Coyote box?

If you are saving fur,putting warm animals in a plastic bag and or tote will hold body heat. Heat and moisture causes bacteria which causes spoilage/ hair slippage.

The more you stack the worse the heat.Then there is the sun /green house affect too....

I did a part time gig at a taxidermy shop for a while. It's no fun telling a customer their prize animal is junk,because of their doing.
 
Good point Tim, maybe a guy could use a hole saw and put holes on all sides just like 2" holes everywhere to allow for more air= quicker cool down time.
 
It's a tuff thing, saving fur without the mess.

I saw a few rigs in TX, that had reese hitches on the front of their truck . The had carriers on them for critters.
 
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i been there done that with the rubber totes and big plastic trash bags. don't do it no more. with coyotes stacked like in the picture or put in a plastic bag where the carcass cant get air all around it to cool down, they go rancid very quickly. green bellies, rotten smells, nasty, nasty, puke, puke. especially if it is above freezing temps. nasty, nasty.
if a guy is not planning on skinning or saving fur and just hauling them back to a contest check in or something, then that is not a bad way to do it.
 
I had this issue as well and solved it with something very similar to what you are talking about.

I bought a couple of 2x4s and ripped them in half lengthwise. I then bought a big 54 gallon tote with lid from Home Depot.
I made the frame around the tote out of wood, put feet on the bottom, so that it wouldn't sit in water from snow or rain. I then build the lid and put hinges and latches that can lock on the lid.
Then i put all the gear in the box, and with some heavy duty handles on the side and cheap funiture dolly from harbor freight goes under it when i get home. Then all of the gear is in the box, and rolls around the garage and stores away nicely.

When i go hunting, it all goes in the truck, the box is strong enough to stand on at night for the light man, and leaves enough room for the gunner to sit infront of that in a lazy susan i made that has extension for shooting stick to sit in, so that the shooter can rotate and not have to move the sticks. (very handy)
In the box is the tote and all the stuff. A couple of military surplus duffle bags holds everything. When i get coyotes. I pull the totes out, put the bags back and put the tote where you would have your stack of coyotes.. I also use shovel to toss in several shovel fulls of dirt to soak up blood. During the day i flip them. I will skin them during lunch or after sunset.
The tote is easy to hose out by adding water and some bleach and spray simple green on the blood and let it soak for 10-20 minutes and it take the blood off easy.
I don't have a pic, but if I will try and roll it out and take one and post it this weekend.

After Christmas, my garage is a mess until i get in there and "organize the chaos" again.
 
Originally Posted By: TikkaSporterI just keep an 'ice fishing' sled (Jet Sled) in the back of the truck. It contains the blood and makes it real easy and mess free to handle them. If I end up not feeling like skinning them and have to dump them on the way to work after the weekend its easy and mess free.

i have a jet sled and I think I am going to just do that. awesome idea. it also has ribs to possibly help with heat from the exhaust under the bed.
 
Originally Posted By: BOBTAILSGreat ideas, can't wait to see what you come up with as I am looking for something similar for this next fall myself.

I don't want to get ahead of myself on the aluminum idea - though I like it, I think I'll probably end up doing something a lot cheaper. But, anyway, when I thought of aluminum sheet I also envisioned dimple die "speed holes" all around. I have several friends including a neighbor with presses and dimple dies. So, that part would be "for sure", if I were to end up using sheet aluminum.

But... I'll probably end up with something cheaper. I have enough scrap steel and wood to make something pretty good for free. It would be heavy as heck though and especially in the back of the Tacoma lighter would be better.

- DAA
 
Maybe use 2" or 1 1/2" angle and plywood or OSB sides to build a box. With the bottom your speaking of Dave to put sand or kitty litter to catch the blood and such.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotQuote:
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i been there done that with the rubber totes and big plastic trash bags. don't do it no more. with coyotes stacked like in the picture or put in a plastic bag where the carcass cant get air all around it to cool down, they go rancid very quickly. green bellies, rotten smells, nasty, nasty, puke, puke. especially if it is above freezing temps. nasty, nasty.
if a guy is not planning on skinning or saving fur and just hauling them back to a contest check in or something, then that is not a bad way to do it.


Yep..agree with you on all of it. But, I was responding to the posters question of...

Originally Posted By: DAAAn offseason project that will be coming up is building a coyote box to go in the back of both my partner's Tacoma and my Ram 1500. The purpose, is to contain some of the mess.

