First Time Beaver Under Ice

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

Awesome your doing great..trust me a beaver is way harder on their own fur than you can do by dragging them through snow. When its really cold thats how you dry the fur out.

I wasn't sure about an extended drag affecting the fur. Thanks.

I'm loving the dexter for skinning. I've got my put ups on hold right now and have been freezing. I've got half a dozen put up.

[7mmstwguy]

The fur gets combed, washed, tanned, washed, dried, tumbled, beaten ..can't hurt it..lol Just don't want it to be froze down and pull some hair out.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

When its really cold thats how you dry the fur out.

Thats a trick that not many know these days. Works like a charm.

I'm wondering, does anyone skin Beaver at the set any more?

I used to skin most of my beaver right at the set, even when I wanted to keep the carcass for bait. The only time I would transport an unskinned Beaver was during open water trapping.

Just wondering what folks are doing these days.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TFNG

I decided to slide them out through the snow. Maybe not recommended but I didn't care at that point. I mostly pulled them and then tied them together and carried them up out of the coulee. I earned my fifty bucks today!

Awesome catch, and yeah you sure did earn your money. Three pelts can be a load never mind the whole critter.

[bill9044]

There is a fellow here that used to shoot and skin right on the bank the once he was done that beaver another would come down the river.
But personally I bring them back home and deal with them with the carcass worth more than the hide for bearhunters I take the whole thing home.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by bill9044

There is a fellow here that used to shoot and skin right on the bank the once he was done that beaver another would come down the river.
But personally I bring them back home and deal with them with the carcass worth more than the hide for bearhunters I take the whole thing home.

I hadn't thought of that. Bear guides were just getting started the last couple of years that I trapped. So there was no market for the carcass.

Having a market for the carcass would be a strong incentive for sure.

I would still skin the critter in the field but carrying the carcass home does make a lot of sense. I just prefer to keep the hide as clean as possible and that is much easier with just a hide as opposed to a whole animal.

[7mmstwguy]

When the carcass is worth more than the fur, you carry it home. I think that should make sense to you. Not sure why so many things don't make sense to you..are you getting old and grumpy?..lol

[Tfng]

Things are getting sloppy around here so I pulled my traps today after a four day soak. I slacked off taking pics but did manage to take two pics. All told I picked up 7 beaver today in 12 traps. 3 will be in the 70 inch area and 4 smaller ones.

I'm going to take a break for a while and let things dry up a bit. I may or may not set a few traps when the ice goes.

I ended up with 24 beaver which I'm happy with. Thanks to all who helped me out.

[bill9044]

Hey TFNG. Good work on the 24 beavers. All the ice around me is rotten. I found a new beaver trapping area. Every slough there is a lodge in the beavers have a hole in the ice right by the shore where they are coming out to get fresh food. So 330 over the hole and bam.

Also back to the fleshing over the knee I just tried it. It seem to work pretty good but don't use a heavy canvas type blanket over your knee or real stiff jeans. I shifted in my chair and there was a wrinkle in the blanket and ZING. Well that's what happens when you try new things.

[Tfng]

Originally Posted by bill9044

Hey TFNG. Good work on the 24 beavers. All the ice around me is rotten. I found a new beaver trapping area. Every slough there is a lodge in the beavers have a hole in the ice right by the shore where they are coming out to get fresh food. So 330 over the hole and bam.

Also back to the fleshing over the knee I just tried it. It seem to work pretty good but don't use a heavy canvas type blanket over your knee or real stiff jeans. I shifted in my chair and there was a wrinkle in the blanket and ZING. Well that's what happens when you try new things.

That sounds like a good way to pile up some beaver!

Yes I've cut my fair share of holes lately. The smaller beaver are very thin. Try cutting closer to yourself where the hide isn't touching your knee. I've struggled also with what to use on my lap. I've thought maybe something with bristles on it. A floor mat maybe, carpet?

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

When the carcass is worth more than the fur, you carry it home. I think that should make sense to you. Not sure why so many things don't make sense to you..are you getting old and grumpy?..lol

LOL Not grumpy, just out of touch and wondering about the new way of doing things.

Keep in mind that when I was trapping full time, it was on a isolated line far from civilization. Everything went in and came out via skidoo.
Cell phones, the internet were in the process of being invented and the killer traps of today were just being developed.

