Skinning on the go

Curious if many of you skin as you go on the line. Not looking for bumper hitch rigs, but any must haves or tools you’ve varied to make it easier. Some stops of 5-6 coon or a couple coyotes I’d like to just zip them on location rather than haul carcasses around. Thanks in advance.

Portable skinning rig you can hang in a tree if you have any trees!

Plenty of trees Jerry. That’s where I was going with it. Any specific one you’ve found useful?

A gambrel and two pieces of rope.

What do you do with the carcass?

I'd make one, a gambrel, some chain and quick snap set up!

Leave the carcass

If you have maggies, ravens, and crows, don't worry about the carcasses

coon hunting with hounds i skinned in the woods hanging them from a tree with a dog lead. trapping i use this.




normally hang a gambrel off it but that day i forget it and was using a snare. or the guy skinning was. that's not me but a guy i was trapping with.

I think it would be more productive to skin in the shop if you have one and trap while on the line. You will put more fur in the truck that way Wade. LLL

I would have to agree with Larry if trapping around home on trip some where skin as you go better and faster in daylight than truck light after dark.

I wouldn't waste valuable time skinnin while running lines.Good line management should leave you plenty of time for skinning while your traps are working.

Great post

Peel easy warm, less handling of the carcass. Leave the mess in the fields, when i get home put furs in freezer and reload truck. I keep a knife, gambel, tail puller bags for fur and glands. In a small duffle bag. I use to pack a skinning pole for pickup, but every ranch has corrals for working livestock so now i just use them .

Some guys don't want to run traps all day long everyday and skin in the fur shed half the night every night. Nothing wrong with that!

I have built a lot of different designs of portable skinners, most fit in your truck receiver. If you think I can be of help to you designing something that suits your needs shoot me a PM Wade.

ADC -- Interested in some sort of skinning rig for coyotes but my truck doesn't have a receiver hitch. I know, my man card is in jeopardy but can you recommend anything? Oh, and I have a shell on the truck.

ADC, Sell him a receiver hitch first.

Than stick him with a skinning rig.

That's like buying NY City salsa!!!!!!! No receiver hitch, for crying out loud.

LOL, I'll put on my thinking cap and shoot you a PM Tracy.

Is there a ladder rack on that shell if so you could tie a ladder on it and hang sour critters from it

I make up a snare that closes all the way out of 3/32 cable.....I carry it in a small bag with my knife, sharpner and tail stripper......just throw the snare over a limb ..and bam...good to go. I cant use reg snares that I use on my line for beavs because we have to have a deer stop............the deer stop leaves too much of a gap to get a good hold of a critters foot for skinning.

everything gets skint on the line.unless they are froze like a brickbat.....even wet coon...carcassas would start to pile up at home and I don't wanna have to mess with them.

ADC....you could build a skinning rig that is held down by rear pickup tire...think in Steve & Lori Gappa had coyote video after a catch they skinned in the field...first would pull out of back of truck skinner base they would place ahead of rear truck tire then drive fwd until tire on top of base...then would pull out skinning pole with hand crank that would slip into base.

No longer have video or I could have taken & posted pic.

Thanks. I have made something similar to that. I never saw theirs, but I'm not surprised others have thought about doing it that way. I think there was even a video on here where a guy opened, I think foxes, then parked on their back feet and pulled them that way. There's definitely more than one way to skin a... well, about everything. lol

Larry I do have a skinning machine at the shop. I’m not trying to make a living trapping or survive off the income. I get paid to trap on vacation. Half the time I peel coyotes by hand rather than use the machine anyways.

This will be just a few coons a morning after work or a couple coyotes. I love skinning the last ones I killed right before I hit the shop. Figure why not do them all when they’re hot as butter. I’m not trying to break any records.

Thanks for the ideas. My original thought was a gambrel with a rope, but I’m thinking I might try some #5 chain and a quick link with the gambrel with choke collars. That’s how my gambrel is set up on my machine. Also looking I like Wiebes opening knife with replacement blades. Might beat the razor blades I’ve used in the past.

I have skinned many animals right off the tailgate of my truck. I use a dog choker chain from Walmart and attach it to the hook that is in the bed of the truck. Then just slip the other end of the choker on the back foot of the animal. I've done Coyote, coon, fox and bobcat that way. It's not something I do all the time, it just depends on what mood I'm in and the weather that day. The animals do skin easier on the line and it sure is nice to not have to mess with them when you get home.

I built a beam that folds down flat for fleshing away from home. I have decided that putting up fur while away from home is not worth the effort. Not without a real fur shed at least. Stuff dries VERY slowly without heat and fans, its just not worth the effort. Skinning coyotes as you go, 2-3 at a time, is a good way for me to do things. Skinning with pickup headlights, or a lantern or a headlamp or all 3 whatever, causes expensive mistakes. Especially with good cats. Never deal with green belly either. I don't care how cold it is green belly is a problem if you have dead coyotes in a truck bed all day. Yes can take a half hour to stop and pelt 3 coyotes but your not trying to sew an eyehole back together later either. Big eye can turn a 1000 dollar cat into a 300 dollar cat. It know that isn't supposed to happen BUT IT DOES.

I also keep a butchers steel in the pickup door. Useful for pulling front legs out as well as keeping a pelting knife razor sharp. An Arkansas oil stone is kept at camp in case its needed. Hard to imagine a trapper that wont sharpen a knife couple times a season and use a steel as he skins.

Thanks Danny. I use a sharpened metal dowel in the fur shed but didn’t want to take it out. The steel makes sense. That’s the kind of stuff I was hoping to get.

don't forget to put your tail splitter and tail puller in the truck also if you use them. cheap slip joint pliers are sure handy. so is a spare knife. if one gets too dull to steel grab the other till you can stone the dull one.

