Can anyone help me understand this?

I skinned a few animals but don't have time to scrape or stretch them during the week. I live far away from where I trap.

I know how to freeze pelts, But....

Question: How long can I leave a skinned (but not fleshed) pelt "laying around" Without freezing it?

Meaning: If I skin something on a Sunday, do I need to freeze it if I'm going to be back to put it up on say.... Friday (5 days later)? what about 4 days? What is the cut-off where I would need to definitely-freeze it?

Thank you.

my thought ya can always unfreeze it if you find time but if you let them go too long the freezer won't do them any good.

here if i can't get em within a day-2 at the max,i chuck em in a freezer.

now if you have a refrigerator for fur you may get by.

Thank you. Ok I'll try the 2-day rule then.

It depends somewhat on the type of animal. Coon and beav hold well, and if you put them in a refrigerator, cold versus warm, they will hold easy for four days, but five is really pushing it. I take fur out of the freezer to work, and if I have too many interuptions, I stick what I didn't get done in the refer. You can also take out of the freezer two to four days early and let them unthaw in the refer.

There are variables.How long the animal layed around after killing and before skinning(green belly).
Temperature is the big one.Overnight at room temperature is as far as I would go.
If you have a refrigerator,4-5 days at 5c would be good.2-3 days at 10c.(this is a fresh skin with no green belly).
The cooler the ambient temp the longer you can go.If in doubt,your nose will let you know.Once it starts to smell a little sour,stretch and dry it right away-it will be too late to freeze it at that point.

it really depends on the temperature if you have a heated for shed you probably lonely yet couple of days max out of raccoon. I usually only heat my shed when I am and it if needed so typically I cannot get at least 3 days after their skinned. Unless I am trying to dry them out I typically just leave on the floor. My experience with canines is they will go sour very quickly even in cool temperatures.

My suggestion would be to roll them tight, bag them and freeze. Even if refrigerated they sour in 5 days.

Garry-