Hey guys, the boy and I are in the midst of fleshing and boarding our catches and I have a few quick questions on the fleshing/boarding/drying. I've delved pretty deep on youtube, CCO/IowaTrapper/Hoosier etc.. but I couldn't find a direct answer.

How long do we leave our raccoons boarded? We aren't shooting for the fur market, just nice wall hangers at the moment. And towards the end of our season we are going to dabble in some tanning. But the first issue is getting everything out of the freezer, fleshed and tacked to drying boards.

I have them boarded fur in, but that appears to be more for the fur selling market.. I wasn't sure on when the exact time would be to flip them fur out for wall hangers. Was sort of iffy on if we wait to long to flip em when they are stiffer than a board.

Thanks in advance.

No need to turn them fur out if you are going to tan them. You can turn them every which way but loose after tanning.

Leave them on till the nose is dry. Wipe the juice off as it dries. For a wall hanger, it still needs to be tanned or it will spoil.

You can turn them fur out like any other pelt if you wish.There is no set time on when to turn them.It depends on temperature and humidity.
Turn fur out when they are about halfway dry,that is when the skin is leathery and not boardy,After putting them back on the board fur out shove your key back in the belly,leave for two or 3 days then take out the key and pull the skin off the board and store the dried skins in a freezer until its time to tan them.
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If your talking about coon I would never turn them fur out. Well that is until there tanned.
Coon are very greasy and take a long time to completely dry. The tail will be the last thing to dry and the nose the first to dry. Hang them nose down while drying. This will keep all the grease from building up on the skirt area.