readings for us? I knew I was in for it before I posted this, but man, I had to ask anyway. It's a helluva job getting one of those critters skinned. I'll just have to put up with the comedians!

January 12, 2009, 05:03 PM	#7
shortwave Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2007 Location: SOUTHEAST, OHIO Posts: 5,970	This will be either the funniest or shortest threads we`ve had lately.

January 12, 2009, 10:48 PM	#8
BIGR Senior Member Join Date: June 13, 2000 Location: Mountains Posts: 1,385	Very Carefully........i Couldn't Resist....

January 13, 2009, 11:08 AM	#10
MrClean Senior Member Join Date: January 31, 2008 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 336	Showing restraint....... <talking to self> Don't say it.... Doooooon't say it...... Moderators will ban me...... Do nooooot say it........ __________________ I'm like a Fat Kid on a Playground..... " I ain't Playin' " Lifetime NRA, USPSA, HCSO, CRS Club

January 13, 2009, 10:28 PM	#11
crowbeaner Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Upstate SC Posts: 1,943	I trapped when I was a teen (around the time dirt was invented) and I never liked skinning a beaver. The best way is to take it to somebody that has the patience and enough money to give you $25, let them skin, flesh, and stretch it, and go waste your time trapping and skinning easier animals to dehide. I always made more money off muskrats anyway; coons aren't all that bad, and mink and otter are where the money is. __________________ If you want your children to follow in your footsteps, be careful where you walk. Beware the man that only owns one gun; he probably knows how to use it. I just hope my ship comes in before my dock rots.

January 14, 2009, 02:10 PM	#12
cat9x Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 212	much easier when they're wet Last edited by Art Eatman; January 21, 2009 at 11:18 AM. Reason: No signal

January 20, 2009, 07:31 PM	#13
Lee Lapin Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2004 Location: SE NC Posts: 1,239	BC, My dad ran a little country store while I was growing up in the 1950s. There was an air compressor in the toolshed, and one of our regular customers was a part time trapper. When he got a beaver, he would come by with it in his truck. In preparation for skinning it, he would cut a small slit in the hide on the inside of a leg, insert the nozzle of the air hose, and inflate the sucker. Seems that helped separate the hide from the carcass and made the critter easier to skin. So he said anyway... Thanks for the memory, that was a long time ago. hth, lpl