Decided to try hoops this year. And been having a hard time getting the hooks thru into the flesh. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Or is that typical? Also how far you space them? 1 inch or 2?

I space them about a inch a part . A awl works well to get a hole made to poke the pointed hog ring through , I'd recommend a block of wood with a small hole drilled in it underneath it so the hole goes through the hide .

I liked a 1" x 4" for the block of wood drilling a hole is optional or lifting the hide a bit works too whatever is easiest .

get the bigger hooks. They really help because you can get your fingers inside them to put more leverage. I have a bench grinder beside my hooping station so I can sharpen them when the hooks get dull.

I've never used the hooks, when hooping I always sewed the beaver on. The hooks look pretty slick though if you are using adjustable hoops.

Been quite some time since I've hooped beaver though, I only used hoops when I was putting up a number of beaver, if just doing a few I put them on a board, hoops dry faster and take up much less room than boards though.

An inch seems awfully far apart to me, I never sew or nail to a board that far apart. You don't want noticeable scallops between attachment points, however you are stretching beaver.

I use a piece of 1x4 under the fur and tap the clip through with a small hammer. Once you get the hang of it you can really tap the clips in pretty quick. I usually start by putting a few clips in the fur prior to placing on the hoop. I do the nose, tail, and a few around the side. Kind of like a star pattern. I then put it on the hoop then adjust the hoop for size. Then start working my way around.

I'm glad I use wood boards and nails. 2 hides to a board you can't do that with hoops.

I prefer nailing to boards, but I've used hoops in the past and have a couple dozen out here still. Advantage of hoops is space and speed of drying, I can hang dozens of hoops from the rafters in the shop, whereas I only have room to prop up at most half a dozen beaver boards.

I have a cart That I can slide In 8 boards with about 6" between the boards. The bottom Is sloted same with the top. I have a barn fan that sits right In front of the cart. It does a good job and I can move that cart around any where In the shop.

I go back and forth between boards and hoops

That worked better for me. Thank you and everyone else