I am wondering how many people, when skinning a beaver, hang it and how many lay it on a table? What do you consider the advantages and disadvantages of both methods? Thank you for your response .... Garry-

Lay it on a table and move from side to side.

I use a troth this method is good for me.never hung one though would be interesting to try one like that.

Lay it on the table Actor, zip it from the chin down to the tail,(direction of the fur) use a lanoleum hook type blade, it is quick, skin one side, spin it, do the other side. Takes about 8 min. To flesh, start in the center of the pelt and work out to the edge. Get A Good Knife !! Takes about 12 min. I like beaver.

The last few I caught I hung by the tail. I always cut from tail to lip laying down, then hang. My opinion is below.

Advantages of hanging:

-back aches less
-eye level to the castors, therefore easier to see

Disadvantages of hanging:

Pure heck lifting them up to hang (I need some kind of hook)
-pelt eventually drags the ground as I near the head
-all the blood seems to drip onto the pelt
-carcass swings in the wind

Keep in mind I am a bad skinner, only been taught through video and pictorial instruction.

I hang by the tail ..dont know why thats just how i learned...i have done a couple on the table and ended up finishing them hanging...just me.....
\fireguy07

I start on the table, and then hang by the tail when I'm about half done. I rough skin, then flesh on the beam.

on a table clean skin them in 30 minutes .as far as the blood i wont skin a beaver for at least 3 days no blood or very little.

on a table skin it then flesh it with a ulu on my nee.

Shadow

I always hang mine and case skin them then off to the beam or freezer I split them later I use to split them and then flesh but always had the problem of them coming off the beam seen an old time trapper case his and split later thought it made sense and been using it for many yrs now.

when I learned to skin beaver the guy showed me how to case skin them , works slick and he said when fleshing it stayes on the board better. I sell green so I dont know that for sure

I hang by the tail and skin them cased. I think it helps me when fleshing. The beav stays on the beam without falling off. I can actually skin a beaver in good time this way. I skin them on the line in the woods this way too at times. I guess I just got used to this method. After fleshing the beav I just cut him up the middle and put him on the hoop.

Me too. But I use my skinning machine to pull the hide off the back, raise the head to eye-level, and keep the pelt off the ground.

~ADC~

troph method for me
skinnin sitting down

I don't do ANYTHING all the time so I'll have to say both ... I've case skinned many a beaver ... works great and once ya get your mojo rhythm thingy going you kinda slip into autopilot mode

prep all ya plan to skin at one time (remove feet, cut around tail, make your opening cut from base of tail up to just above the vent ... keeping it as short as possible but manageable ... then start skinning what you got open ... you'll decide whether you prefer to pop out the legs on the bench or once hung ... I hang mine by the tail using a loop of heavy braided small diameter cord, using the loop I make a slip knot by passing one end back through the loop ... then hoist to a hook secured to a rafter or whatever solid beam ya got ... I like mine to hang fairly low ... that's just another preference thing you'll figure out on your own if ya give this method a try

If I'm fleshing a beaver I very much prefer it to be cased ... a lot easier when working it on the beam

I was curious how one case skins a beaver since there is no opening cut from heal to heal with a beaver as with a coon or other case skinned fur bearer?

ttt

Dave, not case skinning like coons. You just make the first cut from the tail about half way to the head. Start skinning the back like normal, then hang up.

OK I get it now. Thanks!

I also use a trough and clean skin. Probably at one time or another tried every method. My average time to clean skin is about 20 mins, and then it is easy to flesh the little bit of meat and fat off on the board.

The case skin and flesh on a beam was ok, but I reverted back to my old method.

Not sure how others case skin, but I cut around the tail, around all the legs and then about 4 to 6 inches down the belly. Then just rough skin cased, hanging up of course.