Today was a proud dad moment. We caught our first coon on our first set of dog proofs we put out. The boys we quite excited. Now I did struggle to skin the coon was the first time since I was a middle schooler. I struggled to strip the tail and get past the ears and eyes cleanly. Seemed to be much harder than I remember,lol. The fur just did not want to seperate from the body and tail. Any tips?

The smiles on the boys' faces say it all. Congratulations on your first catch! As far as getting your critter skinned, I'd say make sure your knife is sharp and take your time in getting the hide off. Go slow and be careful where you cut. There are lots of great skinning videos on YouTube that might be helpful in giving you some instruction.

This is how I do it. Yes I use a machine, but the tips are good for pulling by hand as well. Probably the #1 thing that makes it easier is to skin then while they are still warm if you can. Second thing is wear gloves, the cotton gloves you see in my video are for grip, and it's so much easier. You'll still be able to use the rod under the tail and front legs. Them just pull by hand when I use the machine, or if you're really getting into this, you can get or build a machine for yourself.



Once you get the hang of it it'll be like this for you...

Thanks for the info. I used a field knife out of a kit I got for Christmas. It seemed to dull up quickly. I have a weibe coming and I feel like that will take 90% of the frustration away. I can't wait for public to open up to trapping in January so I can really get out with the boys and put some miles in. There is so much to show and teach them about animals and how they live and travel.