As hard as I try, I still get a lot of grease on my coon hides when fleshing them. Is it OK to wash them after fleshing the hide with Dawn detergent or something stronger to cut the grease out? Then I could shake out most of the water, blow dry with a hair dryer and board the coon hide. Also do you use a standard coon board on opossume or is there a special size board for them?

try saw dust (hard wood )
id use a fan ,you could burn the guard hairs with the heat

use a fox board on grinners.

Thanks pass through... didn't know that.. I was wondering how to stretch the ones I have in the freezer. Heck I have to flesh them first!

Don't worry about It hang your coon by the tail end and let the grease run off. Wipe them down a few times as they dry.

but is it ok to was them if I choose to?

If they are cold and fleashed properly there should be very little grease left on them,wipe with paper towel or course saw dust.

I wouldn't wash them after fleshing. You will now have to hang them and completly dry them before you board them.You could have a chance that they may spoil.
And even If you did wash to remove the grease You will never get It all and your coon will still bleed a lot of grease.

I wouldn't wash them either. Too much chance for spoilage (like Beav said)no matter how dry you THINK you got them.
Try this (it works). If you have a chest type freezer (or even an upright), after skinning, lay your coon out flat in the freezer for about 30 to 45 minutes, then flesh them. That semi frozen fat will flesh off cleanly.

freeze them then flesh them.

I'm from southeast Texas for all that is concerned.

In my opinion you should NEVER flesh any fur that Is frozen. You just don't have the feel with your knife.

If its froze I can just about guarentee that you will find a "wrinkle" thats frozen upright....You know how you will find it?? With your knife, thats how. Found out the hard way a long time ago.

I didn't say frozen did I?

he meens the the fat set up

Go down to the store and buy some corn meal. Rub it on the flesh side of the coon when you start fleshing it. The corn meal will absorb the grease and it will all come off while you flesh. As soon as some of it starts looking greasy add more.Once it drys it will start to look greasy again, just put some corn meal in you hand and wipe it off. Make sure you also wipe off the corn meal so there isnt any left. If you have any grease on the fur when you are done, brushit out with Borax. May sound stupid but it works.

Ok but, if the coon has blood on it, and you skin it...do you

-wash the hide with the fat and such still on it to get that blood out

or can you

-freeze after skinning, thaw it out later, wash it, dry it, flesh it, and then put it up?

When I'm done fleshing with the coon still on the beam I take a sheet of newspaper and wrap around the hide to soak up the grease this really cuts down onthe amount that will come out while drying. Later Longear

You guys are making to much out of this grease thing.It's not a big thing.

right Beav. Making something that is simple into something hard accomplishes nothing.