I successfully trapped two beaver this trapping season after several years of trying to get the permit. In my opinion, there is an unjustifiably low number of only 200 permits available across the entire State each year. I live in Beaver Zone 10 and there are just 8 permits available in my zone. The zone is very large (89,000 acres) and includes parts of Wharton and private lands reaching from Medford to Hammonton. There are presently only 1,300 licensed trappers in the entire State and that is nearly double what it was when I got certified in 2007.
I quickly found out that beaver is amazingly good to eat. So far, my wife and I have made a stew and a slow cooker pot roast and they were absolutely delicious. We shredded the pot roast and made hot roast beaver sandwiches on a Liscio Italian roll with provolone and a pickled long hot from my garden. Good stuff! As I read in one trapping magazine article, "It's what beef wants to be."
I find it comical that Murphy vetoed a bill in 2020 to remove an antiquated statute that limits the number of beaver taken each year. Looking at Murphy's mouthful of crooked choppers, I think he may be sympathetic because he shares some DNA with the rodent world.