It was a different world and we did many things differently. Most of those old ways are no longer applicable, but some might save someone some time or effort.

Let me give you an example if I may. I see you know how to figure out where the center of the run is, do you know how to use a curved pole to determine the direction of travel in a run?

Have you ever seen a running pole set for Marten? Do you know how to catch a Lynx with a snare and a scent stick? Can you catch and hold a Wolverine with a 220 coni? Could you make a hoop stretcher for beaver if you were too far from town to drive in and buy a sheet of plywood?

I may seem out of touch and in many ways I am, but I still have something to offer to those who are willing to learn.

Besides, I just like to tell about my trapping experiences.

Did I ever tell you about the Sabre Toothed Beaver I caught?

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TFNG

That sounds like a good way to pile up some beaver!

Yes I've cut my fair share of holes lately. The smaller beaver are very thin. Try cutting closer to yourself where the hide isn't touching your knee. I've struggled also with what to use on my lap. I've thought maybe something with bristles on it. A floor mat maybe, carpet?

Cutting where the hide is not supported is one trick, another is to watch for the point where the fat joins the hide and focus cutting there.

It can be hard to figure out where that is, look for a thin line that looks like it has some air in it. A lighter color line. I'm not sure how to describe it best but when you learn what I'm talking about you will find it makes life easier.

I'm not sure what you mean by how to use your lap. I wonder if you are working to close to your body.
When I'm fleshing I am working just above my knee. I want the weight of the hide hanging below my knee to keep the hide taught. And once a get about a third done, the weight of the flesh shoud exert enough pull to cause a change in color just where it meets the leather. That make life even easier.

The trick is to have only enough hide on your knee to give ample room to work, the rest should be hanging below the knee. I'm thinking that when I was doing it, I'd have maybe six square inches above my knee and the rest hanging below.

I'd start along one edge and work around the perimitor and in towards the middle forming a dougnut shaped roll of flesh as I went.
As I worked in I'd bunch up the fleshed hide closest to me so that my hold was only a couple of inches from where I was cutting.

Here's a video showing much of what I'm talking about.

Keep in mind that this guy is either a whole lot faster then I ever was or he is not doing anywhere near as clean a job as I would. I can't tell which.
All I know is that I've never seen a beaver I could strip the flesh off of the way he is doing, but the way he is holding the hide and where he is working on his knee is the same. At one point he even works around the edge as I would do. I have to add, I was never fast. Most of the trappers I know could flesh a hide far faster then I could, but my hides were as clean as theirs and that is where one starts. Get it clean, then get fast. I just never got the second part figured out.

So here's the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVZgMrQYDwY

[parfleche]

Pretty darned impressive ! That would come after many hundreds of Beaver .
This sabre toothed Beaver do you have pictures of it?
Because a fellow up here has a five legged Beaver .

[pikeslayer22]

That's Jackie Wurz in the video and when he's done fleshing it's Clean and not 1 nick in the hidE! Amazing to watch

[7mmstwguy]

That is an amazing video..thanks for sharing.

Yeah..I know pretty much what your asking..thats the thing about trapping..
"there are more than one way to skin a cat" and "You can't teach an old trapper new tricks"..lol

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by parfleche

Pretty darned impressive ! That would come after many hundreds of Beaver .
This sabre toothed Beaver do you have pictures of it?
Because a fellow up here has a five legged Beaver .

I don't have photos but it can be seen at the High Level F&W office, or at least the skull can be. They have it on display along with a plaque telling when and where it was caught and it has my name on it as the trapper who caught it.
It's actually just a beaver whose teeth didn't align properly so they didn't wear normally so one grew up over it's face and was poking into it's ear.
I've seen a couple like this over the years, but only one that I caught.

Five legged! Wow, that would be weird. I've seen a couple of Moose with three antlers but never an animal with five legs, although I have no trouble believing it happens.

I've also seen but not caught, pure white Beaver and pure black beaver.
Both are rare and valuable. The black beaver was caught by my foster brother and as I recall it sold for a little over $400.00 and that was in 1978 or so when regular hides topped out at around $35.00.

The pure white Beaver was caught by my big brother and he had it tanned and sold it for $250.00. That was around 1984. Not as good a deal as the black Beaver but still worth way more then an average pelt.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 7mmstwguy

That is an amazing video..thanks for sharing.