If you have time to skin them warm in the field and are just running a few I would still run them off my machine and get rid of the carcasses the next day. Personally I would not want to hassle with hauling everything I need to skin just for a few critters but I have no issue with those who want to. I don't see a need for a portable skinning machine. I think of the time to mount and unmount it . Especially for a few critters again. Just my thought. LLL

If you're like me, you have to skin some on the line, or the truck gets too full

To each their own. But, here are my thoughts. For canine trapping, I believe skinning at the set is one of the best time management techniques there is. Every time you handle the animal is time and energy spent. My goal is to pick the fox or coyote up once and put it down once. There are the same number of minutes in the day no matter when you skin. However, it costs you time if you handle the animal multiple times instead of just once. The key is to have everything ready and at your finger tips. Just in front of the tailgate I have my skinning knife and everything else I need to skin and gland the animal. The fox or coyote comes off the ground onto the tailgate, the cuts are made, the hide is pulled and the carcass drops to the ground. I dispose of the carcass most times at the set location and in a discrete manner. If the set location does not permit this I skin at the next one that does. Handle the animal once. I skin horizontally instead of vertically and find it much easier. The anchor for my gamble is in the center of the truck bed about the body length of a coyote ahead of the edge of the tailgate.

Again, regarding time management . . . a ten or twelve hour day is a ten or twelve hour day. It is faster and easier to skin warm and handle the carcass once.

All of this is null and void when you talk water trapping. Hehe. Everything is frozen.lol

Silly water trappers! Lol. Portable for me is going to be four foot of chain and a gambrel. The guys I used to coon hunt with would skin with a rope in the field less weight to haul back to the truck. They were done in just over a minute or two . I’m not going to be far enough from home to justify a mount on the truck. Thanks for the tips from those that do it.

Use an old snare wrap it around a tree limb slip a foot through the snare and close it.

Some of my sites I trap I'm out of the truck for 2 or 3 hours so skinning yotes and big coon in the field is a must.
I use a piece of mule tape and this.

And they close down to this

I only crimp the tag end sideof the double crimp.
I also make single looped ones to hang critters in the shed.
Makes good use of what is left of a mangled CR

My setup is similar to wetdogs top loop doesn't cinch tight bottom loop the tag end is crimped it can be wraped around a tree, post or limb skin 1 leg and hook on to the other I cut off the tail and pull the bone out latter carcass can be thrown in the truck or disposed of with landowners permission

Not a bad idea there.

I have always checked one day and skinned the next, I like the idea of the bugs being dead and the less of mess after waiting overnight if a guy hits a artery around the head/neck.

When I was trapping a bit seriously I often skinned on the line. That meant no carcass to haul away, and a draw bait. At one point I used a tree gripping bracket that I could push up higher with a pole. Then trapping were trees were essentially nonexistent, I made two or three different hitch mounted boat winch skinning rigs. At other times I had walk-in traplines where trimming a few juniper limbs was enough to avoid having to tote yotes out over rough terrain.

I always considered recycling carcasses as critter feed was a plus. It probably saved a few live creatures. Of course that might not work if you are trapping within a short distance of someone's house.

I agree, cold is a little tougher, but a whole lot less messy

I stop half way thru my line to skin. I sell the coon meat as well. I hate coming home to 50 or so critters. Especially coon. Simple gambrial made out of 1/8" snare cable with a non locking loop for each leg. I have about 20 serrated pelter knives a tail puller and a good steel. I usually start at 4am. Home by 8pm to spend sometime with the wife. This works for me.

Thanks, this is simple. I like it.

once again it appears that there is a lot of different ways to do things the right way when trapping is involved

October/November is different than December, and trapping is different than snaring. I put a paper towel and a skinning glove (disposable) over the head of the coyote, to catch any blood on fresh ones. It saves time and headaches later. I like a one piece steel gambrel, as I can pull on the coyote, and it still comes off of the legs easy enough. I carry a few loops made out of 1/8" cable for accidents bin the hock area. I pull coyotes too hard to use anything that doesn't slide easily, I'd be fighting with 3/32" loops because the cable would bend and bulge in front of the ferrules. And, like Danny said, a good steel for pulling legs and touching up sharpening. Having some skinned when I head for home is a plan/intention of mine this year. i used to skin everything in the field, as far as canines go. Lots of skinning gloves and lots of flea spray. And that brings up the issue of smell and time.... a tough call.

I can give you this useful tip. Instead of Wiebe's knife, go to Menard's/Home Depot/Lowe's and buy a cheap utility knife and a package of carpet blades (the one's with the hook). This is cheap, the blade is retractable, and you can store extra blades in the handle. Absolutely awesome when opening up coyotes.

Wade. PM me and i'll send u a pic of the ones im making.. John

I carry a screw in tree step in my pack. Any tree, telephone pole and I'm in business.
Skinning 3/4 coyotes miles away from the truck sure beats dragging them out.

I use a Dog choke collar. Carry it to skin on the go. Hang racoon or coyotes from the nearest tree limb or pull from your hitch on the ground.

I use something similar instead of crimping one side of the ferrul i use a stop on the tag end with a inch or so of cable past the stop and a double ferrul smashed down on it so you can get a grip on it to pull the slide open when done

Ive improvised with baler twine, rope, tie wire , snares and rebar trap stakes . Fix yourself a small tackle box with everything you need in it
One thing i carry in mine that some might think is odd catfish skinning pliers for starting th legs .

It is amazing how many places you can put a rebar stake and use it for a skinning pole on a pickup.

Two or three critters a day ,do it anyway you want but get a pickup with a pile in it you better skin at home or hire it done

When I gun coyotes the first thing I do is plug all holes with paper towels ,If I dispatch with a gun I do the same