Should I get multiple size coon stretchers

For wood stretchers I’ve seen them be 7.5” 8” and 8.5” inches at there bases, if you did this they would not look uniform, correct? So should I buy the different sizes or stick the standard 7.5 or whatever a consistent size is?

I would. Get diffent sizes. Not sure on your size coon, I thinking smaller. I

I would check with some local buyers or auction agents if you have any. I don't know what OH coon are for sure. Are they easterns, eastern north centrals or centrals or all of the above? For my area I want the stretcher to be
7.5 inches wide at 30 inches from the nose tip. When a pelt is on the stretcher then the pelt is 8 inches wide at that spot. Most of my boards are 8 inch boards but 7.5 at 30 inches. I have several 54 inch boards that are 8 inches at 30 inches and a dozen that are 7.5 inches at the base. They are slightly less then 7.5 inches at 30 inches, so I don't use those much. Our coon here are western northern, north central and some Canadian.

Before I would buy boards if I were you I would do some quick research to know better what you may want to invest in. Having more than one size is probably a good idea, but what size you should get and the quantities of each may need some more research on your part. My boards are based on specs I had reviewed from NAFA which no longer exists. I used the same boards to ship to FHA this year.

Bryce

Get a standard ruler and Take a look at it. There is a 1 inch difference between 7.5 and 8.5. Look at how small of space that is on a ruler. Not really that much when you consider the Raccoon pelt is going to be 30+ inches long. Your coon aren’t going to run really big as a general rule, there fore you can get buy with 1 size stretcher.

I would get stretchers that are 7.5 inches at the base and be done with it.

In My Opinion, a lot of trappers overthink stretcher size. NAFA specs vs. FHA specs. 7.5” vs. 8”. All minor details in the big picture. If you were to look at Raccoon pelts in a graded lot at FHA, you would see all sorts of widths in that lot. Some 7.25, some 7.5, some 7.75, some 8, etc. They are all in the same lot. You can bet your bottom dollar that the person sizing those Raccoon pelts didn’t measure the width on every pelt.

Obviously, you don’t want a Raccoon pelt that is 4 inches wide. And you don’t want a Raccoon pelt that is 10 inches wide. You can eyeball those without using a measuring device. But as long as they look about 7.5-8 inches wide, no body is going to care.

The KIS principle applies to this situation.

Please don’t take the tone of my post the wrong way, I’m not ridiculing you or criticizing you, just trying to point out that stretching a Raccoon pelt isn’t rocket science.

go with one size , 7.5 or 8 jmo

So 7 and 5/8s will be good? lol

THIS

I'm voting with wiss miss, pcr2, I use 7.5" wide coon boards.

What you want Is 7 1/2" wide at 30 inches down from the nose end of the board. The base has nothing to do with It. 90% of your coon will never make It to the base of the board.

I'd message ack on here as he's in the Lima area as well as to what size boards he's using. I don't see the need for multiple sizes in my part of the state but your coon avg 1-2 sizes bigger.

I don't catch a bunch of critters a year but I bought half a dozen of the standard boards and a dozen larges boards from fnt. I don't keep many smaller coon but it happens that you need to keep one. The large boards work for anything xl and bigger. The standard boards work for anything xl and smaller.

Before NAFA went under I had talked to a couple of the guys that did the grading for them. If you stretch a big coon on a smaller board they may down size it. If you board a smaller coon on a larger board they may size it up. They know what they are looking for. They grade critters for eight plus hours a day. They know what they are doing. If you stretch a coon to 3x and it is only 2x they will see it.

The first dozen coon boards I bough, I got from a fella from Ohio at the NC convention about 10 years ago. All the coon boards he sold were 6 3/4". I was new to putting up fur and had not read the FHA or NAFA specs. I put up coon using those boards and shipped to NAFA. Have quite a few Top Lot Certs for coons put up on those boards. I have 7 1/2" and a few 8" boards now but I still use the smaller ones and have never noticed that they cost me money. I just wish there was a market that I could average $20 for North Carolina coon again.

7 1/2

just catch 3xto 5x goon easy peasy.
Dennis

Put them big bears up on coyote boards, A standard 1x8 is going to be around 7 3/8" when dried, planed and shaped. The coons absolutely will not care.
It it is better to keep your entire collection as uniform as possible, the pelts will just look better if all on the same size form and when the skins are tanned the size and shape won't be what it was on either your board or on the critter.

Depend how big coon u got, I get big huge coon,smallest board I got is 7 3/4 at base, have jumbo boards at 8 3/4 base, put big coon on narrow board an get 4xl out 2xl, do that an get knock down in size on grade, buyers don't like that stuff, I put big coon wide boards

I use Top Lot adjustables and set them at 7" at 30" down from the nose. We don't have big coon here in southern KY. I use the same stretcher for possums and narrowed down for nutria.

This is from furharvesters and our Ohio coon fit these dimensions really well.
I split all my boards up the middle and adjust the width after the pelt is anchored.

Wissmiss is right on point here.. You are in OH according to your profile, a 7 1/2" board will cover 95% of your coon or better.. I'd keep a couple of larger boards for the few that are going to go over in a seasons catch. We sold thousands of boards into OH and the 7 1/4" at 30" was the most popular and sought after. FWIW..

Send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you all the NAFA stretcher patterns in all the different sizes. I made a bunch for medium coon stretchers out of 1/2 in particle board and they worked really well. They will last several years, so you can build several of different sizes out of a cheap 4x8 sheet and then you'll know after a season or two what you need if you want to order store-bought ones.