Yeah..I know pretty much what your asking..thats the thing about trapping..
"there are more than one way to skin a cat" and "You can't teach an old trapper new tricks"..lol

Oh I don't know that I'd agree that you can't teach an old trapper new tricks. I hope that's not true.

But there definitely is more then one way to skin a cat, or flesh a Beaver.
I know a few trappers who can flesh a beaver on their knee in under ten minutes. Some say they can do it in as little as five minutes or less and they do it pretty much the same way I do. But I can't confirm that they are that fast. I only know they are a lot faster then I am.

I fellow I tutored nearly twenty years ago never learned to flesh on his knee, he uses a fleshing beam and a draw knife and he's as fast as anyone I know and does a beautiful job.

He's an interesting fellow. No sense of caution, gung ho plus, and now ten times the trapper I was. I taught him to snare wolves and within a year he had caught more then the total I had to my name when I gave up trapping. The man's a born trapper. I had to work at it. LOL

Speaking of old trappers. My dad trapped until he was in his eighties. He helped to develop techniques for conibear traps when they hit the market and that was after his sixtieth birthday. He was one old trapper who not only learned new tricks but actually helped to develop them.

I'm only a couple of years past sixty so there is still hope for me. If my health would allow it, I would still be out there tramping through the bush looking for tracks and making sets.

There is no life like it. Some love it, some hate it. Either way, no one who has done it can ever deny that it is the closest to nature that a man can get. A trapper is part of the environment, living off his wits much like the animals around him. We leave less of a footprint on the land then any other outdoor user except perhaps some hunters, and we have less of a negative impact then any other.

The tree huggers can never understand that. They think that living in a city and protesting hunting and trapping does the least harm. In fact it does more by a wide margin.

It takes a lot of wild land turned into farms and residential properties to support that one city dweller. It takes trees and oil and thousands of gallons of water to support that city dweller.

A trapper needs only a small garden and a rifle, axe and some clothing to survive and even prosper. Many of us live on wild meat and wild fruit. We burn wood from fallen trees, we carry water in a bucket and build our homes from the trees around us.

We have no need for the latest fashions or big smoke belching cars. We have no need for lawn chemicals or high priced perfumes. We don't run to the doctor every time we scratch off a bit of skin and we don't pop pills like they are candy much less flush outdated pharmaceuticals down the drain.

These days it is nearly impossible to live off the land the way we once did, even so, trappers, even those who live most of the year in a city, while they are trapping, still leave less of a footprint on the land then any other person.

Yes we kill animals for our income. How is that any worse then flattening a dozen animals a day on the freeway? How is that any worse then starving many animals to death by turning their environment into cropland or industrial developments?

The big difference between a trapper and an tree hugger is that we know that we kill animals and we strive to do so as humanly as possible.

The tree hugger has no concept of his impact on the world around him.
He thinks he has no effect and feels self righteous because of that.
But in truth, he causes the death of many more animals then the trapper does. He just doesn't see it. He doesn't see the injuries they suffer from overcrowding and fights for territory caused by being displaced by human development. He doesn't see the starvation and disease cause by destruction of wild environments for human use.

Worst of all, because he does not see how he impact wild creatures, he can not believe that he is anything other then the savior of wild things.
The rightful lord over lowly trappers.

There is an old old saying, "there are none so blind as those who will not see".

[Tfng]

Keg the reason I feel I need something on my lap is because I catch myself setting the hide down trying to get that last bit that hangs on the edge of the pelt. Also near the bottom of the pelt when there isn't much hide hanging.

I haven't been working to the middle the way you say to. I've been opening it up down the centre, then the edge, then work from nose to tail. I've been trying to copy Jackie.

[parfleche]

Keg I also am near the 70 mark and still enjoy trapping more than pockets in my shorts! To bad I cant post pictures I happen to have a set of Frank Conibears original traps , The one,s he got made in Edmonton when he was up at his lake in the Territories and also the ones Eric Collier used in the B.C Interior .
Also have some correspondence from Frank to Victor Woodstream Corp giving them heck for passing the trap as acceptable before it had sufficient proof ! From the get go to the last few years these forerunners of the trap were nothing but squeeze machines , very inadequate .Quite a story ! Don,t know what I will do with them when my time comes, donate to a museum or what , Because they are a turning point in trapping history and methods . Donating to a museum is likely going to end up in the back room gathering dust because this is looked upon as being so politically incorrect!
You are3 dead right on antis ! Pitiful group , Hearts mean well but NOT A CLUE!!
We all have an impact on our wildlife in one manner or another .
Everything survives at something or someone,s misfortune!

