Fur Handling Forum


No Profanity *** No Flaming *** No Advertising *** No Anti Trappers *** No Politics
No Non-Target Catches *** No Links to Anti-trapping Sites *** No Avoiding Profanity Filter


Home~Trap Talk~ADC Forum~Trap Shed~Wilderness Trapping~International Trappers~Fur Handling

Auction Forum~Trapper Tips~Links~Gallery~Basic Sets~Convention Calendar~Chat~ Trap Collecting Forum

Trapper's Humor~Strictly Trapping~Fur Buyers Directory~Mugshots~Fur Sale Directory~Wildcrafting

Trapper's Tales~Words From The Past~Legends~Archives~Kids Forum~Lure Formulators Forum


~Dobbins' Catalog~

>
pcsoutdoors
(Please support PCS Outdoors, our sponsor for the Fur Handling Forum Page)


Print Thread
Hop To
Drying tips? #6668643
11/17/19 10:37 PM
11/17/19 10:37 PM
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
A
asutcliffe Offline OP
trapper
asutcliffe  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
This is my first year putting up fur. I put 16 coons on boards with wedges today. What are some tips for drying, storing, knowing when I can remove them from the boards, and anything I need to do to them before time to remove them. I have them in my fur shed at about 62 degrees with a fan and as little sunlight as possible. Thanks in advance and tight chains.

Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6668651
11/17/19 10:45 PM
11/17/19 10:45 PM
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
bctomcat Offline
trapper
bctomcat  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
Fur Drying
The recommended condition for drying pelts is 50-60F with good air circulation, but not directly on the pelts.
When the bodies of fur out species are dry, usually within 24 hours, turn them fur out even if the head area lips and ear butts may be damp. They will generally dry with little if any serious warping as long as you have reasonable drying conditions of low humidity and temperature.
Leave fur out pelts on the board 3-4 days after turning pelt fur out. Taking a hide off the board too soon is worse than leaving it on too long. It will wrinkle and you get excessive shrinkage, thus losing money on size. Time to turn a fur out pelt depends upon the humidity, temperature and air circulation in your shop.

To facilitate drying split the front legs of wolf, coyote, fox, and lynx up to the elbow. Then use either a squirrel or marten board, which ever is appropriate, to tack them open to dry. For fisher and marten use a thick cardboard to tack them out on.

Rats are graded by feel and weight thus you want those rats hydrated so they don't get that nasty crinkly sound when they are graded. Take them off the board when the nose and lips are dry. Then, store rat pelts (squirrels & weasels also) in a cardboard box and keep them cool.




Last edited by bctomcat; 11/17/19 10:57 PM.

The only constant in trapping is change so keep learning.






Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6668895
11/18/19 10:09 AM
11/18/19 10:09 AM
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 11,832
MT (Big Sky Country)
A
Allan Minear Offline
trapper
Allan Minear  Offline
trapper
A

Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 11,832
MT (Big Sky Country)
I like sprinkling some sawdust on raccoon pelts to help soak up some of the grease then hang them up but the nose after removing them from the stretcher or put them into a garbage bag keep them separate from other pelts .


Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6669064
11/18/19 02:29 PM
11/18/19 02:29 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
W
wissmiss Offline
trapper
wissmiss  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
The nose area is usually the last spot to dry. If the nose is dried completely, the rest of the pelt probably is too.

No matter how clean you scraped them, coon will sweat grease as the pelts dry. Use old rags or newspaper or so mething disposable to keep the grease wiped off.

Be sure you split the tail and tack it open to dry. Nothing worse than a rotten smelly raccoon tail.


www.usedtraps.com

Please check out my updated inventory of Native American books.

Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6669089
11/18/19 02:58 PM
11/18/19 02:58 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
T
The Beav Offline
trapper
The Beav  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
The nose Is the last thing to dry ????


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6669094
11/18/19 03:11 PM
11/18/19 03:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
W
wissmiss Offline
trapper
wissmiss  Offline
trapper
W

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 16,681
north Idaho
That has been my experience. Of course, I’m sure you have had a different experience.

I will agree with you on one thing. Pelts like raccoon should be dried nose hanging down, to keep the grease from getting in the skirt. At least that is what you have said in the past.......


www.usedtraps.com

Please check out my updated inventory of Native American books.

Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6669777
11/19/19 10:17 AM
11/19/19 10:17 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
T
The Beav Offline
trapper
The Beav  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
My experience has been that the nose and face dry first, The reason being that there isn't any meat or fat in that area. It's the same reason that the face and feet are the first things to freezer burn when furs are stored incorrectly for long periods of time.
At our fur school The DNR stores un skinned critters for lengthy periods and the first thing to freezer burn Is the head and feet.
Same with working with fur out critters. After they have been fleshed and placed skin out for a day or less on the board the driest part of the animal Is the face when It comes time to turn that hide.
On fur In boarded fur the face and nose Is always first to dry.

I put up fur professionally for NAFA for many years. We would skin 100 or so critters then we would roll up those hides and cover them with a tarp till we could start fleshing the next day. If we didn't do that the noses and faces would start to dry.

Now when talking about ears that's a different story since you have cartilage to deal with and If It's not removed drying time increases.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6670354
11/19/19 09:37 PM
11/19/19 09:37 PM
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
A
asutcliffe Offline OP
trapper
asutcliffe  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
Great info guys. So what is the best method for knowing when fur is ready to remove from the boards? When I put coons on a fur hanger will I need to put something between each one of them since they will continue to sweat?

Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6670430
11/19/19 10:48 PM
11/19/19 10:48 PM
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
bctomcat Offline
trapper
bctomcat  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
Generally when the lips are dry it's safe to remove the pelt from the board. All species placed on a fur hanger system should be spaced an inch or so apart to allow air circulation.


The only constant in trapping is change so keep learning.






Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6671737
11/21/19 02:21 PM
11/21/19 02:21 PM
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
A
asutcliffe Offline OP
trapper
asutcliffe  Offline OP
trapper
A

Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 37
Freeman MO
Thanks guys I'll update how things are going later on. So far I have 25 coons and a rat on boards. I'll be hitting the beaver and rats around Christmas. I hoping to start catching coyotes soon as deer season will be ending and they will be hungry again without all the gut piles around.

Re: Drying tips? [Re: asutcliffe] #6673389
11/23/19 10:23 AM
11/23/19 10:23 AM
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 14
MISSISSIPPI
D
danny davis Offline
trapper
danny davis  Offline
trapper
D

Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 14
MISSISSIPPI
i think they should make a gut pile lure ,around here if you get a dear,the gut pile is gone in two days.


danial allen davis
Re: Drying tips? [Re: bctomcat] #6673485
11/23/19 12:37 PM
11/23/19 12:37 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,264
james bay frontierOnt.
B
Boco Offline
trapper
Boco  Offline
trapper
B

Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,264
james bay frontierOnt.
Tomcat,I thought when the lips were dry it was time for another cold one?


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Drying tips? [Re: Boco] #6673499
11/23/19 12:54 PM
11/23/19 12:54 PM
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
bctomcat Offline
trapper
bctomcat  Offline
trapper

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,794
100 Mile House, BC Can
Originally Posted by Boco
Tomcat,I thought when the lips were dry it was time for another cold one?

Yup, that also.


The only constant in trapping is change so keep learning.






Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1