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Author
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Topic: hide management
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hodgie73
PAKMAN
Member # 423
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posted October 15, 2009 09:14 AM
Say your going on a 3 day hunt this weekend and want to keep all your hides. We are camping out and have no refridgeration. would you skin and try to cool down at night or wait to skin until we get home. Basically need some help on how the pros do it.
thanks
Posts: 6 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted October 15, 2009 09:42 AM
I'd say it depends on your temperatures? If you can keep them reasonably cool and dry and in the shade during the day, then the best thing is to case them and roll them fur side out.
If it's cold enough to freeze, I suppose you could haul them around for three days, but I personally hate to pull frozen (or even real cold and stiff) animals, it's almost impossible until they thaw out.
You could pack them in snow, but if there isn't any available I'd leave some air between them so they don't build up heat, packed tightly.
I (personally) think the best thing is to pull the hides. Saving them for later can result in a mess.
Anybody else have a plan?
Good luck, LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31459 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Tim Behle
Administrator MacNeal Sector
Member # 209
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posted October 15, 2009 10:07 AM
Just take a few wire stretchers with you. Coyotes, fox and cats can all be skinned and fleshed with a pocketknife.
I skin them and put them fur side in on the stretcher, then take a knife and remove any pieces of meat or fat.
Depending on the temps and humidity in you area, you may be able to turn them in just a few hours. As soon as they feel dry to the touch, turn them fur side out.
If you don't have a stretcher, then skin them. Turn them fur side out and roll them from the nose to the tail. You can then put then in a cooler of ice and they will keep until you get home.
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Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take
an ass kickin'.
Posts: 3160 | From: Five Miles East of Vic, AZ | Registered: Jun 2003
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted October 15, 2009 01:00 PM
What Tim said, except that I break down my fleshing beam & take it along. Once I have a cooler full, I take a break and process them onto the strechers. The only thing to remember from that point on is air circulation. At one time I had decoy cord criss-crossed into a netting pattern about 6 inches from the inside top of the shell on my truck. It would hold quite a few hides out of the way with no problem.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 7579 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted October 15, 2009 02:29 PM
I'll let Q expound upon this idea, but one thing he started doing which didn't seem to affect the value of the pelts was to case them out and dust the skin side with borax (20 Mule Team). Keep them in a cool, shady place and I think they're good for several days until you can get them to a beam and stretcher or into a freezer.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Q-Wagoner
FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP
Member # 33
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posted October 15, 2009 05:45 PM
You have several options but your best one depends on a few things. Number one being temperature. Temperature and quantity are really the determining factors on how I would deal with it.
Warm or cold you need to get them skinned the day they are shot. That is just a good habit to get into. If you are dealing with a lot of coyotes then putting them up back at camp will not work out too well. If you are expecting a couple each day then you could probably handle the extra work. Randy and I tried to put up our fur as we went one time down in Texas and it didn't work out very well. We were either hunting or putting up fur. Very little time to eat or sleep.
Now we just skin and throw them in the freezer and put them up when we get back home. When we are in remote areas we will skin them, role the fur up with the fur side out and keep them in the shade at all times. Fur will start to slip fast if they are exposed to direct sunlight even if it is cool out. If some of the coyotes are getting a little green belly before you get them skinned don't fret. This is very common. Just dust the hide with 20 Mule Teem Borax. This will buy you time but is not a cure all.
Good luck.
Q,
Posts: 617 | From: Nebraska | Registered: Jan 2003
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furhvstr
Knows what it's all about
Member # 1389
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posted October 15, 2009 07:39 PM
Seems like the easiest thing would be to Skin immediatly as you go, let the skins air out and cool overnight and then roll them from the REAR LEGS towards the nose. Fur out of course. Tuck the rear legs into the body cavity and then roll up. This gets a little grease on the leg fur but it will keep it from drying and freezer burn. Just before you make your final roll, tuck the head under and fold over. it should be a little tight ball when you are finished. This way NO skin is left exposed. Put it in a tall kitchen trash bag and squeeze/twist the air out. They can go straight into the freezer when you get home. Keep an ice chest with some ice or no ice depending on how cold it is where you are hunting. I wouldn't worry about ice so long as your daytime highs aren't getting over 70 or so.
I store mine in the side boxes on my hunt truck but I usually don't get out till Nov or so and it is plenty cold by then.
I do 100 some odd hides a hides a year this way and it works pretty well.
ML
[ October 15, 2009, 07:59 PM: Message edited by: furhvstr ]
Posts: 144 | From: California | Registered: Apr 2007
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nd coyote killer
HUNTMASTER PRO STAFF
Member # 40
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posted October 15, 2009 08:54 PM
Ditto on what Q said if you are shooting enough that you can't put them up at night then just roll and bag them and let the work begin when you get home.
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"Sure are cocky for a starving pilgrim" - Bear Claw
Posts: 385 | From: On a hill | Registered: Jan 2003
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