Put a few cats up. Their all dried and look good but the biggest Tom is real stiff from the ears down past the center of it's back. Is this frowned on in the buyer's eyes? Or does it matter at all? If it does, what can a guy do to soften it up a little?
I've wondered this before. Thought maybe I could get some opinions on here. Thanks.

If it's stiff...its dry. Doesn't matter. If it's soft it may not be drying properly.

Being the biggest,his skin is probably just thicker in that area.I wouldn't worry about it.

Nap of the neck and upper shoulder area of most mammals have thicker skin typically. I believe this is genetic as it provides protection to the young animal when it is carried around to different den locations or helped along when traveling and cant keep up. Mom always grasps them in that area. The skin is always more loose in this area and may be conditioned by this repeated movement and carrying about. Only makes sense for the animal to have more protection there.

That is called a boardy neck by graders.Fishers get that later on in the season also.Bigger,older animals have thick leather in the neck area but it gets more pronounced later in the season.You have to be vigilant,if they get too dry,they are tough to turn,and if you turn them too soon you can get hair slip during dressing.

You're right about flipping it Boco. I had it fur-in overnight which turned out to be almost too long. It was a little tricky getting it flipped.

So, if the graders actually recognize it and have a name for it (boardy neck), does that mean it will be graded different or they'll offer less than an equal pelt with a non-boardy neck?

Shouldn't be down graded. went you pull it off the stretcher when you turn it, roll it up nose to tail ears up, then do it again on the belly side, flip it dry it then repeat when your done and see if it helps. Drumming takes a lot of that out also.

It is not necessarily a downgrade but it makes the grader look to see if it is a late caught animal or just an older bigger animal.