I put this on a couple other sites and thought maybe it could be useful here.
Well here it goes.Before you start,a word of caution,either wear rubber gloves to protect from diseases,and/or wash your hands well when your done,and don't eat,drink or smoke while your skinning to protect yourself.Also,I used a coyote for this,but you do the same for,raccoon,mink,bobcat,fisher,otter,muskrat,fox,skunk and weasel,beaver are open skinned and this winter,I hope to show you how.This method here is the case skinning method and is a must,if you plan to market your skinned pelts.
First you secure a hindfoot,I use a sharpened 30d nail,held in a vice,then run it through the foot.Then grab the other hind leg and pull it towards you.Then run then knife from the foot your holding all the way to the other foot,passing just under the nuts or female parts,like so:
After that cut,cut along both sides of the anus,starting from the underside of the tail,so that it makes a V,like this:
Once you've done that,work the hide off along the legs and rump,using your knife and fingers,until you have the hide free,you can cut the leg hide loose from the feet anywhere you want,whether it be close to the toes or hock,it does'nt matter,it should look like this:
Now everything is loose except for the tail,skin the tail slightly by cutting up the underside and pulling the hide back gently,so you don't accidently cut the hide from the tail.The bone needs to be stripped out.Once you have some of the tail bone loose,you can wrap your middle finger around the bone and grip and pull the tail hide off the bone,it's tough at first but once it comes,it'll slide the bone right out,some use a flat piece of 1/8" steel with a V notch to do this.
Now it should look like this:
Now that the tail is free,hang the critter by the back legs so it's up higher for when you get into the grunt work of pulling the hide.Then take and cut the front legs off at the elbow(I use a large pruning shear),then I put an old sock over the animals head so it goes past the ears onto the neck,this helps prevent excess blood from getting on the fur when you start pulling the hide.It should look like this:
Now your ready to pull the hide,grab the hide by where the rump fur is and pull down,using an old towel or rag helps your grip,or a pair of cotton gloves.Pull the hide until you get to the shoulders,like this:
Once your to the shoulders,you need to work the front legs out,I usually run a steel through the arm pit,between the hide and the upper leg, until it goes out the otherside,then grab the steel on both ends and pull down:
to be continued........
