New to fur handling

tejaschaos

New member
Greetings,

I've become interested in trapping and fur handling and wanted to pass along my first attempt at preparing a pelt. I've always enjoyed hunting coyotes and bobcats with firearms, but took interest in trapping last season. I'm waiting for December - February to allow fur to thicken up, but really wanted to practice boarding some fur. I took the Fox Pro to one of my calling spots in hopes of calling in a coyote to add a little experience to my new found book/ video knowledge. Wouldn't you know it, I call in the best looking bobcat I've ever lured in... Beautiful female with nice spots. Not overly exited to learn on a prized bobcat, but not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I dropped her. I get her to the house, take a few pictures then comb and skin the cat. I did a decent job on my first case skinned critter, and got most of the meat off. I decided to wash the fur in luke warm water with a drop of soap. Afterwards, I rinsed it off in plain water (I am thinking that was a good move, because the water was dingy). I let it hang in the garage, then used my wife's hair dryer (on the cold setting) to dry the fur completely. I started noticing that there were a few bald spots on the cats belly, mostly down low by her parts. Is this due to the fur not being "prime"? I fleshed the cat, got all the meat off, but could not get all of the thin membrane that is below the meat. On some areas, I could see the spots on the fur from the leather side. Good or bad? I got her pinned to a bobcat/ coyote board (using NAFA demensions), then let it dry for a day. I underestimated the humidity, and the pelt dried much faster than I imagined. I had a difficult time, but got the cat off the board, and flipped fur side out. The arm pits were still a bit moist, so I threw a little Borax, like I've read to do. I know I made a lot of mistakes, and I do understand it is a learning process. I wish I called in something a bit less valuable to learn from, but straight in the fire for me (I am looking forward to making bait and lure with the meat and glands, excited about that!). With that said, my intentions are to send it off to NAFA, experience that process, and see what happens. I am a realist, and have little doubt that my cat will fetch much. I am the kinda guy who finds satisfaction in making tools/ gear and spend as little money as I can get by with. This hobby is no different. I made the skinning knife, stretcher board, fleshing knife, and fleshing beam. Since it was my first, I do not know how efficient my tools performed, or if I should consider buying some things to make the next one go smoother. I will try to attach a few photos of the process a little later. Please let me know how you think I did. Any advice is appreciated, just remember that it was a first... Sorry for being so long winded.

Thanks,

Mike
East Texas



Sample of bald spot. Hair slippage caused by me?
55D4B021-0E3C-42F4-BDBE-639A06522C61.jpg



Not sure how I feel I did...
86DA8D2C-19D5-4E75-80F9-DF1E298421CC.jpg

A couple of my homemade tools





 
Last edited:
I don't wash any of my critters with water. I dry wash with borax after the hide has dried and is off of the stretcher. If I were to wash with water it would be cold water for sure. It sounds to me like you over fleshed the hide... But can't say for sure. What is your stretcher made of? Looks like some kinda pipe.
 
Thank you for the advice. I thought I might of hit the leather a little hard, but didn't have much to judge it against. The stretcher is made of cedar. I'm using the PVC pipes to finish off the leather drying. I really do appreciate the response!
 
Here's how I do mine. Fur side out right off the bat no worries about turning just lots of borax on the leather right after fleshing then goes on the stretcher.


I don't send to NAFA so I am not sure how they want fur.
 
I believe I'm going that route on the next one! I just need to get the fleshing deal down! Is the goal to get every bit of stuff down to the leather off? Or just focus on getting the red meat off and let the Borax dry out the other film type material?
 
Back
Top