Do they cut the strips from head to tail?

Yes. Gives longer pieces and also the pieces are more uniform. Thats why hip caught animals in snares are such a problem if the snare mark is causes a loss of the bottom section in the hide.

Cool, thanks. Store I was in today had tanned ruffs for parka trim and they were a bunch of 3 by 5 inch pieces sewn together.

I don't think head to tail is correct. Maybe others do it that way, but all the ones I have seen (wolf and fox) are cut crossways.

bfisch is right.
crossways is the correct way to do it.
It's also normal to sew pieces of fur together to make a ruff. If it's done right it'll look fine and function well.

I recall 4" wide strips, belly to belly. Cuts made crosswise for consistent, uniform piece.
This way of crossway cutting, if shoulders or hips are weak or rubbed, there will still be usable fur for trim.
TyT, do your research before cutting.

4" wide is a wide wide strip-uber big if its heavy fur-crossways cut an sew is correct-most are 2" wide if the fur is heavy

Thanks, makes more sense cutting that way. Going to try tanning some of these $40 coyotes. I’ve done some research on cutting and sewing and they all mentioned just barely cutting through the hide so as to not cut any fur. Anything else I’m missing?

Crossways for larger species like coyote.
If the coyote has a heavy coarse grotzen,cut it out,then sew the skin back together before cutting strips.
i would go with a 3 inch strip,that way you have enough to turn inside the hood for finishing.This looks a lot fuller than sewing on the outside only.

The book "Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing" by Edna Wilder might be of some help to you.

Where did you see these strips, and what species was it ?

Sell those coyotes @40$ and time will give you some that are bird pecked and you will have plenty to work with then

Thanks Rusty, I will keep an eye out for that one

Winnipeg outfitters was the store. They had coyote, fox and badger ruffs as well as a bunch of other tanned hides like otter, bobcat, mink and dyed fox.