Alright, I looked through the archives and there is no good mink put up thread like there is for cats/greys (Cameron2). With all the good mink guys on here lets get a good put up thread going.

Lets get some pics. Fossil, Bauer, Mike O, Big T, Blakley, Bogmaster, Wallnut, and all the other mink guys on here can share and drop some pics and get a good archive mink finishing post. (don't be offended if I forgot you)

Wood vs Wire. Why or why not?

Pleat vs No pleat- does this cost you

Legs on back?

Front legs trimmed or tucked?

Pin the tail if you don't pleat? Screen? Cardboard?

Window? Opening cuts and how it finishes on the board.

Saddle? You can take it off if there is fat under it, so how does someone know if you took if off even though there was no fat under it.

What kind of fleshing tool?

Can you accidently take the saddle off when you skin? Is this bad?
Lets hear from the buyers on the above issues. What about pleating and legs, wood/wire.

Ttt

Ive been waiting for a post like this cause im new to mink. caught 6 this year and dont know if i did them right

Yes, you can pull the saddle off when skinning, but it's not good to do this. you should cut the red meat off the carcass as soon as you get the tail skun and then pull it down. Yes you should fan out the tail, cover it with screen or grocery bag paper. If you make the initial cut from heel to heel you sould not need an additional inspection window, but I cut off about 1/8 inch from the belly after I have it on the board to expose dry fluffy fur instead of grease matted fur. Legs should be pulled around to the back, the auction houses like them this way. It helps put more fur on the back right above tail which is where the graders look. Get the fur completely dry before you put them on the board.

Fleshing tool I just put them on the stretcher and use an old beaver knife to flesh. Bought a beam this year but still prefer the other way. I always pleat and pin the tail. I started pulling the legs around back this year so we will see if it makes a difference sold many top lots not doing that.

best tool ive used for fleshing muskrat an mink is the handheld one with the big metal circle on one end an the small one on the other for 5 bucks it works awesome~

Pretty sure that is called a hog scraper.

I flesh them right on the stretcher too,I use a hog scraper,same as I use on rats.I just pin the tail to the board.I pull the legs to the back also.I use wood,I think they look nicer but don't know if it brings me more money vs. wire stretchers...

An old timer that I followed around when I was a kid used an old soup spoon to scrape them,He did them on the stretcher too,probably why I do it.

Been using this style flesher for Mink this season. Become quite fond of it.

Small Pelt Flesher is what it's called ont he Fnt website 2Poor but i know it sure works good on rats an minks i use to always just use a spoon or a soup can but this year when placin a order i ordered 2 of them an they sure work good!

$40 seems a little pricey for those things.I would try one for $10,it just doesn't look like a $40 tool to me.Not trying to hurt anyone's feelings,it just seems a little pricey...

2poor, did you really pay that much??

Maybe 39.95 is the serial number???

No and I expect the quality of mine is far superior.

It came from a very, very, talented Cheesehead.

It was hard !! LOL