Whenever we get a big pile in the back, the blood starts to get on everything. All my gear is stained with coyote blood - my fridge, my grub box, my tent, my chair, my sleeping pad. You get the idea.



It really had no mention of saving fur etc. Whenever you start piling up coyotes on top of each other, especially if they're contained by something, it's usually not too good for the fur. Although heat is bad, most guys after fur are usually hunting the cooler weather, or at least we would. But still you can run into warm winter days.

I've been in the precision sheet metal, machining trade my whole life. I've made a few contraptions specifically for holding critters. One of them tried directing airflow into them while driving etc. It worked okay I guess, but at least for me, convenience becomes the most important feature. If it becomes a pain to mount it up or takes up too much room I abandon it pretty quick no matter how well it works.

Again, at least for me, if I was after fur I usually skinned it on the spot and moved on. When the calling is good that sometimes is hard to do.
 
Originally Posted By: tawnoperAgain, at least for me, if I was after fur I usually skinned it on the spot and moved on. When the calling is good that sometimes is hard to do.



You're reading my intentions right. Containing the mess is the primary objective. But, I will skin some of them, too.

On an average day, depending on the weather, I'll either skin before the oldest one gets cold, or before the oldest one gets ripe - depending on the weather. But, like you said, on a good day, it's hard to stop and skin. This year, I was high grading. Only skinned the best ones. So on the good days when they were piling up in the truck, I'd just try and keep the ones I intended to skin at the top of the pile. On some days, none of them are going to get skinned, especially when I can get the $50 bounty on them - can end up with a whole weekends worth piled up and making a mess.

But, anyway, you have it right. Main idea is to contain the mess. I want to try and keep what airflow I can too, but I know there is only so far that will go and it's definitely secondary.

- DAA
 
Why not keep it simple and go with an expanded steel box with a lower tray sloping towards the tailgate with a small lip that runs towards/into the gap? Much like a countertop dish drier. A tub or box full of blood seems like more of a mess than what's needed IMO.

If there's so much blood why not drain it away?
 
Letting the blood run out is a pretty good idea. I can envision some practical application challenges, so I don't think I'm going to try it, but it's not a bad idea.

Two issues that I don't think I'm really wanting to mess with though. One, the gutter, or whatever you want to call it, would definitely need to clear the end of the bed and still allow the tailgate to function. Not that big a deal, but it needs to fit two very different trucks. And... To keep that gutter clearing the end of the bed, would require rigidly anchoring the whole thing. It will see plenty of rough terrain at speed. Lots of bouncing. Creating anchors in both trucks starts getting more complicated and inconvenient than I want to mess with.

Rob, any wood will at least get a slather of Kilz. But I think I have a can of left over urethane in the garage, that would make the wood waterproof and washable.

Leaning towards a simple welded steel frame with 1" square tube just because I have a lot of it on hand already. A floor pan of either sheet metal or plywood that I also have laying around already. For sides, I have some perforated steel on hand that would work, but it's pretty heavy. Thinking a wire mesh, or expanded metal would be more ventilated and be lighter. Just have to see where the sweet spot on cost and weight is for something like that. Going to try and stay cheap on any materials I have to buy.

- DAA
 
Alu is expensive.I know i am building a Carp shooting boat right now and buying a lot of it.250.00 for a sheet of 1/8 5x10 Diamond plate. I have a idea for you . If you know a farmer that uses bulk spray on his fields ------ we have totes that the chemical comes in, They are small enough to fit in a pick-up bed, I think they are 3x3x3 feet tall . They are plastic and are parameterized with a aluminum cage. Light weight when empty and stronger then you will need . If you want to come up to wash. Ill give you one.
You may contact Wilbur Ellis or some other crop control company and see if they have one lying around.
 
They use those same totes for all kinds of chemicals, we sometimes get our concrete cure in those totes, I've propably thrown a thousand of them away in the last few years....

Lee
 
Originally Posted By: BOBTAILSCan't wait to see what you come up with cause I currently use this and it rubs/ drags in dips and hampers backing up turing around somedays

bobtails has the right idea you just need a hinge on the top so when it hits something it will raise up,we have used a custom one for over 30yrs.keep the bottom open we use expanded metal and put a square tube vertical on the back so we can put our skinning pole in it
 
Hitch mount is definitely out. Would make this pretty easy, if it weren't. We just drag the hitch way too hard, way too often.

- DAA
 
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