One of these days, I'm going to run a rod through the eyes to definitively mark their location in the raw skull. Blue ink outlines the brain cavity.
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That beaver was caught in a drowning set. There are no bullet holes in that skull. The skull pics were intended to be a visual about the location and size of the brain. Thus the blue ink. The large side openings accomodate the eye to the front and the jaw hinge to the rear. On a side profile shot the pellet needs to strike behind the eye.@Hal4son It's hard to distinguish foramen from pellet/bullet holes in that skull. I haven't examined one yet. I'm hoping to recover one in the woods in the vicinity of a charnel pile.
@Hal4son The meat didn’t seem bad. My marinade on the other hand kinda sucked. So it made the meat taste “meh” IMO. It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t terrible. I have more tender cuts to work with. I really need to find a solid recipe to follow. I was being lazy.How'd you like it?
@AmosBurton Don’t take this as gospel, but I strongly suspect that because the beaver is a fur bearer with one of the longest histories on the North American continent connected to the European fur trade. The regulations are likely in place to curtail poaching. Wasting a few pelts to solve a larger issue, is a lesser “evil” than “over hunting” an animal. Simply put, pelts have a legal monetary value (currently low considering past trends). The meat has very little monetary value, if any. I’ve read of methods to sell fur bearer meat and from what I’ve seen the regs vary in different states. Generally speaking, to sell meat for consumption I believe that one has to have some sort of approval from the USDA. I’ve only worked around one family that was in the business of selling game meat (which I believe is legally different from fur bearer meat). I think this family also sold commercial beef, pork, and goat as well. It’s been a few years since I’ve interacted with them. My point is this - I think that it’s more beneficial to the beaver populations to keep the bulk of hunters and trappers active during designated season(s) so that they can make their money without over hunting and trapping which can adversely affect beaver populations as well as future fur bearer seasons. That’s not even factoring in the impact of changing weather, environmental conditions, and regional industry. Here’s where conservation efforts intersect with sport and business with the goal of maintaining what’s believed to be a healthy balance. At least it makes sense to me to think of it in these terms.I can't understand how you're allowed to keep the meat but not the skin! I hope at some point you can keep one and get it tanned, they are beautiful pelts!
I've enjoyed the journey so far. Thanks for taking the time to write it up after what must be long nights of hunting.
@Hal4son What concerns me is that I am fairly confident that I’ll get one shot off with a Bulldog, even with my quietest set up. It also wears a 10x fixed mag scope that I haven’t shot much past 55 yards. I have to check my DOPE to see what my best option is. I may break out the Evol, but I hate that it has a SFP scope and I don’t have my holds memorized for this gun/scope combo. I’ve shot it enough to familiarize myself with the holds at one magnification setting.Run the 357 set up for hogs and be ready to use it for any beaver that show up.
No, I don’t think they will. That dam has been constructed pretty solidly. It took work to make narrow breaks with metal tools. They’ve been where I knew they would eventually come on the banks. I told the landowner they would come, I just thought they’d show up next month once it really starts getting hot and on the opposite bank. I saw signs when I went to break up the dam earlier, I but I thought armadillos had been in there.wonder if the hog will mess up the dam; ensuing a beaver vs hog fight
@TN_Yankee Thank you. I like animals and I like learning about them. To solve issues that some present, it helps me to know or learn things about their habits and behavior. So I’m learning. This is like a real-life biology and natural science course combined. When I said beavers are considered to be keystone creatures, I meant it. I’ve obtained great footage of a variety of animals that feed in this wetland environment. I also have help from some folks with experience in removing beavers. And if Nessie is in here, I’m getting paid.Excellent write up & photos. Seems as though you've become a one-man wildlife management agency.
Are you sure you're not hunting Nessie?