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Hunkered Down Project ( Beavers)

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Outbackbob48:
BJ, season goes out first of April, the month of March is some of our best Beaver trapping weather wise , ice starts breaking up and Beaver are starting to breed and get out and move, the bad part is if overcrowded they fight and get a lot of bite marks on them. this pr was perfect no bite marks and prime as can be. I also lucked out and caught them on separate days. 30# hike out vs. 60# hike in swampy water. Beaver are a heck of a lot of work and at todays prices even worse, If I skin,flesh,and stretch might get $10 a pc for them, about ten yrs ago I got a $40 avg. Ya should seen me hump Beaver out of them swamps then. I was also ten yrs younger. I caught 45 that yr all put up and sold at the Auction. Best yr I ever had in 60 yrs of trapping. Nice to reminisce when I first started trapping we were only aloud 3 beaver and only a 30 day season, Now we have a 90 day season and are aloud 65, At todays prices no bodys doing much to hurt the population. Later Bob

Hawkdancer:
Funny how science and politics work!  Nice hides, with that many years trapping, you definitely qualify as a "hibernate", ye done wintered over! 
Hawkdancer

BowEd:
Nice beaver and project Outback.Beaver are a lot of work all the way around.Trapping them,fleshing them,[unless your an expert skinner....Ha Ha.] and tanning them,and you still need to hand sew to make them into something.Beautiful fur though!!!!
For tanning them as said earlier it's the high degree of variance of thickness of leather that can be a problem in softening.I made a 1/2" rerod circle to lace them after fleshing to dry.I used my dry scrape dehairing tool for deer to thin the neck and spine areas of the leather to closer match them with the thickness of the belly.It's esier to check thickness while laced in to that rerod circle.
As you mentioned earlier most beaver have scars from fighting.Be sure to be careful when dry scraping across those scars.I'd use 60 grit sand paper across those scars to avoid hooking and tearing it.
Some have tried using a belt sander before with beaver tacked to plywood.It can work but can also wreck a nice hide in a hurry too.
Either way I usually aluminum sulfate tan them then.
Brain tanning will work too with the warm brains massaged into the flesh side.Then the usual pulling and stretching while drying to get them soft.I've sheared the long guard hairs off with a wall clipper which makes a lustrous final look to them.
As far as the tail hide skin goes I usually leave them raw and dried after fleshing and salting for future use.I split them along side edge into 2 pieces.I have tanned them in quebracho solution before too but it is'nt necessary for knife sheath adornment use or bow handle wrap use.Just rehydrate the dried skin to use for what or where you want it.I'd definitely keep the tail skin hide though.
Keep us informed on your progress.

Outbackbob48:
Beaver will probably never shine again in my life time. On the other hand Beaver castor are at a all time high, the big ones are worth as much as the whole hide, and the meat is excellent table fair. (Just keep your castors from touching your meat) I guess I'll just keep removing a few of the nuisance places and stay in good graces with the land owners. Good neighbors and good fences go hand in hand. Bob

BowEd:
I guess the only way they shine is to make something nice from them.Most all rodents make good table fare from my experiences.I know coyotes love ground hogs or beaver caught in a trap.

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