Coyote - now what?

ninepointer

ninepointer

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I arrowed a coyote while deer hunting this morning (the landowner wants me to shoot coyotes). I quickly field dressed the coyote and intended to deliver him straight to one of the two taxidermists in the area. All I want is the pelt preserved to hang on my wall. Turns out that both taxidermists are no longer in business. Not knowing what to do and no time left to skin the coyote today, I put him in 2 plastic bags and put him in my freezer. It was raining when I shot him, so his fur was wet and there is blood on it. Should I still bother trying to find someone to preserve the pelt, or is it ruined?

Ninepointer
 
I would still take it to a taxidermist, they will tell you what you will get back. The nice thing is (and good on you), since it is in the freezer, you can forget about it for a few months while hunting more and looking for another taxidermist!
 
Ninepointer
Congrats!
The yote pelt will be fine the blood will come off or comb out no problem and the water is of little importance. I used to hunt them for pelts with hounds and they never looked to pretty after skinning but with a little brushing and washing they look fine.
P.S. most taxidermists will skin them out when they thaw and are ready to start the process so I would leave it frozen.
 
Thanks, that's a relief. I don't want it to go to waste, its my first yote:)
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$80 to $100 for just the tanning. Extra for splitting ears, skinning paws, turning lips, extra fleshing etc. I have mine professionally tanned at the tanneries but do all the the splitting, scraping etc, myself and dry them on boards before shipping (cuts down on freight costs). Resist the temptation to use one of the home tanning kits. Yeah they only cost about $30 but after the time and effort you put into getting the best possible product from them it still isn't as good as the commercial tanners can do (speaking from experience). You will put at least 10 hours of work into them and I get paid a lot more than $10 an hour. Save some change for a few months, keep the critter in the freezer and then have it done right.
 
You'll want to case skin it too, rather than gutting it up the stomach. You can freeze fur no problems, but you don't want it in the freezer indefinitely, as it will eventually become "stale."
 
X-man said:
You'll want to case skin it too, rather than gutting it up the stomach. You can freeze fur no problems, but you don't want it in the freezer indefinitely, as it will eventually become "stale."
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He said he field dressed it so it is already cut up the belly. For a wall hanging pelt though that shouldn't affect the overall look much.
 
Ah yes. It would have been good to have had this posting a week ago. I have a raccoon skin frozen in my fridge freezer... no one knew it was there... yeah. Funnily enough my girlfriend doesn't care, it was one of my roomates that was screaming.
 
Ha ha ha, reminds me of the time I put a deer head in the freezer and my wife stuck a set of bright red lips on it... Anyone opening the freezer sure got a surpirse... ha ha ha... My wife has also trimmed the nails on rabbits I have snared, she said they scratched her when she went in the freezer... ha ha ha, she's also been known to put "booties" on their feet to prevent scratching herself... Yes, yes, we're quite "normal"...

Cheers
Jay
 
(Jay she's a keeper.) As for do it yourself tanning. I have done most hides including a large deer hide and two bear hides. I paid to get a bear and yote hide done before I tried tanning my own. My yotes are better then the one I paid to have tanned and my deer and bear are just as good as the one I paid for. I did a fox that I will compare to any tannery hide. But it is a lot of work and a lot more to do it right to make it look good.
 
skin the hide and salt it well and lay some plastic out with paper towells and some news paper on both sides afte ryou have salted the hide and slea the bag and frease removing as muhc air as you can.
 
I got mine done as a trapper mount or pelt or something like that $75.

Make sure you ask for the skull back. De-flesh it and let it whiten in the sun. nice conversation piece if left on the coffee table. I siliconed the lower jaw to the skull so it can talk to visitors. Make sure you use the flexible type :)
 
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