Does anyone ever catch porcupines? I am from SC and we dont have them. Just wondering what kind of mess they leave, and if you can skin them like a regular animal?

I catch a lot of them. I sell them whole to a guy that plucks the hair and sells by the ounce. I used to hate them plugging my coyote traps but now I make double on the porcupines compared to coyotes.

They don’t leave a real tore up catch circle but on the other hand I might as well pull the trap because I’ve never caught a coyote in a porcupine remake. That’s just my experience.

Here in PA we hunt them to keep the dogs from getting hurt. Have caught them in traps before & like Yellowstone said they dont fight a trap much. They're slow in movement and not much of a catch circle.
Skinning them is kinda like doing a beaver but much more caution. Open skinning is obviously the only way.

I catch quite a few. Never tried skinning one. Always sold them whole like Yellowstone. No catch circle to speak of but I have always seemed to catch a coyote in the remake after 4-5 days. I might try skinning one after patrapperbuster’s post. Might be easier to sell skinned.

I actually case skin mine with no problem. You can’t pull them down like a coon and need to be careful, but it’s really not that hard. Remember, no quills on the belly side, so use that to your advantage when looking for a handhold. Their skin is very thin so you need to be careful not to cut or tear it. The base of the quills gives the skin the appearance of a bird skin.