Fleshing a coyote

Which is better? To flesh a coyote right after skinning or putting it outside in 25 degrees weather and letting the hide cool down for the night and fleshing the next day? Which way do the clean up better?

Never seen fat on a coyote!

warm. i start at the bottom not the head

I Always flesh the next day after skinning and have the hides in the fridge for a night . Our New England coyotes have allot of fat on them ! Fleshing warm hides you will get drippy fat running down into the fur .

I put one outside this evening, so I guess I'll find out which way is easier tomorrow.

Round here the saddle is about all we have to flesh. I tend to work the red membrane off, but have been told it's not necessary.

I like to flesh them after they set in the fridge for a bit. Most of mine have some fat on them.

I haven't skinned a coyote in a couple years. I have fat and meat still attached to the skin. I was just wondering if it was easier to flesh semi frozen or fresh off the body. I had to let it lay for a day before skinning and the hide has a bit of green in the belly area. Any tips for that?

Green belly is not a problem.
It will dry fine.
If it is brown or black then you have a taint,which is damage.

Why not flesh right after skinning? 3to 5 minutes and it's ready to board up.
Then it's done besides turning.
I've never seen a benefit in cooling coyotes before fleshing.
I like to keep a bag of fine sawdust next to the beam to sprinkle over greasy wet areas.
Borax is your friend when you get a little grease on the fur.

I usually put my skinned coyote in a fridge for a day or two before fleshing. It firms the fat and excess meat up, making for easier fleshing.

Semi frozen you might have problems. Chilled in the fridge is way better.
You still need the hide pliable, ice crystals can inhibit that.

dirty stinking flea bags. Not skinning any more unless the price goes way up. And yes ours have a decent amount of fat, don't remember any with out fat to scrape off. I just did it to get it done right away. they make me like my muskrats more and more......jk

I've tried it both ways. I found out it's way easier fleshing them cold, firms up the fat. Most of our coyotes are really fat

Some big dominant males are almost as fat as raccoons

Lol it takes me an hour to flesh one

My brother lives in Nebraska and after seeing how fat out Minnesota coyotes are he replied, "Our coyotes have to work for a living!"

That’s exactly what was thinking when I read 3-5!

Thank you for all your input. Skinned the coyote Saturday afternoon put the hide in a bag and put it outside over night.it was about 25 degrees. I have only skinned and fleshed 4 coyotes so my skills aren't very finely tuned. It seamed to flesh better chilled. I'm not selling it, but tube skinning and getting it tanned to hang on the wall. I probably over fleshed but I'm afraid to leave any membrane on it for fear of slippage. Am I over doing it?

T 20 didn't I follow a thread of yours a couple years ago with a poop load of finished coyotes

That's interesting danny, I'll have to try

I just put up a really nice roadkill coyote a couple days ago. I don't trap coyotes so I don't normally handle them, but it was pretty fat. I mostly just used the sharp edge of my knife and a lot of slicing.

Dewey,

Trust me, it will take more than 4 yotes to get good at fleshing them.

Here you go Gary, caught her this morning. Typical Wisconsin Coyote. They eat too well up here.