Ok I skinned out the fox I got today and dont think I did to bad a job for being the first time ever doing it. What I am having trouble with is the fleshing. So I was wanting to know does it have to be fleshed right away or can I freeze it. Would like to wait intill I can have someone kinda show me how to do it. Any help would be great.

Also how important is it that I get the face and head area good

Go ahead and freeze it, Thats what I do, then when I wanna flesh just take em out and let them thaw and start fleshing. This has always worked for me.

Be sure it is dry and wrap it in newspaper, then put it in a garbage bag and freeze it. In fact, if you are going to freeze a pelt it is better to do it before you flesh it. Freeze it flat, though!

The head shouldn't be that hard to flesh. Be careful not to flesh it too thin, if you see hair roots you've scraped too much, just get the meat off. You can't scrape off blood shot, so if there is a wound and the leather is red, don't try to scrape it clean.

When you say flat do you mean completly flat head to tail?

Yeah, it's best that way! It freezes evenly and thaws out faster. I've had problems with rolling up fur and freezing it and the outside thaws but the inside of the roll is still frozen and the thawed part has started to taint before the other thawed.

Another person, I can't remember who, also pointed out that fur is an insulator, so the inside part of a rolled up fur isn't going to freeze as fast as the outside.

Lay it flat, I lay mine on a sheet of cardboard and put it in the freezer. If you don't have a chest freezer wrap it around something like a milk jug so the cold air hits it from inside and outside and when you thaw it it will thaw the same way.

Most Indiana reds this time of year need almost no fleshing.
There is usually a gob of fat on the lower belly and maybe a little around the armpits. You can flesh before or after freezing.

Good Advice

I'm with DaveM you can usually flesh a fox simply by grabbing the fat and flesh with a paper towel and pulling it off. Also don't forget to leave the saddle on the hide this is the way it is prefered. If you do freeze it don't freeze it too long because fox hide is very thin and can freezer burn pretty easy. Just my opinion.

Windy, was there a problem with rolled and frozen?

Most times people never see thier finished work, when they rolled un fleshed pelts and freeze them up. Most of the damage can be doen in the center by the time they pull the pelt out in as little as 3 days.

One won't see the damage on thier prepped pelts as the hair won't generally fall out when working the pelt, but once it's put into the tannery process and re-hydrated the hair starts to fall out from the most heated spots or decayed areas first.

Mostly where the pelt was rolled, right in the center of it, this can range from mild loss to actual bare hides, bellies first, then the flanks and if really bad right into the backs.

Fur should always be laid out flat for quick flash freezing, then placed in some sort of paper bag or plastic after it's frozen to help prevent freezer burn. Thaws out quicker as well this way.

Now I know this comes up lots of times during the season, and many have rolled thier pelts, with out seeing any bad things happen, however most of those never have the pelts come back either and really don't actually know what happened to them.

Freezing flat will probaly get you more pelts in the freezer as well, I know it does for me when I need to do it.