Removing blood from stretched coyote fur

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bskytl

New member
New to the process of fleshing, boarding, stretching coyotes. My question is how much blood is acceptable on the fur of a coyote going to auction? All my coyotes are shot, so there is always some blood. Washing a coyote seems like it would take forever to dry before boarding. Is there a way to remove some of the blood after stretched and dried?
 
I wash all my coyotes.. bloody or not...

i flesh them then wash them

i wash them in 1/2 cup fabric softner to five gallons of water.. soak them for several hours then rinse them and run my hand down the hide pulling out as much water as i can.. then i grab them by the nose and smack then on the concrete driveway about 10 times just as hard as i can... then i shake them and "whip" them as hard as i can... turn them fur in... coat them down heavy with 20 muleteam boarax.. turn back and board them.. thats it... just put them in the garage with a fan on low to keep air moving.. works great!
 
When I was putting up coyotes I washed all mine.

5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of cold water. Throw hide in and stir it back and forth vigorously with a hand. If it wasn't extreamly bloody that was enough.

If it was extreamly bloody I would change the water and repeat. In some very extream cases I would add a little Dawn dish soap.

To finish the wash I'd hold the hide by the nose and give it the old up and down, up and down in the water. Then I'd hang the hide (hair out) by the nose pocket. Use both hands to make a *choke hold* at the top of the hide and slowly bring choke hold down forcing the water ahead and off the hide. Continue right down to the tip of tail. I did this until very little water was still coming off.

Then I'd hold the hide firmly by the nose and swing it as hard and fast as I could. That entire process would get 98% of the water off the hide.

IF there's not a whole lot of blood and you don't wanna wash, a good brushing of the dried blood on the hide after stretched will pretty much get it all off. Dried blood will pretty much just flake off of coyote hair using a brush and working it hard.
 
I put coons and coyotes in the washing machine with a little bit of detergent..........not mine but the laundromat when nobody is around lol. You can put in the dry with the heat on for a minute to warm it up the just air and tumble...nice and fluffy...no grease. I do wipe out the washer and dryer with lysol whipes so it wont damage the next persons clothes.
 
you can also just get a lot of blood using borax... rub the blood area with borax and let it sit for five minutes... then comb it and repeat...
 
Blood on a stretched and dried pelt at an auction will likely cost you big bucks - what would a fur buyer expect of the rest of the way the pelt was prepared if there was blood on the finished product? On the flip side, doing a little extra work will pay off at an auction.

I would recommend brushing the fur before it's even off the carcass. Brushing gets out the burdocks and other stuff that can cause you problems when fleshing. Tails are usually full of all kinds of seeds, hitchhikers and burrs.

Once skinned and fleshed, I like to put about 2 gallons of cool water in a 5 gallon bucket. Rinse the pelt good. Refill with cool water, add some cheap shampoo, work it in good. Refill the bucket with cool water and rinse out the shampoo, then hang to drip dry for a few hours.

Whip the remaining water out, then board fur in. The rinsing process adds a lot of moisture, so you will need to keep that fan going and warmer, dry air will help. Apply liberally borax in the area that are drying slow (face/lips, armpits, tail) . Borax is really cheap for a big box. Front legs need only enough length to cover the holes, so cut 'em shorter to speed up drying that area. Stitch any big holes early in the drying process. Turn the hide before when the leather is getting rubbery. Some guys like to put the stretcher upside down and brush the fur "backwards" until it's dry - this can add to a fluffier looking dried pelt.

It sounds like more work that it is, but like many things you should expect to get out of it what you put in to it. Good luck.
 
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I don't wash a single fur unless it is covered in blood. I take a bucket of warm water with me to the skinning shed and just dip the bloody part in the water and wash it. Washing hides takes all of the natural oils out of the fur.

Ok ksboy2 let me have it! Tell me how wrong I am>:):)lol
 
Originally Posted By: ksboy2no right or wrong answer.... i like to wash mine...

i think they look prettier that way... to each their own I agree, no right or wrong answer.
I used to wash mine until our one and only local fur buyer said it don't make no difference to him. So now I don't wash them anymore. I do clean up any blood on the fur though. That will vary from dipping the bloody area in some water like already mentioned, to simply wiping it down with a wet cloth. I thoroughly comb/brush the fur after it is dry and use low pressure air to help get out anything still remaining.
 
Thanks much, greatly appreciated. Like I said, new to the process. I am fortunate enough to own a 4 foot tumbler and plenty of corn grit. I am going to work on trying to get the blood out of the first three on the board and do some tumbling to see if I can make them more presentable. Have another 25 skinned and rolled fur side out in the freezer and agree that if I'm going to do this, it pays to do it correctly.
 
where on this site, or web can you find proper care, step by step process on care of the hide? Ive hunted and killed a few but mainly for fun of getting out. But if I get something in decent shape I at least want to know what to do correctly. Also, do you just sell them generally to local fur buyers?
 
I used to sell them on the round, however our local fur buyer was killed in an auto accident a couple months ago. I know there are others that would buy, however he had us spoiled. Used to go hunting...give him a call and he would swing by to pickup whatever we shot for the day and hand over $. Never had to bicker on price...he would give my buddy and me a price per coyote before season and pay that amount. He got some really nice ones, yet paid for the average ones and holes made him cringe I'm sure but never complained...man we miss having him around. We may get more money for putting them up, but it's work after the hunt now!
 
if you have never put them up "work" is an understatement.. hahahahahaha

the fun all stops when you thump them in the head in the trap.. haha
 
Originally Posted By: rockymountainpackswhere on this site, or web can you find proper care, step by step process on care of the hide? Ive hunted and killed a few but mainly for fun of getting out. But if I get something in decent shape I at least want to know what to do correctly. Also, do you just sell them generally to local fur buyers? Go to the forth sticky down in this sub-forum.
There is a link in that thread for Pelt Handling for Profit.
There is a lot of detailed info in there.
 
Originally Posted By: sharkathmiOriginally Posted By: rockymountainpackswhere on this site, or web can you find proper care, step by step process on care of the hide? Ive hunted and killed a few but mainly for fun of getting out. But if I get something in decent shape I at least want to know what to do correctly. Also, do you just sell them generally to local fur buyers? Go to the forth sticky down in this sub-forum.
There is a link in that thread for Pelt Handling for Profit.
There is a lot of detailed info in there.

I can't get that link to work.

Shayne
 
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