A coyote skinnin question.

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OKRattler

Well-known member
Ok a few buddies of mine brought me some coyotes to skin yesterday evening.Three of them to be exact.I got them at about dark thirty and I aint good enough to skin a coyote in the dark so my plan was to skin them today.Well I got off of work late and it did'nt happen today either.So my question is how long can I leave them before they aint worth skinnin?I have no clue when I'm gonna get off of work tomorrow but I'm guessin about the same time.I hope not cause I'd like to skin them cause their really nice lookin yotes but if I get off of work late again tomorrow it probably aint gonna happen.Their all frozen solid so I dont think their gonna rot.But then again I've never waited 3 days to skin a critter so I dont really know.
 
If you can get them thawed they should be alright to skin,once thawed do a pull test by grabing some belly hair..if a large clump comes out easily toss them if not your ok. If you can'nt get them thawed I would'nt even try to skin them..you will just end up with alot of cuts and tears. Good Luck.
 
Thanks fxpro,I started on one already but it took me a about 30 minutes just too skin its back legs out.By then it was dark and my fingers were freezin and I felt like I had just spent a few hours at the gym.I could'nt even get the hide loose on the front legs.Besides that the yote was frozen solid so I decided to wait until tomorrow.I did'nt know if I should let them thaw back out or not but I definately will now that I know it wont hurt nothin.Thanks for your help I appreciate it.
 
if they have been frozen then you'll be fine... if its not above 50 lay them in the sun all day....a cold coyote is a challenge don't care what anyone says....they suck!

coyotes are mean and nasty alive and they are tougher than a boot... even when ole wiley is dead, he don't wanna part with is coat!
 
the last bobcat i skinned stayed in the freezer for 2 weeks before i got to it. finally did and once skinned it stayed in the pickle for 2 more weeks until i had time to tan. it is now a perfect rug on my file cabinet at work. but they are MUCH harder to skin after frozen, although some will debate that and they have a lot more experience than i. i'm just commenting on the freezing portion.
 
Rattler with it this cold they won't thaw out durning the day so you really shouldn't have any problems,yet...
Our weather is suppose to start getting much warmer today and keep raising tempt throughout weekend though.
 
ksboy2-I agree cold coyotes are very hard to skin.I like skinnin them as soon after they've been killed as possible.

roadkill46-These are the first critters I'm going to attempt to skin after being frozen.From the looks of things its gonna be a long process.I'm thinkin about only skinnin 2 out of the 3 yotes I have though.One had its leg blown off and there is blood all over it and I really dont wanna mess with that.I remember reading that if you put a pelt in water it could cause the fur to slip.But there really aint no way around puttin them in water because thats the only way I can think of to get all that blood off of the fur.I had one in a bucket of water last year and I let it soak for a while to get the blood off of that one and the fur did slip so I dont know if I should do that again.Maybe I just did'nt dry it off good enough but I shure thought I did.

PrairieMuffin-I was thinkin about that earlier.Its gonna be tough to get them competely thawed out as cold as it is.I'll probably lay them out in the sun so they will be at least a little thawed out when I get home from work.
 
I'm a taxidermist and freeze things for months and sometimes years before thawing out and skinning.As long as they aren't freezer burned you are alright.If they are froze solid then it will usually take two days to thaw out.
 
don't worry about the blood!!!!! Once you skin him out and he is in the pickle the blood will leach out. once you take him out of the pickle and neutralize, then wash with dawn and warm water all the blood will come out. i then thin them out some more and put them back in the pickle, then neutralize/clean. put in the wifes dryer with tennis shoes, no heat and it will beat it to death and soften. then i put on the oil and break them on a steel clothesline. then back in the dryer for awhile, then done. i have to make it a long process because i don't have enough time with work and hunting.
 
Catkiller-I'll have to remember that.I skinned one yesterday and its muscles were still frozen.But it sure skinned alot easier than when it was frozen solid.

raodkill46-I have them on the fur stretchers right now.I have'nt ever tryed to tan one before but I have the stuff to do it.I read the instructions and it seemed like it might be a long process and I had already waited alot longer to skin them than I wanted so I did'nt go ahead and try to tan one of them.I wonder if I could still tan one even after its been stretched and dryed?

I have another question for ya'll.I fleshed the hides and everything but I can't ever seem to get all of the fat or muscle or whatever that stuff is off of the head.Around the ear cartilage is where there seems to be most of it that I could'nt get.Will that hurt anything?
 
you just have to rehydrate the pelt before tanning him. make the pickle and throw it in. after 3-4 days in the pickle the stuff that you missed fleshing will be all plump and pretty easy to pick off, then put back in the pickle for another 3-4 days. pull out, neutralize, pick off the nasty bits a little more then tan. after he is out of the tan you can still flesh even more if you want. then oil and break and you are done. vandykes has a great process on their website with troubleshooting tips and all. i actually had mine in the pickle for about 3 weeks total and when i talked to them they said it could stay in indef as long as the ph was 2.0 i stretched mine after they were tanned and they came out perfect. you can never get everything off around the face, no way. after you tan it will not stink or rot but it may be a little harder than the rest of the pelt, but that is ok on the head since it will keep it's natural form. my .02
 
Ok I did'nt know if it would work or not with the kind of tanning stuff I have.But I might have to rehydrate a hide or two just to give it a try.The stuff I have is called Hide Tanning Formula.
 
If you're going to do your own tanning then I would suggest using Rittel's products from Bruce Rittel.I'm a taxidermist and get my supplies from Mckenzie.Look them up on the web and order a catalog,they have everything for taxidermy and fleshing and tanning.You would be well off to go to taxidermy.net and get on the forums.Someof the best taxidermist and suppliers in the world are on their and you can do a search on anything to do with pelt handling and tanning.It also has links to suppliers and tanneries.
 
Coyotes are tough suckers. Frozen is even worse, all knife work. If you can't thaw just slowly cut the hide off the carcus, other wise just pull and cut off the carcus. As long as they are frozen they won't slip.
 
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