Eating beaver tails

[Admin]

Ok fella's, lets put an end to this bulldooky.
I'm always reading about "beaver tail stew" or "Beaver tail soup" and stuff like that in old books or articles. Now I know that beaver MEAT is darn good eating but how the frig does somebody get anything out of the tails. Those old pattywacks are nothing but leather and grissle.
I'm presently reading "The Final Frontiersman" which is a book about Heimo Korth. He and his family are the only folks living in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge. They're something like 200 miles from thier nearest neighbor. They eat just about everything and I just read where they roast a beaver tail and spoon out the gobs of fat from beneath the skin and it makes me wanna puke just picturing it.

Seriously. Just the thought makes my stomach turn and I feel like I'm gonna ralph.

So... have any of you ever tried to eat beaver tail? If so, what did you do and how did it turn out? Now don't buls**t me like everybody does with the "apple on a stick" thing. and spare me the comments like "I tried it once but forget her name" cause I'm talking flat tail beaver and not split tails.

Thank you.

[cowdawg]

Oh, that's a loaded question!

[woodsman416]

I don't know why anyone would ever want to eat the tail when they have the rest of the beaver sitting there. That's assuming that they caught more than just the tail.

[trapperandhunter]

i would have to be dying before i would eat beaver tail !

[TRAPnHUNT]

When smoked, it's like bacon!

[lilweasel]

My neighbour wanted to try it once so I got him a couple of big tails. I don't remember how he cooked it but it stunk and looked like it was all fat. I dindn't even try it

[patricimo54]

I haven't personally tried it, but I have heard folks talking about using a chunk of it as you would salt pork in a pot of beans.

[bigjim]

Around here beaver tail is eaten at times but not the paddle just the meat above the paddle. It makes nice stew. A lot like eating the neck meat of a deer.

[shu9265]

Aug 7, 2011 12:25:13 GMT -5 bigjim said:

Around here beaver tail is eaten at times but not the paddle just the meat above the paddle. It makes nice stew. A lot like eating the neck meat of a deer.

You are talking about the red meat at the base of the tail correct ?

JC, as you stated there is nothing there but fat and grizzle.
I might see cooking it down and using it as "lard" to cook with, but that is about as far as I would want to take it.

I mean really, the rest of the meat is excellent table fare.

I have heard of some folks making the tail skin into bags and wallets and the like.