do you need a fleshing knife

yes and no. You can clean shin your stuff, but that is tough on any fatty critter. So people like it others don't. I do it to fox as they hardly have any on them, but other stuff you need to flesh, plus I have no idea what you are trapping, so I need more info, go to trapperman.com-tons of good info, read and read nad be ready to work, it isn't all about fun and games
 
You can get by without it if you are just dealing with a few critters. If you are going to be fleshing multiple skins every evening then you must have a fleshing beam and knife. Like HunterLee says it kind of depends on the situation. If I'm doing a few coon a night then I would be wanting one.
 
I will agree with HunterLee and trapwv in that you can get by without a fleshing knife. I have been putting up a few coyotes, fox and bobcats (if I'm lucky) almost every year for the last 30 years. I usually carefully take off any fat/muscle with my pocket knife when they are stretched wrong side out on the stretcher the first day. Now these animals usually don't have a lot of fat on them but something like a coon, beaver, badger will have more and a knife and beam would really be useful.
 
I went for several years w/o a fleshing knife. I tried sharpened lawn mower blades and sharpened angle iron. A couple years ago I broke down and bought a real fleshing knife and am glad I did. After some practice I cut my fleshing time in half. It's a good investment.
 
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