Took the otter pelt out of the freezer that I caught last week. It weighed 26 lbs and stretched 64 inches nose to tip of tail. Had to use a mink stretcher as an extension for tail to fit.
After fleshing I concluded that this was the toughest otter I've ever fleshed. Didn't have much fat on it , mostly just meat, membrane, and tissue. Kind of reminded me of fleshing a tough old coyote. Season ended in this zone now.
I caught my 1st otter in 1974 in a 14# jump in a blind set and have caught my share since then. Hope I can catch a few more in future seasons. Have to fasten cites tag before I forget. Lol

You did a good job on the fleshing and yes....Otter with little to no fat are much harder to flesh.

Nice looking work there. Could tell it wasn't your first.

Nice work and nice otter. To me otter are hardest to work on.

Great looking otter Walt. Thats a biggun for sure.

As usual, beautiful work, Walt! A lot better than Andar would have done!

Moosetrot

Nice work Walt! I hope you catch a pile more.

Very nice put up. I use a piece of a Coroplast road sign for an extension, if needed.

Nice otter Walt. I caught two this season and both of them had very little fat. One had all kinds of tick marks on it's back so I'm pretty sure it will be graded damaged the next auction.

I love the statement that you'd better get the tag on.

Nice work, Walt. Otter, to me, are the most labor intensive animal, for the money.

Fleshing a lean otter is almost like trying to flesh the hull off a battleship. There has to be a better way. I made a beam out of a piece of 2x3, rounded the top and nose as needed and mounted it on the wall. The most fat is around the hips and is like the frosting on the cake. I know I`m not supposed to eat that first, but this is the exception. I flesh the bottom 6" or so, and clean up the tail while I`m there. Slip the pelt off the beam, spin it around and slide the mouth down the beam until you get to where you fleshed the bottom, now start your fleshing again only now your going towards the head. Going up the pelt, your going with the grain of the hair roots, not against them like when we go top to bottom. I guarantee it`s a world of difference. Good luck.

Just a sidenote on this catch. I caught it in a blind set in a MB 1216 at the outlet of a spring fed slough which drains into a medium size creek. I usually put a set or two here every winter as the creek stays open all winter due to the many springs. I usually catch an otter or two if they travel through.
This year I had to sort through the other furbearers that also travel in and out of the slough. The 1216 accounted for 2 muskrats, 2 beaver, and a mink before the otter catch. As is typical of most otter trapping it is a waiting game
and keeping the trap operating is the key. Not only was it tough to flesh, but proved to be a tough catch.

I guess I’m weird, but I like putting up otter.
I scraped and dried 65 this winter, and one stood out as way worse than the rest. In fact that otter really made the skinning machine moan way more than most. Sure glad they aren’t all like that lol.
I see you all talking about having to put extensions on your boards to accommodate big ones. How long are your otter boards to begin with? I’ve put up many hundreds of otter and have never had one too long for my otter boards.

I'd rather put up 3 otter than 1 beaver.

I can’t say that! Lol

I enjoy the time spent on each critter. Otter just are a bit more work, and honestly I think they should be quite a bit more valuable for the trapper.

Agree.
I’m gonna average close to $70 this year by the time I move the skulls, glands, and peckers. Sure would like to see them at a Benjamin or more average. That’s been awhile ago lol.

My shoulders and elbows are aching just thinking about it. Occasionally I’ll catch a real thin spring beaver, they’re tough. Nice job on that otter Walt.

Good job.Looks very nice.

Them grissely old males can force the swear words out! And take twice as long

I'm on my way to the DNR skinning party. I'll see if I can get some pics. I know there will be some otters to put up.

I know its not an option in the south but here I can frostscrape all my otters,there is no difference in effort between a fatty or a grisselback

There is an excellent tutorial in the Wilderness Archives called A Whole Otter Fun, by trapped4ever. To say he is an expert fur handler would be a gross understatement, and his otter put-up is flawless.
I, on the other hand, hate skinning and fleshing those things. I have trapped my share over the decades, but until they go north of $120.00, I limit myself to 1 per year, just to remind me how much I dis-like handling them.

Thanks for posting that AV, I'd forgotten all about that thread!

I do a little knife work on the tail and the head and the rest with my trusty 2.5" pull type paint scraper.

These are some that I had to measure and show to a potential buyer. (He bought 'em).

BTW, the otter that Boco shows with a narrow tail would be worth about $20 less on our western sales where craft buyers for Indian regalia are the best buyers. They want a wide tail that takes up the whole board at the skirt.

I do my tails even wider than BP, but never pleated.

I do them like mud.

That first pic was the first year I sold to Dennis and my understanding of what he wants with otter pelts just in its infancy.

A later otter job:

How wide are those boards Beaverpeeler?

7.5" (I know, the pics make it look like 6.5" lol)

Yep, Dennis hates pleated tails. I do mine wide like beaverpeelers second pic. Those narrow tails will cost you money out here. Never did understand the pleated tails unless peoples boards were too short to fit the tail on. Seen a batch of coons at the sail this year with pleated tails also.

Boco do you think frost scraping could be replicated using a chest type or walk in freezer? I’ve been scraping otters, and often wonder if there is an easier way then bending over a beam with my necker. It does the job and the end product is great, but always looking to be more efficient. Also interested in that paint scraper - beavpeeler.

Nice otter Walt, that set was productive

The pleated tail craze was supposed to push more fur up into the window. Was always a poor idea in my opinion.

Some day I'll take pics and do a tutorial. Not sure what I do is any better than anybody else's; but it suits me. I don't own a two handled fleshing knife.

Back in the day the otter were shipped in watermelon crates which were 40x44" long tails had to be folded inside creating problems for inspections.....time consuming and breakage damage possible and bulky
Some of the shipping crates now are 40x56" so folding/ pleating not needed

BP, what's your thoughts on fleshing otters while wet?

I've always been skeptical that it helps with singe, and I think an otter that's boarded when the guard hair is still damp looks terrible when it comes off the board. Curious on how you and mud do it?

I don't pay much attention to it. I whip the pelt several times to get water out before fleshing and will often hang a pelt overnight in a cool dry area before boarding the next day. I rarely am working with bone dry pelts though, and they may be slightly damp when boarded. Fur always looks great in the window and tail.

Speaking of windows, my buyer is not a fan so these days I'm leaving little to no window. He is cutting 1.5" strips from the pelt and the longer the strip them more it is worth. Therefore no windows makes him more $$$ from the pelt.