Fur handling tips?

[Trapper_Stephen88]

I've never put up any fur myself or seen it done. But I was going to start this year, I have 1 red fox,2 grey fox. Any tips or tricks for fleshing these animals? How well do you flesh them, what do you look for? I tried to flesh the red fox, I got all the stuff off the back (down to the skin), but I wasn't sure how far down to go on the roots of the whiskers. Are you supposed to leave anything on? What about the tail, this red fox had a very bushy, thick tail.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[multibeard]

Basically just try to get the fat and any heavy red flesh off. Thin flesh will dry and not cause a problem.

I hang the fox upside down to begin skinning it. I found out that if I took it down and hung it from the fur when I got to the head I would end up with a cleaner pelt. When you skin around the head area it is real easy to cut a blood vessel and have running all over. If the body is hanging down the blood runs on it instead of running onto the fur. The weight of the body also helps pull the hide off.

To pull the tail bone take two sticks and place them along side the bone then grip thm with two fingers so that it looks like you are playing tic tac toe with the bone in the center square. Start pulling toward the tip of the tail and the bone should pop out. Watch you face as I have gotten slapped with the bone more than once. They sell a tool made to help pull tail bones out.

On you fox make sure you split the tails all the way to the tip. If you don't there is almost always a drop or two of blood in the tip the will taint and cause the tip to fall off. I tack the tails open on a thin piece of paneling or card board when I dry them.

You don't need to skin out the feet unless you want them on a pelt to be tanned for a wall hanging. Just cut the skin above the foot.

When putting on streachers put them flesh out for 10-12 hours to start the drying process. Then turn them fur out. Don't leave them skin out to long as it is real hard to turn them if they get to dry.

If you are using wood boards make sure that you use a belly wedge between the board and the hide. If not you will have to rewet the pelt to get it off the board.

On some other pelts like mink and rats they want the red flesh left on. Just get the grease off.

With coon it is best for an inexperianced trapper to find a local buyer to buy them as greese coon. Just roll them up and freeze them in a plastic bag until just before you want to sell them. Thaw just enought so the buyer can unroll them to see the fur quality.

[Trapper_Stephen88]

Thank you,multibeard, for your advice, that was just what I needed to know!

I think I actually scraped off to much flesh on my red fox.I didn't really leave anything on.So I might just tan that one myself and sell my other foxes. Do you know If I can sell fox green?

[multibeard]

If you have a local buyer give him a call and see what he buys green. You will get much less for it green.

Coon, otter and beaver are a whole differnet story because of the difficulty of putting them up correctly as far as fleshing goes. You probably won't get docked by over fleshing the fox. It just lets the pelt feel thin and crinkly if you take off all the flesh.

On a mink you never take the flesh off the front shoulders as they will definately dock you for that. They want that red flesh on there. Just make sure and get the grease off. As they dry you can wipe them with a rag to get the grease that shows up on the surface. Tack all tails open so they can dry right.

[justwannano]

I used to partially flesh my coon.
Just removed the fat.
The pelt hangs longer and stretches wider than if sold with fat on.
Its a pretty good way to see how much your buyer really knows too.
Lots easier to carry a bag full and freezing is quicker and takes up less space too.
I usually got a little more for them too.

[Trapper_Stephen88]

Just last week I was able to meet a trapper who has been putting up fur for a couple of years, and he showed me how to flesh a fox and gave me alot of tips on skinning. So I think most of my questions are answered now, but thanks for all the advice!

[Trapper_Stephen88]

how long would you leave fox on a stretcher?

[Skyline]

Well that depends on the temperatures and humidity conditions where you are, but check the pelts daily until they are starting to dry but are not hard, then carefully reverse the sking on the board and insert your sticks to let the air get in and finish drying the hide.

If you let it get too dry you will have to dampen the skin to get it turned or you will tear it.

I dry my pelts in a shop I use for skinning with a wood heater in it. The wood heat keeps the humidity down and they dry quite quickly so I have to really watch that I don't let it get away on me.