Cut the kid some slack guy!. Were you born with a fleshing knife in your hand.

That would make an awesome beaver board! For me, I'd have to narrow the nose a bit. That being said, just get after another one, and take your time. If you use the sharp side of the knife, lay it flat so it doesn't gouge. Coon Creek Outdoors has the best fur handling vids on YouTube imo.

My advice is to slow down and take your time raccoons are a good animal to start with with a slightly narrower beam and lean into the nose of the raccoon with your stomach to help hold it on the beam .
The tails on raccoons can be a challenge to flesh there can be a burr hiding there .
The triangle fleshing tool is a Swedish hoof knife and will do wonders after they stretch a fur on a stretcher and it's been on there for a day and the remaining fat starts to dry and get stiff so to speak .

As for bobcats it's rare to honestly need to really scrap their hide very hard and yes they can tear quickly if your not careful .
I prefer to work any fat off them with my finger tips and a old table spoon .

Coyotes can either flesh easily or fight you every inch of the way it's always amazed me how coyotes from the same area that eat about the same thing can be so different when it comes to fleshing , wait until you get a coyote that's been rolling in or on a dead porcupine quills are going to be right under their skin and will puncture your fingers and hands still ha ha

Fox are another thin skinned animal that you can pull most of the fat off with your fingers .
I hope this helps you out and whatever you do don't let any negative Nancy's get you down !
Allan

X3. We all start somewhere. I’m glad my first attempts weren’t posted here.

What an asinine reply.

I try to help people all the time but, one has to go to extremes to accomplish that kind of fleshing job.

Don’t listen to bctomcat. Someone musta pee’d in his Cheerios today. Just try again, each one will get better.

Perfect time to learn too…when prices are low.
Jim

The belly of the coon is the easist to flesh and tear. You do not need the sharp edge at all where you were scraping. Also the concave or dull side of the knife is easier to control and you are not as likely to cut holes as you can control the flatness of the knife better and with strength. Also as stated be sure to comb and pick out all the small stones, gravel, burrs, ticks etc. When you use the sharp edge of the knife and go over a small hard rise on the pelt it is very easy to cut a hole. Especially using the sharp edge.
Also you may want to check to see if your board may be a little too flat for the knives you are using. I can't really tell from the photoes but it is best to not have the knife travelling over the hide you already have scraped if you don't have too. Also don't scrap much around or close to the edge of your board. It is easier to cut holes along those edges and watch for nipples on the belly they are easy to pop open.

Bryce

you did just like a lot of us when we started , now get a needle and thread and learn how to sew up holes , and get out there and catch some more coon to try again

You see.... This is the reason I have 3 posts in 11 yrs..... Because of social media, some people have just gotten way to comfortable with disrespecting another guy and not getting punched in the mouth for it... Bet he wouldn't say it to his face... Alot of peoples coon look like that the first time. Keep practicing it'll come.

You'll improve on the next one and the one after that will be even better- it's a strength to ask for help- never a weakness. Stay the Course!!!

When I read the post, I laughed. I’m certain that if it had been said in person it would have come across comical as it sounds. Perhaps I’m a little too loose with the apparent seriousness online comments should be taken but I’m still going with if this was discussed around a campfire, laughter would have filled the air.

LOL, I thought something similar, I figured it was said tongue in cheek. Hard to convey sarcasm on these things....

and your right, in a group of guys the poster would have been roasted,....before they offered any encouragement....

For my first beaver I watched the Jackie Wurz vid. Good Lord! I don’t think I’ll ever be that good. Slow down and try different stuff, just gotta catch some more. I used a tanning kit and made a pillow out of my first beaver…..but never took pics of the fleshing job….lol.

It’s a delicate balance between too loose and uptight to get to that place that you know is just right. lol

A good fur comb will make and save you more money than any tool in your fur shed.
Check out CoonCreek Outdoors on youtube for fur handling how to!!!

absolute terrible response.....

keep at it. you will get it .

i hardly ever use the sharp side of my knife.

Thanks for all the tips.

-The board is definitely too wide for that size of critter as it was hard to turn the hide on it so I did tend to use the outer sides when I shouldn't have. Luckily I got an insane amount of pvc piping cheap so I plan to make up a lot of boards.
-I didn't comb it out at all so that's a great tip.
-and I should not have used the sharp side so heavily and at such steep angles.
-and there was a single knick on the board that needs to get smoothed out that I caught on once.

So all in all, thanks everyone for the advice, I am sure the next one can't be any worse xD