This is my 1st year trapping and i have 20 coon so far, on a few of them i noticed that some of the hair on the belly side is popping through the leather from fleshing to hard. my question is if this is common and how much it hurts the value of the pelt? The back side is fine!

when you do the belly side us ethe dull side of the knife try not to dig in but slide the knife along the leather

How will it affect the value, being just on the belly side? should i leave it, or pull the few hairs through the hide to make it look better?

If it's just a couple of spots, it won't hurt your grade. If it is widespread, it probably will. They always seem to show more of that on early caught coon. Try to get all the fat the first push. It's the going over and over that pulls the hair through, although pressure also causes it. If you have a few spots, pull the hairs out. It always looks worse leaving hairs sticking out on the skin side!

You need to keep your fleshing knife FLAT to the surface of your pelt. Remember your getting under the flesh and fat to slice It off. It's not like your scraping bark off a tree. LOl

Thanks for all the advice. Im still learning?

Some belly hair comming through, will not downgrade your fur. A few comming through on the back won't downgrade your fur either. If you have a lot comming through on the back or flanks, you need to figure out how to stop the problem. A lot will cause a downgrade.