I have been fleshing a couple racoons and overall they have turned out really well, but a question i still have is do you have to flesh the tail? I feel like that would be extremely difficult, also what about the little bits of fat and membrane on the front legs, does that have to go?

The more you get off, the better it is.

Cut the front legs short. Flesh the tail best you can. I use a very sharp knife to slice off the fat on the tail. Or just scrape it with the back of a knife.

ON the tail, flesh it as best you can and then tack it open so that it dries properly. From a buyers perspecive - nothing worse than looking at a group of coon pelts with stinking rotten tails.

but i am assuming as long as the tail is dried well then it isn't a big deal if it is fleshed really well. also why do you cut the front legs short?

So you can stack them up without them falling over. And they bundle better.

what too do you use to get the stuff around the shoulders???

a very sharp fleshing knife. you have to shave the gristle from about the ears down to about mid back. work with just a little pressure in a shaving motion with the knife at a low angle. underneath should be nice and white.