When starting out, practice on all your "L" size coon and smaller. If any mistakes are made, you're not out much. And as several have suggested, have them chilled so the fat is set up. Not near the mess.

Smash,
your mailbox is full.

Go to Coon Creek videos. Stu has a 3 part series on skinning, fleshing, and boarding raccoons. Using a vice grip clamp helps a lot to keep hides in the correct orientation for fleshing.

It will come to you. I bet with you having a woman's attention to detail, you'll put up fur really well once you get the hang of it.

I went to the South Jersey Snaring and DP school 6 years ago. It was held at Newt Sterling’s place. On his beam, he had tacked a short napped piece of carpet. When asked, he said this “padding” was more forgiving on pelts that might still have a burr in them. Others chimed in. They all said it was easier to scrape with the padding between the hide and the beam.

When I skin, I brush out burrs and seeds. Then, just before I scrape (after freezing) I brush them out again. It helps a lot but every once in a while I’ll find a burr or nipple and end up cutting a hole. It happens to all of us.

There was a video on how to flesh a coon in 2 minutes I think it was. I don't know if it's in the Archives section or not. It was demonstrated by a guy named Pflueger, I believe. Anybody else familiar with this video?

Maybe someone already mentioned this, but it will save you a lot of shop rags if you get a good supply of hardwood sawdust and use it generously while fleshing. It also tends to help push the flesh and fat off easier.

I watched a video on You Tube on fleshing a coon with a power washer. I can't imagine anyone trying that. Made me laugh for how messy it was!

Bob Jameson mentioned that…..so I actually put it on the fat and the flesh?

I don’t know if I’m that woman……
But thanks for the encouragement!!!

The word perfection isn’t in my realm of thinking

The "dull" side of Lee's knives are sharp enough that you can slice with them (side to side) just be careful, you'll get there. I rarely use the sharp side anymore on mine.

Start your fleshing at about 6" from the bottom of the hide. Buy doling this you don't have that big buildup of fat. You will create a fat fee area so when you move up to the head area or if you start up another 6" the fat will just roll off and you won't get that build up you are dealing with now.
I like to turn the hide so one leg Is up and centered on the beam. Then other thing Is I feel that you have left to much leg fur. Cut them shorter then when your fleshing that area you can just run the knife right over the leg.
By doing the sides first you create 2 narrow strips. One on the back and one on the belly. It's a lot easier to flesh off a narrow strip then it Is to try and take It all off at once.
Your getting there It just takes practice.

A few more things to think about. You should bring the hind legs around to the back of the board. By doing this you open up the window. And I feel that your window Is a bit too long. With the right initial opening cut you should never have to remove any fur to create a window.

One other thing Is you should put your belly wedge In from the mouth end. This is the area that dries more than the other parts of the hide. And this Is where it gets the tightest on the board. So, you want the widest part of your wedge in the head area. And hang your fur from the tail area so any grease will run off the hide and not build up on the skirt fur.
The tail is probably the toughest part to get fleshed clean. A little borax rubbed in to that area will help the drying process.