i got some in the garage he aint gonna get to cook. supposed to meet that fella from Ozona this week. sure hope he brings the cash.

Yodog, are you using wire or wood. I am sure it would make a difference. I wouldn't mind trying the non-flip method, just curious what the difference would be in the drying time between wood vs wire. All I use is basswood. One would have to think it would take longer to dry on wood than it would on wire.

Here in central Il I tried the Borax method on a few Yotes this year, took them 2 weeks to dry up and than there was signs of mold up around the head, yes I remove the cartledge from the ears.
As far as I'm concerned I'm gonna dry them fur side in till there ready to turn and than turn them.
Now the farther west you get, it gets better lower humidity, but you still have to get the leather "tacky or better" I like better,
I can turn a fairly dry Cat/Coyote, might make me Cuss a little , but it'll dry down quick.
If you guys are boraxing and not turning and using wooden boards, be very careful.
I tried it this year in western KS , I still had some mold, that was after drying them fur in for a while....B...

I skin mine, remove cartlidge, and flesh very clean.

I turn coyotes in 20 to 24 hours and foxs in 8 to 10 hours.

If the foxs get a little ddry I throw a damp towel around them, that will usually lossen them up in a few hours.

I have had dry fur stay good in my garage all summer after this method.

I did the borax and fur out on one cat to try it, I had trouble getting it off the stretcher,adjustable wood one, I think I did not put enough borax on the skin. I will try it again next season. My furs are ready to turn in 1-2 hours, 65deg and very dry

Can't bring myself to try it.
With greys, I usually go fur in for 18-24 hrs with a fan on, then a little borax in the pits, just in case.No trouble turning. Fairly humid here.

Wood

I would rather have something over dry then under when I turn it. I have turned some super dry coyotes. Sometimes it is a pain but they don't slip. 12 hours + on all mine. in the basement with coal heat.

I let my coyotes go overnight and then flip em in the morning. I just borax the armpits and the face. Some are a little stubborn but they are nice and dry.

One lil tidbit I'll add ... as we all know it's the neck/ear area that'll take the longest to dry and when using boards ya don't get much if any air flow to the inside ... and yeah the ear bases can still be "damp" even after days of optimum conditions ... here's a lil something I started doing and it works like a charm ... after I have turned them fur side out and reboarded them ... a day or so later I'll pull them off the boards ... at this point they are quite dry but the ear area can be the least dry area of the whole pelt ... I'll redust the face/neck/ears with borax then take a flexible plastic coat hanger and push it into the mouth and down the neck a lil ways forcing it open ... then lay them on their back and blow a fan directly on them ... the forced open mouth funnels the air right where it needs to be ... couple three hours and you're good to go ... you can then reboard if you really feel ya need to but for the most part I do not

Thanks again for all the input ... I appreciate it

I've "skipping the flip" for as long as I can remember.
Based on my climate and my experience.
- If you get mold, you didn't get borax rubbed on the spot that molded. The only time I had mold was when I skipped the boraxing.
- If the fur doesn't want to come off the board, it's probably not dry all the way. Dry fur comes off very easy and the wet stuff wants to stick to the wood. Center boards on adjustable stretchers give you a lot of slop to play with and get the fur off the board.

I don't dry ermine or marten at all fur side in. They dry so fast you have to watch them continuously if you try fur in drying. Instead the pelts are small enough I just stick the whole thing into the borax box, fur side in, and wallow them about a bit. Turn fur out and board. No problems so far. Cats, coyotes, fox all get a few hours fur in. I usualy let them dry while fleshing and boarding whatever skins I have that go fur in.

If I'm stretching hides that I've caught that day verses froze and thawed stuff coyotes are put out overnight. Cats and fox will be too dry here if left all night so often they get fleshed and then froze till I'm ready to take a few days just for fur stretching.

Good Luck D. I hope you see lots of green this weekend.

After watching steve woods videos I skipped the flip all winter long and had no problems at all I skin all my cats as i catch them and it sure makes it nice when I get in at night to borox all leather, board fur side out and hang.done deal

alright m howard, if ya are ever up this way, just let me know! would love to meet you and andy and charles one day, and maybe come trappin with ya! lol

Thats the way i do it. 5 gal bucket with 2 boxes borax in it, rub the leather all around in the bucket, covering all the skin, skae and stretch.

as i turn my head, im looking at a coyote i forgot to turn, and a 12 inch tear in the side of its neck.