I'm a central/East Texas bowhunter. Out at the ranch where I'm going to be hunting deer and hogs for the next year, I've been asked to feel free to take as many raccoons and coyotes as possible, as the place is literally overrun with them, due to lack of natural predators and the fact that the place hasn't been hunted in many years. The raccoons have been tearing the place apart, and packs of coyotes have been killing people's dogs right in their front yards. The area is also thick with bobcats.
I'm a very ethical hunter, though, and don't believe in wasting wildlife, even "pests." I apologize for the long-winded introduction, but what is the absolute quickest, cheapest, simplest way I can preserve the beautiful furs from these animals? Keep in mind that I'm a full-time professional during the week: I don't have much time to fool around with this. But I just can't tolerate the idea of taking these animals and just throwing them on the ground to rot. Not my style as a hunter.
I've heard that Rittle's Kwik-N-Eze is pretty good. Reportedly, you just scrape the junk off the underside of the skin, dry it in salt for a few days, then apply the chemical, and you're finished. Is that true? Is there anything better or even simpler? Please give me some tips here.
Also, if I can't get to the job that day, is it ok to just roll the skin up and put it in the freezer, then thaw it out and do it later?
Many, many thanks in advance!
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If your not prepared to do anything but throw some salt on it and splash with some wonder oil then I would re-think the idea of having some beautiful fur hanging on the wall for all to appreciate.My personal opinion on the whole "ethical hunter" deal.....If you have ill feelings towards taking a couple coyotes,I think you need to go find another activity. Just my thoughts. I could be wrong.
Well, it's not THAT easy.
First, dispatch the animals, assuming you do not need a separate hunting license or fur-bearer license to do so. (check with TX F&G first)
Then, skin them for the fur market. That means gambrel the yotes up by the hock, and case-skin, circling the hock with your skinner of choice - no need to keep the feet on the skins. Do the same for the front legs but you can actually just lop the front feet off with garden shears or whatever. Do a good job on the face, leaving the lower jaw will give you a better looking pelt on the board. Ears do not need to be turned. Make SURE you remove the bone from the tail and split the tail all the way down!
Stretch on wood. Use belly boards to get some more area out of the bellies. Wire can leave rust stains. Yotes are stretched fur-in first day and flipped for final sale fur-out second day. Coon are fur-in. Try to keep the legs on the belly side. Make sure the tail is boarded so the ruff is flat.
You can flesh while you stretch, if you use wood. Make sure to flesh well. Raccoons are very greasy and grease burn WILL ruin your skins.
You can salt dry but air-dry in TX ought to be easy, it's hot down there. To dry, you hang the stretcher/pelt ensemble up on a fur hanger, so mice don't chew the fur, and let the air circulate around the pelt.
Your section is notorious for low value skins. But once you have your pelts air dried and "put up" (stretched) correctly, they will be easier for someone - either you or a dresser - to tan.
Once the skins are tanned they will be pretty. Don't use a paste-on or "just add water" type tan, those are crap. If you don't want a crappy end product, don't cut corners. Lutan-F, and EZ-100 are two great tans that will get you professional results.
Use a GOOD tanning oil.
Or, once you have killed, skinned, fleshed, stretched and dried your legal catch, you can freely offer the catch for sale to a fur buyer. You won't get much $$ for them but you sure won't be asting anything either.
If you are in to the "waste nothing" concept you can also harvest the "glands" from these animals and sell them to lure and bait makers. The skulls can go to people who like that stuff. Both animals have penis bones if male, so make sure to sell those too.
You can skin both species for the taxidermy market but that's a lot more work. Turning ears is a pain in the arse, turning feet/claws is even worse.
If you kill a bobcat, you must get a CITES tag permanently placed on the pelt before you can sell or trade it.
Obviously, before you kill anything, you should know how to handle it once it's dead, so the first order of business for you is to get on this Internet and start READING.
Thanks a bunch! Just to clarify, I'm not looking at "the fur market" or selling them or anything. I just want to be able to preserve the fur, maybe to hang on a plaque, or use in some handicrafts (purse, belt pouch, pillow, hatband, etc.) or just to lay around loose.
That's all - I just don't have the time or resources to get into this in a "major hobby" way right now. No tails, ears, feet, claws, etc.
I appreciate some of you being polite enough to respond to my naive questions without being condescending.
Why not tan your hide the way the indians did it. I did try it on a squirrel skin. I completely skinned the squirrel as you would to mount, removing all the meat. I then cracked open the skull and rubbed the brains all thru the inside skin surface. It worked great, it is well preserved, no smell and I tacked it to the wall. I did not work any oil into it, but I am sure it would make it pliable enough to mount. I am going to continue using this method as soon as I bag the racoon, that tears open my garbage! I have been doing taxidermy for over 30 years, if you would like to learn how e-mail me, at Pappyland@core.com
hey i really think that tanning would be really cool but you used alot of really big words in the way you explaned it. so could you please say it so i can under stand it. i would really apresheat it.