Bagging skinned coyotes

What do you guys use for bags when freezing skinned coyotes to keep until you have time to flesh them? I haven't been able to find big enough ziplocs for a rolled up coyote hide.

I use plastic 20 lb potato bags. They order them for me at the grocery store. They hold 2 hides apiece.

I lay mine out flat so they thaw evenly but I do not leave them in the freezer more than a week or two.

All stores do not carry them but I have bought 2 1/2 or 3 gallon zip locs from several different Walmarts. They also have 10 gallon and occasionally 20 gallon size.

QBD, will a rolled up coyote fit in a 2.5 gallon ziploc?

Walmart bags will work.

Baca, which bags?

Garbage bags.

I just measured a 2 1/2 gallon Hefty Slide Lock. It is 14" wide and 16" long.

10/4

The ones they put your stuff in.

Thanks gentlemen. Baca I have plenty of those bags. I was looking for a ziploc and according to the size of the 2 1/2 gallon bag that QBD measured I think that will work until I can get home and put in the freezer.

Thanks again everyone.

Same here, the cheapest I can find.

Roll up nice and tight and I put them in doubled up Walmart bags. Never a shortage of them.

For short term storage why even bag? Or like one trapper said just lay them out flat. With this method you cut your thawing time just about In half. And I'm betting they will take up a lot less space . And you don't have to be dealing with all those bags.

As stated in an earlier post, I lay mine flat or maybe folded over once. I am in the south so my seasonal weather conditions may be a bit warmer and play into my methods. A coyote rolled up nose or tail first will take a long time to freeze all the way to the center and the more you put in the freezer at a time, the longer it will take. That is a lot of fur for the cold to penetrate. Then when you take them out, it takes a long time for them to thaw enough to start fleshing. Depending on how warm they are when rolled up and how warm it is when you are thawing them, there is a chance that this process can lead to taint and fur slipping.

My thoughts, your conditions and mileage may vary.

You nailed It. And besides that, groney tells us NEVER put fur In plastic bags.
I think most trappers put fur In bags because they are worried about the fur sticking to the freeze walls. This Isn't a problem if your hides are DRY. And If you get a hide stuck to the side walls just get a spray bottle of water and mist that fur that Is stuck to the side wall and it will be freed up with no damage to the fur.

I also do not have a frost proof freezer and to keep fur from freezing to the bottom or sides of the freezer, I just use a piece of cardboard to keep the fur out of the frost. Works like a charm and I reuse the cardboard over and over. A sheet of freezer paper works also and takes up less space. I use the paper more between pelts to keep them from freezing/frosting together.

This is usually for relatively short term storage until I can get them fleshed. The exception is beaver pelts that I hold for the Groenewold truck but I still layer them with cardboard or paper between them as I freeze them.

I agree. Lay them flat and freeze. Much quicker thaw time.

On a side note. I got my butt chewed for rolling some up last year green by a contry buyer because he couldn’t see them good half thawed. The next time I go my butt chewed because they were flat and almost thawed. I decided to just put them up myself and lower my blood pressure.

Wrap in newspaper,does anyone remember newspaper?

Pretty hard to wrap skins In Internet generated news LOL

I just don't see the need to bag anything when It's a short term situation.

Beav, what do you consider short-term? I plan on being away from home for two weeks at a time on coyote hunting trips.

I've spent 2 months on the road trapping and never had any problems with un wrapped fur.

I've rough skinned and froze flat for years for up to 3 months without issues, but you have to freezes skin to skin and push all the air out that can get trapped between the skin.