[Tfng]

Keg after watching that video again for probably the 20th time I see he does work it towards the middle, just like you said. Thanks for pointing that out, it may be part of my problem.

[WomenHuntAB]

Hey Friends!
I am seeking around ten beavers for this upcoming April and May!
Don't need the furs, just carcass!
I am located in Rocky Mountain House but am in Calgary 50% of the time so I can pick up really anywhere in central Alberta!
Please PM me if you can help me out! willing to negotiate fee with seller

[Saskbushman]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

Oh I don't know that I'd agree that you can't teach an old trapper new tricks. I hope that's not true.

But there definitely is more then one way to skin a cat, or flesh a Beaver.
I know a few trappers who can flesh a beaver on their knee in under ten minutes. Some say they can do it in as little as five minutes or less and they do it pretty much the same way I do. But I can't confirm that they are that fast. I only know they are a lot faster then I am.

I fellow I tutored nearly twenty years ago never learned to flesh on his knee, he uses a fleshing beam and a draw knife and he's as fast as anyone I know and does a beautiful job.

He's an interesting fellow. No sense of caution, gung ho plus, and now ten times the trapper I was. I taught him to snare wolves and within a year he had caught more then the total I had to my name when I gave up trapping. The man's a born trapper. I had to work at it. LOL

Speaking of old trappers. My dad trapped until he was in his eighties. He helped to develop techniques for conibear traps when they hit the market and that was after his sixtieth birthday. He was one old trapper who not only learned new tricks but actually helped to develop them.

I'm only a couple of years past sixty so there is still hope for me. If my health would allow it, I would still be out there tramping through the bush looking for tracks and making sets.

There is no life like it. Some love it, some hate it. Either way, no one who has done it can ever deny that it is the closest to nature that a man can get. A trapper is part of the environment, living off his wits much like the animals around him. We leave less of a footprint on the land then any other outdoor user except perhaps some hunters, and we have less of a negative impact then any other.

The tree huggers can never understand that. They think that living in a city and protesting hunting and trapping does the least harm. In fact it does more by a wide margin.

It takes a lot of wild land turned into farms and residential properties to support that one city dweller. It takes trees and oil and thousands of gallons of water to support that city dweller.

A trapper needs only a small garden and a rifle, axe and some clothing to survive and even prosper. Many of us live on wild meat and wild fruit. We burn wood from fallen trees, we carry water in a bucket and build our homes from the trees around us.

We have no need for the latest fashions or big smoke belching cars. We have no need for lawn chemicals or high priced perfumes. We don't run to the doctor every time we scratch off a bit of skin and we don't pop pills like they are candy much less flush outdated pharmaceuticals down the drain.

These days it is nearly impossible to live off the land the way we once did, even so, trappers, even those who live most of the year in a city, while they are trapping, still leave less of a footprint on the land then any other person.

Yes we kill animals for our income. How is that any worse then flattening a dozen animals a day on the freeway? How is that any worse then starving many animals to death by turning their environment into cropland or industrial developments?

The big difference between a trapper and an tree hugger is that we know that we kill animals and we strive to do so as humanly as possible.

The tree hugger has no concept of his impact on the world around him.
He thinks he has no effect and feels self righteous because of that.
But in truth, he causes the death of many more animals then the trapper does. He just doesn't see it. He doesn't see the injuries they suffer from overcrowding and fights for territory caused by being displaced by human development. He doesn't see the starvation and disease cause by destruction of wild environments for human use.

Worst of all, because he does not see how he impact wild creatures, he can not believe that he is anything other then the savior of wild things.
The rightful lord over lowly trappers.

There is an old old saying, "there are none so blind as those who will not see".

Thanks Keg, that was a great read and bang on.

