Skinning and Preparation
If you want to make some extra money to pay for gas, ammo, etc. then selling your furs can put a few extra pesos in your pockets…if you know what you’re doing. Depending on what part of the country you live in there may be a fur buyer close by that will be will to take those furs off your hands. This article will focus on skinning and processing coyote pellets but the skinning basics are pretty similar for all of the fur bearers. The important thing is to skin, dress, stretch and dry them in accordance with the furriers requirements. 

The gear you will need to have on hand when heading to the field: A number of latex gloves, a gambrel (for hanging the coyote), a couple of good sharp skinning and dressing knives, a good sharpening stone and steel or extra blades if use a razor type knife, a tail stripper, a jug or two of water (I like to carry at least 5 gallons on the truck), some heavy duty paper shop towels, a few large heavy duty trash bags, a length of small diameter nylon rope and lots of patience.

Ok, starting with a deceased coyote (the live ones are a little harder to skin) put on your gloves and hang the coyote from the gambrel by it's hind legs somewhere between the knee joints and the ankle joint, I like to skin all the way down as close to the ankle as I can get.

Start as far up the hind legs as you can and make a circular cut around both legs. From there, cut on the very backside of the leg (should be the top if you have the coyote hanging correctly) and connect the two circular cuts crossing just above the anus under the tail.

Now going back to the tail/anus area, find the tail bone and cut straight down the tail bone starting from the anus toward the end, about 3 inches or just far enough so that you can get a tail stripper in. Tail strippers are available at most hunting related sporting goods stores. Go ahead and strip the tail all the way off the bone. Once the tail is free start working hide off around the hind legs by pulling the skin in one hand and making short, smooth cut in the fatty tissue between the hide and the muscle. You want to be very careful not to cut through the outer skin because this will diminish it’s value. Take your time and practice in this area because any mistakes will be less of an issue near the cut ends of the hide. Your knife edge should be positioned or angled just slightly towards the meat rather than the skin. However, you want to minimize the amount of fat or meat coming off with the skin because this just creates more wore work later on.

Once you get the fur started off the hind legs, grab it and start gently pulling downward, but not to hard. In most cases you can pull the fur all the way down to the shoulders pretty easily. So what you should have at this point looks like a big tube sock pulled down over the front of the coyote.

As you get the fur down around the shoulder area, you need to start working on the front legs. Pull the fur down past the shoulder (this will require a little more force) and try to pull it past the first joint on the front legs. You need to work the skin down past the first joint. Once you get it to this point, make two circular cuts near the paws and then pull the skin off of each leg. Once the front legs are free, the fur should look like a tube hanging over the neck and head.

This is the toughest part of the job and where most newbie’s cut holes in the pelt. Start by pulling the fur down until you see the beginning of the ears. Take your knife and carefully cut between the fur and carcass (just like you practiced above) until the ears are free. Now take your time and very carefully work the skin down over the head with constant downward force while lightly slicing the material holding the skin to the skull. You want to be real cautious in this area to not cut through the hide, keep your knife edge angled toward the skull. Once the ears are done start working down to the eyes. Using the same technique as the ears cut and pull until you are past the eye sockets. Keep pulling lightly and making small cuts down around the nose and lips. Keep pulling and cutting. Cut the airways in the nose and that should be about it…..you’re done.

At this point just take the inside out hide and roll it up like a rug and place it inside one of your large plastic trash bags and remove as much air from the bag and twist up the end. This will keep the hide from drying until you can start cleaning and prepping it to be stretched. If you are hunting in warmer weather, it’s not a bad idea to put the pelt on ice.

To dress and prepare the pelt for stretching, lay your still inside-out  pelt on a hard smooth surface and use a scraper style knife or implement to scrape off all fatting tissues, membrane or any meat that may have come off with the skin. This is an important step to enhance the value and to prevent it from turning rancid.

You can lightly rinse the hide and fur with water but I would avoid using any kind of soap. If you do rinse the fur just make sure it is dry before putting it on the stretcher. You can use a hairdryer if you are in a hurry.

Turn the skin inside-out once again (fur on the inside) and place it on your stretcher. These are typically made of heavy gauge steel round stock or wood and they look like the tapered end of an ironing board. They have a pivot at the top and an adjustable spreader at the bottom. I like the wooden models but this is just a personal preference.

Place the fur on the stretcher, fur to the inside, until the skin has dried somewhat, this takes about a full day depending on where you store them. Warm and dry places are best, but I wouldn’t suggest drying them in the living room or you and the pelts might be out sleeping with the hounds when your wife sees them.

The next day, check the progress and if they feel pretty dry remove the pelt from the stretcher and turn them fur side out. You will want to do this carefully so as not damage or crease the skin. Put the pelt back on the stretcher for another 2 to 5 days. Once the pelt is fully dry remove from the stretcher and brush any matted fur until it is nicely fluffed up. You pelt is now ready for market.