Hey I'm new to this and wondering whats going on with the two coons on the right? They were a couple of the first ones ive done. The one on the left is my most recent.


Also any tips? Ive been attempting to get as much flesh of the face as I can also although ive watched videos where other people dont.

The 2 coon on the right are early coon. They still have blood In the hair follicles (roots) and that's wast gives them that color. The third coon from the right Is very close to being fully prime. And as yo can see the far left coon has reached full primness.

Your fleshing job Is perfect. I have put up coon professionally and I never scraped the faces.There just Isn't enough meat or gristle to worry about.

Turn those coon around and lets take a look at the belly side.

Not to step on toes or hijack the thread but what would you say about this otter beav? I caught it yesterday, 2/3/2021. Have some from January that are not as dark but have some spotting.
Second picture is caught 1/23/2021. I do t get why the first pictures otter is so black. Only been on board 12 hours.

Same four just flipped around.

Hard to say on the otter but It sure looks like a lot of tick bites. But I've never seen a otter caught at this time of the year with that black color on the head. How was It caught could It have been due to trap trauma?

Same four just flipped around.

Not to bad.
Get the lower lip cut off all of them. them. And why did you leave the feet and the nut sac on that one coon they need to come off. And that same coon needs some more fleshing on the belly side and those front legs need to com off.

The windows look Ok except for that One. But you could spread the hind legs a bit more so you can open up that Inspection window.

It's hard to tell but those wedges should be shoved In so the wide part Is positioned In the head area. And when you hang those coon hang then nose down so all the grease drips off the nose. By doing that you won't have the grease building up on the skirt fur.

They should all look like the coon on the left but with the lip cut off and spread the legs a bit more. Other then that good job.

Was that one coon a roadkill ?

Is it just me or are those boards way too sharp pointed to be raccoon boards? Head area looks more like fox boards. To the OP, how wide are the boards where the tails are?

Agree with the previous comments about the fleshing, lower lip and the odd ball with the feet, long front legs and no inspection window and leaving the face alone. But if this your first go, not a bad start at all.

Something no one else has mentioned, rather than pull the tail down, pull the sides down and pin the skirt straight across the board. Sizes are measured to the shortest point on the skirt so you probably lost some length. The following is from the NAFA Fur Handling manual but is the best illustration I could find of a properly boarded raccoon. Scroll down to page 6 to see how the raccoon skirt and tail are pinned out. Also notice how the nose area is more rounded.
NAFA Fur Handling

Thanks. I was experimenting with that one with the feet for possible future skinning for a full body taxidermy. The boards i bought online advertised as coon boards they are 7.25 at the bottom i think. From murrays and pcs. I got some larger ones also said for x large coons and they are an inch wider or something and longer.

I was looking at sending some dry ones somewhere to get a hat made or something. Cheaper than shipping a froze pelt. Any recommendations on that also in the way of prep?

Also got an ez100 tanning kit and a couple others.

The nose could be a bit more blunt but It's not a big deal. 71/2" wide at 30" down from the nose Is the width you want on a coon board.

That more pointy nose probably makes them easier to get off the board.