[bill9044]

Originally Posted by saskbushman

thanks keg, that was a great read and bang on.

x 2

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by parfleche

Keg I also am near the 70 mark and still enjoy trapping more than pockets in my shorts! To bad I cant post pictures I happen to have a set of Frank Conibears original traps , The one,s he got made in Edmonton when he was up at his lake in the Territories and also the ones Eric Collier used in the B.C Interior .
Also have some correspondence from Frank to Victor Woodstream Corp giving them heck for passing the trap as acceptable before it had sufficient proof ! From the get go to the last few years these forerunners of the trap were nothing but squeeze machines , very inadequate .Quite a story ! Don,t know what I will do with them when my time comes, donate to a museum or what , Because they are a turning point in trapping history and methods . Donating to a museum is likely going to end up in the back room gathering dust because this is looked upon as being so politically incorrect!
You are3 dead right on antis ! Pitiful group , Hearts mean well but NOT A CLUE!!
We all have an impact on our wildlife in one manner or another .
Everything survives at something or someone,s misfortune!

Oh WOW! That is so cool.

I hope you donate it to a museum so many people can see and enjoy them for generations to come.

I have some paperwork for Dad's trapping years, trap line registrations, quota documents, and a few photos, most I have posted here.

I did have an old Hawley Norton #2 trap from the 1930s but it has dissapeared.
I did have a #1 1/2 jump trap and a #3 toothed, cast jaw underspring trap, both of which I gave to my neighbors wife, she loves old trapping gear and I figured she would appreciate them and show them to a lot more people then I ever would.

Right now I have only one antique left and it's not really trapping gear.
It's a set of ice claws that strap over boots. They are from some time before 1960 but that's all I know.

I have a few other old things but none that would interest a collector.
A couple of gas lanterns from the 1960s, a Ross rifle, that sort of thing, and not much of that even.

Oh. I almost forgot, although it's not worth much and not trapping gear I do have one collectible. a model airplane. The balsa and tissue type.
It's still in the original box and I have the original receipt.

It was sold to a bush pilot in Keg River in 1956. It shipped from New York city and the listed price was $1.15 as I recall.
The buyer was Mike Paperny a well known and well liked local bush pilot who died in 2003, I got the kit from his son when the son was cleaning up his dad's estate.
He also gave me all of his dad's ammunition which included two cartons of Whiz Bang .22 shorts. They are kind of old to I think, but not collectors items.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by TFNG

Keg after watching that video again for probably the 20th time I see he does work it towards the middle, just like you said. Thanks for pointing that out, it may be part of my problem.

I wouldn't call it a problem, but I do believe you will find that it has advantages.

I do know that the middle of the hide is tougher and the weight of the flesh already cut free can help a lot.

Plus, it's easier to hold on to a clean fleshed hide then an unfleshed edge. And you can bunch up the fleshed hide in your hand to draw the work area closer to you hand for better control. It doesn't wrok very well with an unfleshed edge.

A question. Do you guys snap your hides when you are done fleshing.
By snapping I mean, like you were trying to sting someone with a wet towel.

We do it vertical instead of horizontal as you would with a towel. It helps to realign the outer fur for a better looking pelt and it can dislodge dirt from the hide and make the hide feel smoother.

It's a simple thing that doesn't do a lot but it can add a couple of dollars value to a pelt and it costs nothing in time or effort.

I simply grab the fleshed hide at the head and whip it in a vertical S curve to snap it like a whip. It doesn't really snap, just makes a sorta slapping sound. that's all it takes.

[HunterDave]

Got home from holidays Monday night and started putting out a few beaver sets Tuesday afternoon. Two beavers on the boards tonight.
With no holes in these two, I think that I finally have my fleshing on a beam method working for me. I use the inside curve of my sharp Post Fleshing knife for the fleshy part down the back and a my cheap dull coyote fleshing knife for the fat along the sides. I just can't bring myself to dulling down the outside curve of the Post Fleshing knife and using just the Post for everything.

I'm looking for new areas to trap beaver within 50kms or so of Morinville if anyone knows anywhere.

[shakeyleg02]

Looks good dave congrats on the beaves

[Tfng]

Looks good! It's about time you got back to work lol

[KegRiver]

They look as good as any I've seen.

Granted, it's hard to tell for sure from a photo, but the overall care is apparent.

[HunterDave]

These two beaver puts me over the top and I can retire now.

I've yet to catch one that fits on the 3XXXL ring. I came close last year with my biggest so far, a 59 lber that fit on the 2XXL last red ring. You can see the nail holes on the board on the left. It makes me wonder just how big a 3XXXL beaver is and how old it'd have to be. Something else to strive for.