I had a couple coyotes on the stretcher and didn't get a chance to turn them for almost 30 hours. They were a little too dry and I ended up ripping one from the flanks up the belly. I just ended up throwing it away with the way the coyote market is. I'm a pretty inexperienced fur handler, but this is the first one I ended up throwing away. I guess the positive side is that it didn't cost me a lot of money, but the negative side is, I just feel bad about "wasting" it. It kind of stings....

Another interesting note, one of them ended up having a green belly when I was skinning it and it kind of stunk. I carried on as usual and fleshed, boarded, etc. the smell seems to have gone away. I am pretty sure this thing will dress fine, as the hair isn't slipping or anything. I probably would have tossed that one too thinking it's rotten, but for the same reason as above, I just carried on as usual and it seems to be fine.

Anyway, I just felt like making a post to share some of my frustrations. I love snaring coyotes.... from catching to finishing them. I love it all, I guess that's why I do it. But they are sure frustrating when they dont cooperate. That goes from the field to the fur shed!!

If a pelt gets to dry to easily turn just re-hydrate with a damp towel 10-15minutes and you should have little problem turning, I do it all the time and have never torn a pelt.

Don't worry about putting the re-hydrated pelt back on the board fur out. The re-hydrated skin dries very well and quickly, unlike a green skin against wood.

Although green belly can be serious it is common on a lot of fur animals. It is not a serious defect until it turns really dark brown or black, then you will start to see some slippage of fur. I often have coyotes hanging for 2-3 days (even 5) in the shop at 40 - 60 degree F temperature with no problem. If you’re worried about it, wiping the area with vinegar or 3% hydrogen peroxide solution will kill the bacteria causing the rot.

I would think with your humidity levels you could turn in 10-12 hours. 30 hours seems like a long time. Rehydrate like bctomcat. Good luck hope the next few go better for you.

I tore a fox a few weeks ago taking it off the board. I think I flipped it fur out too early and an arm seized to the wood….dang!

Did the same thing with the first red fox I caught this year. It dried much faster than I anticipated and tore its chest wide open when I tried to flip. I should know better, I’ve put up many many pelts over the last 21 years but sometimes I still trip myself up. I didn’t throw it away though, I decided it would be a good pelt to try tanning for the first time. It’s got enough salvageable fur for a pillow or something and if I ruin it, oh well.

It’s a good time to make mistakes to learn from and try new things with the prices the way they are.

I turn in usually anywhere from 4-8 hrs depending on certain things...I like to keep a fan stirring air (indirect). Seems to work pretty well.

If you take them off the stretcher and tuck the nose down inside the mouth and just keep tucking you should be able to turn them with out ripping. I do not ever pull on a hide to turn it, tuck and rotate and tuck a little more. I turned two that were left flesh out over a month. It is slower than a lot of the turning methods, but chances of ripping drop to nothing.

Listen to the Tomcat-he will steer you right.
Also-If they get too dry you can spray down the smaller pelts with water,let set for a while then rub them down with a rag and turn like MJM said.

^^^^^
This.
Push the nose inward, work from nose down.
Most new trappers try to turn from the bottom opening. That is a good way to rip a skin. Don't worry about wrapping a damp towel around the skin for a minute or two. Moisture applied that way will dry out very fast after turning the skin.

^This is the method I use.^

I do it a little differently though. Once I have the nose and head tucked down inside I reach up inside and grab the snout. Then with my arm inside the fur and hanging on to the snout I trap the pelt between my feet right where it's rolling and pull. Reposition and pull, repeat until it is fur side out.

Does that description make sense?

The method works really well, it's fast and I never tore one doing it.

I do exactly what lugnut does. Sometimes I’ll tie a piece of twine through an eye and pull the nose through until I can reach my arm up to grab the nose.

Awesome advice from everyone. I appreciate it.

I was taught to never pull to turn them. The greener/wetter a hide is the more you can get away with. Mine are dry when I turn them.

I turn them in about 6hrs,,, fox maybe sooner soon as the hide changes color I turn them fur side out. No ripping but I do use a fan to move the air around.
They easy to work with that way,,, I pull the pins put a foot on spreader on stretcher and carefully roll upwards to the shoulders reach inside grab nose and pull. Then put it back on the stretcher. Let hang until dry upside down to let hair stand up comb or tumble or both you will like what you get.

When I was skinning, I went in and had just over 100 to turn one morning. I skinned and fleshed all day and part of the night the day before. My wife would sew and stretch. So some when on the stretchers in the morning. Turning that many is hard on your hands the way I do it. But they never ripped.

Same here all my skins are dry when I turn them.

Pelt Turning with Rope:

For fox. coyote and cat size animals, you need 5 or 6 feet of small rope and a hook. The hook is made from a small nail. The hook is tied on one end of the cord and a loop made on the other end.

Start the nose turning of whatever you are working on. Thread the cord up through the pelt or down from the mouth. Attach the hook to the nose. Attach the loop end to a hook on the wall, your bench vice, or anything else solid that will not move.

Now step back until the cord is tight keeping tension on the cord as you use your hands to turn/tuck the pelt inward. Once past the shoulders it will turn very quickly.

For marten I use a 28-inch stick with a hook on the end to catch the nose, then once started, pull through with the pelt held in my other hand, or stick end attached to a hook on wall.

Did you use a wedge on the board?