When pining out coon on the board should I pin the tail out taunt or should I stretch the tail out wide and pleat it at the base of the tail. Any pics would be nice.

My understanding is- it doesn't matter what ya do w/ the tail. Pin it or just let it hang there, won't affect the price one way or the other. I like to pin it out nice cause I like how it looks, but that's just me. Sorry- no pics cause I don't know how to put them on here yet

Oh yes it does matter! Push the tail up and plete it. It pushes more fur into the window for a heavier denser look.

Dose any one have any pics.

I have a few coon to get through this weekend. I will do my best to get some pictures and maybe some vid of the process I use.

Greg

NAFA currently sizes muskrats and beaver mechanically with a light which measures sq. inches. They are wanting to do raccoon the same way but as a nafa man who sizes over 100,000 raccoon a year I don't know if that will ever fly. There are far too many variables in the way we stretch raccoon. I can easily size 5,000 raccoon a day if the phone don't ring and adjust for the guys who want to put 6" of belly fur on the back.For my money the raccoon in the photo by coyote snarer is very well done but on a board with the nose too pointed.I won't say it would be downsized but probably would not be given"the line". I always try to find a reason to move a skin up in size while most trappers try to find a way to make a xxx out of a xl. Clothes pins and a pound of push pins are fine but if you try to get too creative it will work against you. Now I realize that most of you probably don't ship to nafa or if you do you probably don't ship thru me but I've seen Greg size raccoons and he don't like cheaters. My best advice is to do it right according to auction co. specs and you will get every break possible. At nafa we are on your side. Terry

Terry, could you show us how NAFA prefers the raccoon opening cut? I have only seen about 50 methods but would like to see what NAFA prefers. Thanks, Wright

Nice looking job on the put up. But I would open up the window area buy pulling more leg fur around to the back of the board. Then you can bunch up the extra fur on both sides of the tail.
I like to push up the base of the tail but I don't pleat up the rest of the tail. I just place a piece of card board over the tail and staple It In a couple of spots. It's alot faster and does the same job. You will not get any more money for a nice looking tail. That's a perk for a differnt Industry. LOl
But don't use card board if you don't do a good job of fleshing that tail. Card board on a well fleshed tail will let It dry out faster. The nose Is a little sharp but you shoudn't get docked for It.
Greg taught me how to put up fur.

I agree beav! Greg knows his spit. Wright bros,make a cut from inside one heel to the inside of the other-straight accross. This will take you just below the penis and gives you a little flap to work around to the back. That is perfectly ok as long as the back is not much longer than the belly side when stretched. After placing on the stretcher cut enough out of the belly so the grader can see the fur quickly without having to fold the sides back. Trim the ahole and penis out. No one wants to look at these parts. Don't put a bunch of nails or pins around the window. Keep it simple. Creativity will work against you. Terry

Thank you. That is how I did this years. Looking forward to my grades.
Greg is scheduled to demo at our District Expo this Fall, I'll be all eyes and ears.

4488,,I have the magazine called International Trapper and in it has the sizes for raccoon sizes for boards XL - XXlis 8-81/2" at 30 inches . That's for Canadian section .That's the size that is on my boards .I'm going to adjust the nose measurements. It calls for 3" wide at 2" Mine are not that wide at the 2" mark .It also has the picture of the propper way to do the inspection window . Mine is a little tight so I'll adjust that to . Thanks for the info ...

I finally had a chance to put some video together of how I board my coon. Hope this helps.
Please excuse some of the shake on the video. My daughter was giving me a hand and she was having trouble keeping up to the movement.
Greg

Another excellent post Greg. Thank you. Tom

I wish I could do that flick stuff but I'm computer Illiterit

Very nice.
Is there a reason you didn't pull that coon down to the next line? It looked like you had plenty of slack. I normally get on that hide with a pair of pliers and get as much as I can. You may have explained that but I don't have any sound.
and the only other thing I do differnt Is to keep a lot more rear leg fur around to the back of the board. I think It gives bit more fur to work with along the back and tail area It just seems to give It that fuller look. and It opens up the window area a bit more.
Great job and thanks for the Info.
you guys just learning this fur put take notice this Information will get you top dollar on your coon.

Nice job on the video Greg. Exactly how I do it.

I'd ditch those push pins and get you a hand stapler w/t50 staples.

SUPER FAST. You could of had 2 or 3 don't in the time it took to use all those pins.

This a little slower taking the pelts off the board but then I'm doing that season is usually pretty much over. And I got a little extra time.

Just a thought.

Kev

I use 9/16ths Inch staples and set the electric stapler at minumum thrust. The staples stick out plenty far to get a hold of. Get your self a pair of catfish skinning pliers to pull the staples.

i stretch mine on wire stretchers

That was a great video very informative.

I have always used wire and never had any complaints. I saw many boarded coon at auction this year that dried wrinkly and wavy and to me they looked bad. Does nafa deduct for coon that dry that way??

If they dried wavy and wrinkly then they weren't handled right. Not to say that coon done on wire is the wrong way I just found that after doing coon both on wire and wood that I got a neater narrower looking pelt than I got when using wire. FHA reccomends wood strechers for northern Canadian coon and thats what I catch up here and since there selling my pelts I'll take there advice.

I was told my numerous people that they averaged $3.50 a piece more on coon when done up on boards. The basswood board buisness is booming. The expensive cats ($950 to $1000) are put up on basswood stretchers. Everybody starts out with wire stretchers and gravitates to wood when they want perfection and top dollar. HP

cadyshac,I am a nafa man for 16 years and before that a Hudson bay shipper. I handle,size,and pregrade over 100,000 raccoon a year for nafa and I can tell you I love wire stretched roccoon. I know Greg does his demos and promotes wood stretching boards(and Greg is a very good friend of mine)but I equate a lot of the demos to bit of "show biz". I will add that nobody does it better! Wires pretty much eliminate the cheat factor on pointed noses. Clothes pins are acceptible as long as the animal was skinned properly. The stretcher is flexible so it is tempting to "skinny" up the coon but this is so easily detected that it goes without saying. I have stated this before on this website and will state again: If you are shipping fur to one of the auction companies or selling to a major player(such as Groenwald) don't try to get creative. Take what you have and you will always get a break on the grade and size. If you want to fluff up tails or bunch up the fur around the base as sometimes shown at demos or in literature,that is fine but you will NOT be downgraded if you don't. A good clean job and proper stretch will reward you with professional fur dealers and graders. Terry

I have to admit that I've sold coon done on boards and wire and have seen no noticeable difference in price, I just like the neater apperence of a coon done on a board.

But If you are about 2" from the next grade you can get It on wood and you won't get It on wire. And that 2" could get you a few more dollars. Size Is the first thing that's taken Into consideration when that hide graded. The first thing Greg does Is measure.

wire is all i have ever used and got top price for my furs

Beav: Generally I would try and get taht coon down to the next line but it was already on the board pretty tight and the next line would have been a big stretch.
The one advantage I like about baords versus wires is that when you do have a coon that ends up close to a size break if you can thicken up that fur in the inspection window area and the coon is handled well the grader may give you the size up which could be a difference of $3.50 that someone mentined.
Thanks for the tip on the staples. I have tried them before and I agree the fur goes on the boards quicker but I found it a real pain trying to take them out. Maybe the longer staples Beav mentioned might work better.
Never heard of catfish pliers. Definitely not a Southern Ontario tool.
Greg