Need Help with Pelt

[CDN008]

I am in a bit of a jam here and i'm new to this.

I skinned a coyote yesterday and he was all bloody. So i thought, why not hose him down, talk about bad idea, its soaking wet and smells worse than ever. So i hung him in the garage overnight and unfortunately the temps are not what they were a month ago. My plan is to flesh him tonight and then leave it on a stretcher dry but with this weather i am worried it will begin to spoil.

My plan is i want to tan the hide and do something with it later on.


Any tips?

[FishHog]

You can wash them in a bit of soap and water. Then snap them like a towel to get the water off. If roll it up and put it in a big ziplock into the fridge until you are ready to flesh. Don’t just leave it out in warm temps. A cooler with ice if your significant other would frown on the fridge

[CDN008]

Is it better to flesh while cold, cool, room temp, warm?

Again, he's just hanging in the garage right now since last night with temps around 10C. When i get home from work today i have to decide to either tackle fleshing or put him in the fridge. I will likely just try and flesh it tonight.

Once fleshing is done then what? I leave him skin out on the board and pin him down to dry. Should i put salt on him to dry out?

[fratri]

Is it better to flesh while cold, cool, room temp, warm?

Again, he's just hanging in the garage right now since last night with temps around 10C. When i get home from work today i have to decide to either tackle fleshing or put him in the fridge. I will likely just try and flesh it tonight.

Once fleshing is done then what? I leave him skin out on the board and pin him down to dry. Should i put salt on him to dry out?

I would flesh him now if I had the time if not, put him in the freezer until you are ready..... After you flesh it, I would salt it up like crazy so you don't loose the fur.... Let the salt sit for a good day, then remove all the old salt (it would have sucked up much of the blood/water/liquid) be sure to snap the hide so all the old salt is off, then reapply another good coating of salt and it should be good for months....
I have done many this way with good results
Good luck with it

[rick_iles]

Back in my taxidermy days, I used Borax to treat the hides and skins.

[CDN008]

I have it on a board now and decided to salt it due to the warmer weather, was worried about spoiling.

So once its dry then what? I am thinking of using the fur to make something like maybe a hat or whatever and I need to know the next step after the hide is dried that you recommend.

[fratri]

I have it on a board now and decided to salt it due to the warmer weather, was worried about spoiling.

So once its dry then what? I am thinking of using the fur to make something like maybe a hat or whatever and I need to know the next step after the hide is dried that you recommend.

Did you get the chance to flesh it

[CDN008]

Yes I fleshed it and have it stretched on a board right now.

[fratri]

Yes I fleshed it and have it stretched on a board right now.

Put lots of salt............once salted it can be left in the garage for a long time without worry of spoilage.