Never tried putting one up before. Should be interesting with aging eyes - may need magnifying glass. Specific questions:
1) First cut - best way to avoid glands, heard they were nasty
2) Best way to remove tail bone and split. I assume my coon equipment is too big.
Thank you

The glands well just dont cut to deep. It isnt to bad smell wise atleast not to me lol.

On the tail i just used my thumb nail and a finger and kind of slid up off. You will lose the black tip a few times untill you get the hang of it. You dont need to split the tail all the way down atleast that is what i have heard.

Lol yea your coon tools would be to big

ok to ensure not cutting the glnads skin it through the mouth..
that is how I do mine and it is easy.
no gland cutting, the tail comes off the bone with fingers and after it is pulled off then you make the cut from leg to leg to put it on the stretcher.

Through the mouth? Seriously? I think I would need more detail, wouldn't know where to start.
PS: Enjoy and agree with most of your commentaries.

Do it outside and plug your nose. I'm getting better at it but the gland is so close to the hide and the hide so thin that it's tough. Go slow and use a knife with a drop blade instead of a clip point. I take the tail out with my thumbs and don't split it. The tail is so small I never saw the point. Tuck the front legs in as well. I was taught to tie them in a knot but that is wrong. Not sure how much money I was docked but I'm sure it cost me. Last sale my best weasel was $7.00 and the worst was $0.85. 2 were shot in the head with a .22 short because I got tired of them eating my lynx bait! Not sure what those ones sold for but I won't shoot them anymore.

well, I use scalpels.

1. I cut off the front feet and back feet with a pair of snips.
2. i grab it by the bottom lip and cut the gums off at the base of the teeth, all the way around the mouth.
3. I skin the chin back to the corner of the mouth
4. grab it by the nose, not mouth, nose with one hand and twist it back, with the knife cut off the nose, skin back to the eyes.
5. skin the chin back as far as you can.
6. Cut the tear ducts and eyelids free and skin back, cut off ears.
7. once the head is free and peeled back, I put it in a gambrel around the head.
8. work your fingers down and peel off like a prom dress.

when you get to the tail / back legs pull the tail out first or it will rip off, then pull the skin off the back legs..

turn it fur out, cut from leg to leg, slit tail, invert and board.

I do this with marten and mink as well.

some old timer on the wilderness thread taught me.

It sounds lengthy, but I can do it faster than I can a muskrat. and the glands don't "pop" or puncture that way.

Do not hit the yellow Pee,s !

Thanks for the detailed instructions. 2Poor - that is a great photo. Will ctach a weasel and try to do you guys proud. Thanks again.

I most often pop the glands out at that stage. Any amount of pressure when pulling will get them leaking. Way easier just to get them out of the way !

Hup just wondering how many prom dresses you peeled off? Practice, practice, practice!!!

If you want to use a scalpel, you need to know which one to buy.

I recommend the #10 blade, it's nice and small, and works well on squirrels. It will fit on a #3 handle. Don't try and jam it on a #4 handle, it will not work.
It's better than an exacto knife, which is a fancy term for a scalpel with a #11 blade. Exacto knife refill blades are marked up way high, and the way the tip is pointed, the are not very useful for skinning. The #10 is better as it has a nice easy curved tip like a saber.

What I like about it is you can hold it like a pencil, and get nice precision cuts around the face and it works well on the feet when you are doing it for taxidermy. You really do not have to press hard at all, and you can just draw a line right over the top of skunk glands and such with practice.

The place to buy the blades is usually ebay, as far as deals go, buy them in packs of 100. You only need about 4 handles total, a #3 handle for the small blade, and 3 #4 handles for the #20 and #21 blades. 20 and 21 blades will be good for your raccoons and coyotes and beaver. Other good places to buy them are veterinary supply shops, like shopmedvet.com. Closeout deals are best, as they are marked down sharply for having just a few screw-up blades are are dull out of the package. Who cares if 4 out of 100 are dull, it's worth the discount.

In the package.



Line up blade with handle.



Slide the notch from the handle up under the blade's slot.



Hold blade firmly and push the handle further into the slot.



It's in! This is what it looks like from the side.

some old timer on the wilderness thread taught me. [/quote] AKA White17?

I like #60 blades for clean skinning beaver and on other larger animals.