# Question about beaver pelt drying



## Adam Gibbs (Jul 13, 2006)

Just starting casually trapping beaver for a couple weeks this past winter. Only got one. Fleshed it out a couple weeks ago and boarded it. The dried flesh still isn't really "dry". I can see grease on my fingers if I touch it. Is this normal?

I also don't know if I fleshed too deep. The skin is almost translucent in the middle along the back. I can see hair through it in most places. Is the hide still good for tanning or ruined? I can try and post pictures later. I've never fleshed anything before so I'm not sure what's normal and what's not. Thanks for any help.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

What you are seeing is fat. It's not easy to overflesh beaver.


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## Adam Gibbs (Jul 13, 2006)

FREEPOP said:


> What you are seeing is fat. It's not easy to overflesh beaver.


Did I not flesh out the hide enough then? I even went through in some spots, especially near the legs so I figured I was good. Is the hide no good anymore? If it is still good, do I need to do anything to it to degrease prior to sending it off to be tanned?


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

It's okay. 









Beaver pelt gone bad?


I've been freezing my beaver pelts this season to flesh, stretch and dry when I felt fully set up for it. Fleshed, stretched and dried the first one this week...and it's not looking fantastic. Much of the hide has turned a darker color, and there are some black spots. Is this starting to turn...




www.michigan-sportsman.com


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

Take rag/paper towel and wipe off that grease that gets on your finger, a couple times.

Hide is still good.


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## haggerty05 (Nov 19, 2013)

I got my first this year as well and some spots, mainly the edges weren't fleshed well enough and were greasy. Dabbing it with a towel a few times helped. As it dried and the fat I missed in the middle showed up easier I went back and trimmed it off. 

Piggyback question- will a beaver pelt ever get "paper dry" or will it always have a greasy feel to it? I also got my first raccoon this year and that dried great. Absolutely no greasy-ness to it at all.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

It will never last if not degreased and tanned. The bugs will destroy it once it warms and they hatch.


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## Urriah (Jul 26, 2013)

haggerty05 said:


> I got my first this year as well and some spots, mainly the edges weren't fleshed well enough and were greasy. Dabbing it with a towel a few times helped. As it dried and the fat I missed in the middle showed up easier I went back and trimmed it off.
> 
> Piggyback question- will a beaver pelt ever get "paper dry" or will it always have a greasy feel to it? I also got my first raccoon this year and that dried great. Absolutely no greasy-ness to it at all.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


I've never seen a beaver pelt get 'paper dry' the way canines will. Even muskrats generally remain a bit tacky.


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## Urriah (Jul 26, 2013)

Adam Gibbs said:


> Just starting casually trapping beaver for a couple weeks this past winter. Only got one. Fleshed it out a couple weeks ago and boarded it. The dried flesh still isn't really "dry". I can see grease on my fingers if I touch it. Is this normal?
> 
> I also don't know if I fleshed too deep. The skin is almost translucent in the middle along the back. I can see hair through it in most places. Is the hide still good for tanning or ruined? I can try and post pictures later. I've never fleshed anything before so I'm not sure what's normal and what's not. Thanks for any help.


Like Freepop said, it's really hard to overflesh beaver. They've got super thick, strong hides. When you say you see hair through it, can you actually see the hairs or touch the hairs on the skin side, or just dark spots? It's normal for them to have some grease on them, you just don't want a bunch of lumps of white fat. After they've dried for a couple days, a lot of times you can press fatty spots and 'milk' the liquid fat out, that will help any spots you missed dry up better.
The pelt is almost definitely not ruined. Especially if it's your first one, I'd tan it regardless just for the keepsake. If it comes back with a bunch of slipped spots you'll have learned something. I encourage everyone I talk to to get some hides tanned; it'll teach you a lot about putting fur up, fleshing, etc seeing what the finished product looks like after you've handled it. It'll also help you understand what fur buyers are talking about when they're either (rightfully) critiquing things you messed up or cut corners on or if they're ripping you off (less frequent nowadays).


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## Adam Gibbs (Jul 13, 2006)

Little update to this here thread; 

I sent the hide off the M&M and got it back in less than 30 days. The hide looks great. No hair slippage. I learned quite a bit doing this one and can't wait to try it again this winter. Thanks to all that helped.


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## Spade (Feb 20, 2007)

Congrats on your first beaver hide, you'll only get better. Listen to these guys they know there beaver.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Here's 34 head to make a bed spread


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## Spade (Feb 20, 2007)

Freepop
That is a nice bunch of beaver pelts.


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