First coon put up, how does it look

Decided with low coon prices it was time to jump in to putting up fur. We did 6 and lets say there was a learning curve but we improved as we went. This is the first one off the boards. So how does it look?

Not to bad. Nice prime fur. Personally, I would not have drawn the feet around the belly of the board as far and pleated the back more. That gives a thicker fur to the grader. However, all in all not a bad job.

Thanks for the pointers, will remember to pleat the back on the next ones. Still have 5 in the freezer to put up. I would have liked to pleat the tail more but was having fits keeping the pleats while tacking down the hardware cloth.

The secret is to keep the hardware cloth narrow. No wider than the tail hide. Makes it easier to pleat and tack. Keep up the good work.

Good job.
Only thing I would change Is your window Is way to big. When making the correct opening cuts you shouldn't even have to trim the window.

I know some like to pleat the Skirt fur. But a grader Isn't going to give you one more dime for doing It.

I agree with Beav that pleating a coon is a waste of time.

The only problem I see on your coon is the skirt is not even in the back. Just to the right of the tail it hooks up about an inch or so. The grader will measure to the high point, and you will lose that on size.

This appears to be from the way you cut when skinning. Don't go around the bung when making the opening cut....go straight across from ankle to ankle. that will leave enough hide to keep an even skirt, and any extra can be trimmed away.

First coon,I'd say you done very well!

Pleating tails is a total waste of time. Pleating coon skirts doesn't do much good either. I pleated coon skirts for a season, then quit it. Wiping oil off of coon hides is a waste of time. Putting cardboard between coon hides is a waste of time. I stack 500 coon to a pile. The best way to stack coon is to put 5 rows of 5 coon to a layer. Then stack the next 25 on top of that row. I put 5 coons with all the heads facing one direction then put the next 5 coons with all the heads facing the other direction.

I must really be missing something here? He has six coon to do and asked if he's on the right track. What does wiping oil off hides, putting cardboard between hides, how to stack 500 coon have to do with anything in this thread?

Looks good to me, only get better with time.

Very true.
I used to obsess about how good a job I was doing, and convince myself it probably wasn't good enough, only to have the buyer quickly measure and grade them and tell me I did fine. Yours look pretty good to me.

Bass. Wolf is giving his thoughts and many miles on the handling of coon.

great job way better than my first coon

^^^×2 good job

Thanks guys, all pointers have been noted for the next round.