raccoon skinning
- Thread starter cdngunner
- Start date
Is there anything I should know about skinning a raccoon. I have never done a smmall animal where I wanted to keep the fur.
Man I never realized the had an annus like a 90 year old ### guy.
Ok, i really don't want to know, but just like a car accident on the side of the road, where you can't turn away, how do you know what a 90 year old ### guy's anus looks like?
Caseing is easier, unless you want a rug, then do it open.
http://www.furharvesters.com/PDF/pelthandling.pdf
Doesnt matter to me really. I use the Rittles stuff and its pretty user friendly relax, pickle, oil, break. If you are using one of the paint on tans the open skinned ones might be eaier.
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Easiest way is just to hang it up by the hind legs & case skin it. You can always open it up later if you want. If you don't have any open sores on your hands, I wouldn't worry too much about using gloves. Just be sure to wash your hands well when you are finished handling the animal/pelt.
George
George
- Location
- marmora ontario
Make sure its dead first!!!!! JITC
glang1 is right, hang it by the back legs just above the feet. Cut into the hide and then start working down like removing a glove from your hand. The tricky part will be the head, mostly at the ears and eyes. Take your time and have a lot of light so you can see what you're doing. Adjust the hieght of the racoon as you work your way down, so you are not bending over will make the job more comfortable. Later, you'll need a good fletching board to hold the hide snug, because there will be fat you'll need to remove (that's actually the hard part in my opinion).
Adrian J Hare
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NewLowell On. Can.
You need to scrape the fat off first before you tan it, so case skinning would turn out a lot less work in the end. Leave it on the floor while you skin it. Take your knife, cut around both hind legs at the ankles, cut from the inside of the leg to the vent, around the vent, then cut half way up the tail and around the tail base outuntill you can pull the tail bone out of the rest of the tail skin. Finish cutting the rest of the hide on the tail to the end. Work the skin off the hind end to the belly area, stand on the back legs grab the skin and pull up and the hide should pull off up to the front legs. Cut around the ankles of the front legs and then stand on the body and pull once again untill the skin comes up to the neck, then take your time and go around the neck/ head keeping as close to the skull at the yes and ears right out to the lips and nose.
Ears can be skinned out after.
The Coon is ready to be scraped and I used a dull hatchet head and a Board to do that for years and it worked the best....
Ears can be skinned out after.
The Coon is ready to be scraped and I used a dull hatchet head and a Board to do that for years and it worked the best....
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
Adrian,
It seems you have skinned a # of coons, & so have I. IMHO I would never skin a coon on the floor when I could hang it up. Gravity is your friend & your can just pull down hard on it while skinning & most of the work will be done. I agree with all the rest of your comments
George
One tip on fleshing that I used a lot when I was trapping coons is to keep the pelt in the freezer about an hour before you flesh. This hardens up the fat and makes it a little easier to get off without all the oil and grease dripping all over the place.
Oh! And sawdust is your good friend. Use lots for both absorption and grip.
Oh! And sawdust is your good friend. Use lots for both absorption and grip.
Adrian J Hare
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NewLowell On. Can.
Adrian,
It seems you have skinned a # of coons, & so have I. IMHO I would never skin a coon on the floor when I could hang it up. Gravity is your friend & your can just pull down hard on it while skinning & most of the work will be done. I agree with all the rest of your comments
George
Ya but George, I was in the woods most of the time and the dog was on another tree so I had to be quick to get to the next one
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