I've only skinned one...... Thought I was tough , I AM a trapper and all, I do like the smell of lure, couldn't be worse then a yote. Figured it couldn't be THAT bad, YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! But once a started, I wasn't going to quit. Got the thing tanned just for proof. My hats off to you skunk skinners. Don't think I 'll be doing it again.

its not that bad once I got the glands out it was clear sailing. I dont mind skinning them at all.




Bob

I skin almost every skunk I get. Some, that are tore up by a predator, gets used for a new attractor at the set. Just remember to wear skinning gloves, ALWAYS, when dealing with skunks, and becareful with your knife around the rear end! I can't believe more people don't extract the essence either, what a shame. It only takes a few minutes to extract it and if done right it is a fairly stink free process. Skunks will earn you money if you take advantage of what they offer. I think a tanned skunk pelt is awful pretty on the wall too.

Yodog, I hear ya bud, skinned my first this year too, looked like a member of the bomb squad for sure.LOL Swore I smelled skunk for 3 days straight afterwards. Greasy little buggers aint they? He had a little smell on him, so I did the dishsoap,baking soda, and peroxide thing on the pelt, and he dried in 2 days with very little grease left on the pelt at all. I'm sure the dishsoap had something to do with that. I too feel I Earned my stripes and he's getting tanned also.LOL

i don't skin them but my dad does

Sorry guys, even if it means less points on my man card, I WILL NOT skin a skunk...If they were worth $50.00 I would not skin one.

That Smell --------Love That smell

wish i had a nickel

If you have a skunk with alot of scent on it - I leave the trap on it and place it in a stream overnight. The running water will wash away the scent. IT WORKS. I've been doing it for 50+ years.

DLM is correct, that is the old time way. I have skinned a lot of em and you learn not to cut the sacs real fast. No worse than any thing else....
When you are first trying to learn I would suggest keeping the baking soda/peroxide/dawn mixture ready to use and forget the tomato juice as it does not work ever. Just makes you wet and stinkin' instead of just stinkin'
I gotta tell you...a fired up weasel is the one thing I hate to skin. They are nasty for no bigger than they are.

Easier to skin than a yote for sure.Skin a doz or so every yr.Nothin to it & I cut the whole gland out & when I get enough of them I extract the juice.

I've netted close to $2000 this year alone on skunks, yes I skin 'em!!

I do! Love those critters. They're just a bit stinky, is all Some of the prettiest fur out there, IMO.

Keep the poroxide/baking soda mixture handy and there's nothing too them. I just skin really shallow around their rear-ends and remember to not apply too much pressure around that area either.

Best part about them is 50% will stink after dispatching and 50% won't. I can live with that Plus, I'd rather skin 5 skunks over one coon or beaver. They flesh like a dream.

-Skunkly-

What mixture of baking soda, peroxide do you use to clean the stink off. I skun 5 of them this year. I caught them in fox set in January this year. No snow this year in MN.

I skin them & collect the quil. Only caught 2 this season but wish it was 22.

I can get all the Skunks I want from the Dog Warden. People are always calling him about a Skunk in the yard. Never thought it would be worth the effort.

He knows what he's talking about. Just as easy to flesh as a muskrat.

I love skunks! I can skin 100 of them in a week. OR MORE. Plus flesh, plus tan...
Love their smell. Even if I'm right on top of it. I don't see what the big deal is. Once it reaches a certain strength it doesn't get any worse... it does level off and get tolerable really fast.
Now, rotting carcasses, those make me gag and want to barf.
BUT - Skunks? Easy as pie! So pretty and soft, too.

I think I'm going to do one of those novelty mounts "a skunk's butt with a squirt attachment". Saw the idea on eBay, about died laughing.

My hats are off to you tainted-bait-makers, people who braintan without gloves on, and skull-rotters!

Mickey's Dad... you can still make that $50, without skinning a skunk.
Talk to your local taxidermists about selling whole frozen skunks.

Some are wussies and won't work with them, but others see the cashola (a mount usually goes for over $200 and they are easy to mount; forms cost under $40!) and will put the Vicks under their nose and get to work.

I saw an UGLY yellow narrow stripe MI skunk go for $75 on eBay, frozen whole, #2 fur quality, and stinky! Couldn't believe it. That was about 2 weeks ago, too. That's got to be one happy seller. I was wishing mine were back from the tannery right about then.

I caught 5 skunks in 3 days a couple of years ago, I was at a rancher friends house and the wife wouldn't even let me in!! And I was careful about the stink..I have a taxidermist friend that was mounting a skunk for the Forest service, he was being very careful around the glands but nicked it and got squirted in the face, He swore never again!!

I use 1 litre of Hydrogen Peroxide 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Baking soda and a tsp of liquid soap. I mix it up in a pail then wash the skunks in it. Once I have washed them I rinse them well in cold water to get the peroxide out. This works really well on dogs but make sure you wash them with off with lots of cold water or your black lab or your skunk will have a blonde streak.
Cheers
Pete

I skinn-em

first I draw the essence then I throw the skunk in a creek, then skin no problemo

oh, and I do it outside or at the shop, not at home, LOL

I normally sell my animals whole to my local furbuyer, but he doesn't have anyone who will skin them. They're all too chicken. LOL So I ended up skinning two this year and enjoyed it. They were the first furbearers I've fully skinned.My parents made sure I did it outside.

i skin 'em or some at least. i take the essence out after i skin them tho. just be careful around the anus and DON'T pull on the tail, lol.

Is it possible to skin them without any smell? If I brought that smell, no matter how faint it was into the house the family would not be very impressed. I would skin them if I knew I could do it without having to stink for it.

Don't push on the underside of the tail near the body, either. If you are making your skinning cut there, use a SHARP knife so you need to use almost no pressure to cut the skin.

OR... grin & bear it. If I am skinning several in a row, I take a tweezers and put some paper towels in their rear end. That presses the anal gland openings closed, so I can work around the butt for a couple minutes, mostly when I am pulling the skin off at the thigh and lower back level, and pulling the tail bone away from the tail skin.

What is it with wives?! You'd think husbands would complain too.

since we are here on skunk can any one tell me the dishsoap mixture with amounts and time to let set and all that good stuff thanks

what size wire strechers do you use for skunks? do yoru need to pin open the tails? to who do you sell the quill too? I sold 2 oz. quill to a guy for 15.00 ,whats the going price?

Well yes I skin every skiunk I catch after cutting out the glands and then draining the glands. You then have quill and an empty glands to use in lure making.

Playin4funami: you sold the quill for about half of what it is worth.

Skinning a skunk is no big deal!! If they stink when you get them put them in the peroxide mix. Let them soak about a 1/2 hour, swish them around a few times. If they still reek...once more with a fresh mix. I put in about a cup of baking soda, a 32oz bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a squirt of dish soap.

Skin them like regular ...but NO PULLING !! Then when done I pull the essence with a syringe. Now you'll smell skunk...LOL.

WEAR RUBBER GLOVES...skunks are one of the largest carriers of rabies. Better safe than sorry...even if you think rubber gloves are overkill.

I got $14.50 for one of my skunks this year in the February sale at NAFA.
You only make the major error of cutting into the gland below the tail once. If you ever do make that mistake, you'll be finishing your skinning outside.