Skinning a skunk

[Hedhuntr]

My first attempt and my last. Nuff said

[Wilderness Taxidermy(AL)]

I just got one in the other day, in the last 10 years it will be the first one I e done and you make it sound like I may have made a bad decision.


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[Hedhuntr]

I asked the guy if it had expelled and he said no. It didn't smell to bad out of the bag but then I guess it ran out when I held it upright. Lets just put it this way, I didn't finish skinning, I gaged, choked and dry heaved. I just sat down for diner and couldnt finish because all I can smell is skunk in my nostriles. Ever walk into a fragrance store/candle and have your vision go blurry because of the over powering stench? Well 10X that. 

[Matt]

LOL, sorry I can just picture that! They really aren't that bad if you take your time around the glands and extract them with a syringe. That will help, but if he sprayed prior to getting to you, then it's always best to skin them outside the shop. I never skin one in the shop, that's asking for problems. I just finished one up the other day. First one in a few years. I don't do very many, probably because I charge alittle bit for them!(LOL)

[freeze_1]

I skin quite a few each trapping season, out side of course.
 I cut the glands out after I have them skinned out and drain the juice into a glass
jar.
 For those who have done one yet just remember, you only have to go skin deep
 ( we're not gutting them here ya know ).
 Here's a few pics of what your dealing with here.

[Michael B]

I have only done mounted a couple of them and skinned twice that but so fair so good. Do did tell both of them that I did mount for guys that if I cut their sack deal off and I will return their deposit. I also skin em outside.

Better luck next time and like freeze_1 said said you are skiing them not gutting keep you cuts shallow.

Michael

[dog sick]

hey freez1 im going to take a stab at skinning one. when you get around the butt and cut the skin lose the sack dont leak? or do use a syringe to remove to remove the good stuff?

[Hedhuntr]

I was skinning outside and I am still from time to time tasting it! Kind of like a bad acid trip that comes back to haunt you days sometimes years later (I'm assuming here) You can't pay me enough to skin one out. Putting a DO NOT HANDLE THIS SPECIES under my price list.

[Patrick J]

LMAO!!!! Febreeze works wonders as well as does Harts flea and tick spray.

[Tracy]

buy BOB W dvd looks like he is back from his trapping trip and on here
shows a great way to do it

[Hedhuntr]

BOB W can skin the whole thing if he wants. Heck I'll buy the DVD, pay him to skin the skunk then give the DVD back as a gift wrapped in a bow. 

[Keyda81]

BOB W can skin the whole thing if he wants. Heck I'll buy the DVD, pay him to skin the skunk then give the DVD back as a gift wrapped in a bow. 

You've made me decide to never want to mount a skunk, lol! 

[Trappersteph]

Oh cmon, skunks aren't so bad! I have Bob Wendt's videos and have used his method a number of times now. I remove that whole package in the field now if weather permits. One day I had a small skunk I deglanded after a nice no spray dispatch, came home and had a nuisance controller call about him having cage trap caught and co2' chambered a huge skunk and he wanted it tanned. He had no idea how to remove the glands, so I showed him! Not a leak to be smelled.

Last year I had some guys bring me a small but very white backed roadkill skunk. It had some smell, but not so bad that I refused it, and they wanted to watch me skin it. So I showed them my slick pre skinning deglanding and my very talented skinning, including the feet. The hide was being washed the whole time with a fresh batch of peroxide, baking soda, and dishsoap. It really helped remove the smell so it was at a low level.

My last skunk I caught this season was a squirter so I was unable to use the injection dispatch. I had to shoot it, and the lungs and heart of a skunk must be teeny. No head shot, as I am told they always spray like crazy. It died without jetting, and the only smell was from when it squirted a few times warning me. I was able to go into the circle and remove dead skunk and redo the set, but the skunk was rubbed on its back and it had some spray on it's tail, so I remade the set into a buried skunk with tail sticking out set. Never caught anything in the remake, but next day I removed the head and front legs. Skull, plus needed front legs for repairs for other skins.

You know you are a real trapper if...the smell of skunk on the road on a damp summer night is pleasant.
You know you are a real trapper if...you like to open the bottle of skunky call lure and sniff it.

Speaking of price lists, I have skunk listed with "(no sprays)" next to it. If you insist on a  full mount of a fully sprayed on itself skunk, price goes up quite a bit more. IF the peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mix can cut the stink down 75%, I'll complete the job. Also no complaining when the mount is done and there is still a small teeny bit of odor such as when you stick your nose to the butt.

[freeze_1]

hey freez1 im going to take a stab at skinning one. when you get around the butt and cut the skin lose the sack dont leak? or do use a syringe to remove to remove the good stuff?

No, not by drowning them. I have had some that had squirt after shooting them in the lungs.
 If weather permits I have hung the skunk in a tree until the next day, that helps if you have to transport
them home by vehicle, then plunge them in a cold water mixture of peroxide, baking soda, and dawn dish detergent
 for about ten minutes and rinse to eleminate any lingering smell (for the sqeemish ).
  TIP:  When skinning out side try if you can to be up wind of the skunk, it's not always possible
          though.