Watched a YouTube video of a guy boarding a mink today and he used a wire with some tape on the end to draw the front legs back into the body. He ran the wire in from the outside and down to the skirt then the taped end pulled the leg in. This closed the leg holes and seemed to make for a nice appearance. He said he also does this on his rats. Anyone here use that technique? Any issues with the legs not drying inside the hide?

No need to do that,just tuck them in with the wnd of your knife.
They dry fine with no problem,I have tanned lots of mink done that way.
Do the same with squirrel and weasels.
You cannot do it with otter or thicker skinned animals,dont know if it would cause hairslip on coon or not.
Rat front legholes just seem to close up on their own after nipping off the front feet.,or even if you just yank them off.

Thanks Boco. I've got one mink left to put up and I'll give that a try.

Why do you want to leave the legs on?

When I did mink I had an old piece of broken aluminum arrow that I had wrapped electrical tape multiple times around one end to maybe a 3/8” diameter. I did the same as that person did on Youtube and pulled it though the leg. Took seconds and made for a very nice finished pelt.

I do it with my rats

Saw it on coon Creek outdoors

They block out better if you cut them off at the wrist and tuck them in instead of leaving them sticking out.
some cut them off flush with the board and pin so there is no ugly holes,but that leaves a scallop when blocking out after tanning.

But the Op didn't mention whether he's selling or tanning. And for te most part If your tanning for a wall hanger the belly side Is never shown anyway when you hang It on the wall.

Just experimenting, Beav. I get enjoyment out of a nice presentation so i'm trying to learn as much as I can and see what works best for me. First year trying to catch mink/rats. I caught 3 mink and 11 rats, probably tan the mink and sell the rats.

On the NAFA WFSC video they use ia basically a giant cotton swab to pull the legs in. Get some cheap wood skewers and glue part of a cotton ball to it.

washxc, That is what I do, but I use zip tie with a little tape on the locking end. I think it give the fur a nice appearance also.

Im with rendezvous A long zip tie w a few raps of electrical tape.

I just used the tip of the mink belly stick to tuck them in.

Im with rendezvous A long zip tie w a few raps of electrical tape.