what all do i need to skin and put my coons up this season?i wanna make them look really good

1. You need a coon.

2. You need a skinning knife... I like my Improved Muskrat skinner.

3. You need someplace to hang the coon to skin it - like a gambrel off a rafter.

4. You need a fleshing beam and a fleshing knife. The beam I learned on was an oak slab dad got from an abandoned sawmill. He stripped the bark off and shaped it with a hand plane. For my first fleshing knife, dad gave me a machette that had the last six or eight inches of the blade wrapped with electrical tape so it wouldn't cut me.

5. You need stretchers to stretch and dry the fur on. You can use wire or wood, but wood seems to do a much nicer job on coons than wire.

6. You need a place to dry the stretched fur. Don't put the stretched fur too close to a heat source or it will damage it. Its best to put it in an area that has good ventilation and low humidity.

7. You need a place to store your dried fur until ready to sell or ship. You can hang them from a piece of wire from a rafter where mice won't get to them and they should keep well.

Gosh. Paul acts like he done that before.

Paul post a pic of that skinner.

thanx paul do i need a comb or anything?

A comb is a good thing. I actually used a regular hair comb. I had three sisters growing up, so I had access to a lot of combs - lol.

K9 - its just a Shrade Improved Muskrat. I think they're made in China now, but the ones I have are marked USA.

nice post

ok thanx paul

Also, if your coons are muddy - wash them out.

Plus check for burrs before fleshing. Burrs will cause you to cut a hole in the hide quickly when fleshing.

ok thanx paul

Wash em out before you skin them. In a creek or with a hose.

I just went and checked the on line catalog, and it's not there. Sheesh! I gotta do everything around this place! Trying to sell some knives and can't even find a pic of them!

lol k9

Them muskrat skinning knives are hard 2 beat i got 3 of em.....best ever...i go coon hunting alot and shoot bout 1 or 2 times then the dogs finish off.......ive not skinned a coon after that what should i do because adter the dogs get done with it there alot of dog slobber and bood and stuff how would i do them???????????????

Im guessing you are skinning them so you don't have to pack them out? Then I would just skin them and brush out the blood etc later.

Here's what that knife looks like for those who haven't seen one. Most experienced trappers know them....

http://www.amazon.com/Schrade-Timer-Muskrat-Two-Blade-Folding/dp/B000IE3ZLE

it looks jsut like a pocket knife?

Yup, I got a 3 blade one I use for my skinning. They are a darn good knife.

lol paul