Hivelosity- Kscoyote is telling you the right way to skin a coyote, you don't make a cut down the tail or cut it off, it should stay with the carcass, also no splitting of the hide down the belly. He is right about how to peel the skin off the tail, but be sure of one thing. When the tail has been peeled back about six inches, stop and pull the hide forward(toward his ass) so it's not rolling inside out, then a good jerk and the hide will come off the tail. By the way you do have one thing wrong. It sounds easy, but it's not. Coyotes have almost no fat and are a bitch to skin, you have to skin with the knife all the way. Do it like kscoyote says and you'll have a fur all in one piece and ready to go on the stretcher. This is how one is done to sell the fur, maybe the other method is for a rug, etc. The best tool for peeling the tail is one of the folding jack handles that come with some screw-type OEM pickup truck jacks.

Thanks for all the tips. I have been working on a small cyote I shot last nite. man what a tough critter.
I havent totally destroyed it yet, but it does have a couple tears and a gouge out of the tail.
Well Im learning.
I went to the libary and got a book that goes into depth on how to shin and deflesh but this is no replacement for experience.
the exacto knives work real good. the book also has some examples of knives and the one thst gets the most review is one like a scapel.
now I have the salt on the flesh going to let it dry and go from there
What do you use to tan fur with and where would I find it at.

Wow! Guys if it was that tough, I wouldn't do it.I kill over a hundred coyotes a year as well as guiding, so I skin a lotfor clients as well. I do them in the field when they are still hot. It takes 7-8 minutes to case skin for fur market. It only takes newbies about 15 minutes. If you want to mount or have the paws attached, it does take longer and I do that at home.



With the coyote on the ground on his back{preferably dead}, I cut from one hind foot to the other on the dotted line between the fur on the outside and the fur on the underside of the coyote. I use a fixed blade with a gut hook and use the guthook for this cut.You can use any lockblade or fixed blade.



Next I cut the hide around the front legs, above the elbow. I don't worry about cutting flesh or tendons.



Take a piece of parachute cord about 18 inches long, with a loop in each end and attach a loop to each hind leg between the toes and the hock.



Hang the coyote/fox on a fence post so he is facing the post, with the tail facing you. I use the gut hook again and split the underside of the tail to about 3-4 inches from the end. Take your time here, there are other places to go fast. Once I have the tail split on the underside, I cut on either side of the anus through to my previous leg cuts. I don't worry about cutting muscle or tissue. I take care not to cut the Achilles tendon, as it makes skinning more difficult.



Now I work the hide away from the ankles with my fingers and cut a ring around to free the hide.With only my hands, I work/pull the hide down over the hips. I then work the tail free of the split hide, and strip the tail out. Some guys use a tail stripper, 2 screw drivers etc. I just use my hand, and pull grasp the tail and pull down, letting the tailbone slide out of the hide.



Now things get going a lot faster. The hide will take a lot of pulling without tearing EXCEPT bullet holes and rips, which tear very easily.I pull {hard} the hide off the body and over the shoulders.

I can now turn the little bugger over and push the fur away from his elbows with my fingers. I work the leg out of the hole and when I have both front legs free, I use those holes as new grips.

I pull the hide over the head and as the ears are exposed, I cut the cartilage off flush with the skull. I now have two new hand holds. I stick my fingers in the ears and pull. As the hide comes over the eyes, I carefully cut the eyelid to stay with the hide. I then cut the lips on each side allowing me two more new hand holds. Pull and trim the lips away from the jaw and cut the nose off to spite his face.



You're done and it took way longer to type this than it does to skin one.



The hide is then fleshed and stretched, ready to be sold or tanned.



If you want feet/toes, then it takes longer and I do that at home. It takes me about 1/2 hour.



Try www.predatormasters.com They have a trapping forum with tons of tanning info.

THANKS REDFROG,
I have been to predator master and found some interesting reading on skinnin critters.
The skin I have is still drying.
when I get to be an old time at skinnin I hope im as fast as you. I did keep the feet and the thing that gave me the most problems was the lips and the nose.
The next one will go a lot easier I hope.

It is REALLY easy to skin an animal when it warm, and gets harder the colder it gets. I skin foxes, coons, etc immediately after I kill them. It takes between 5 and 10 minutes once you've got the hang of it.

You need the proper tools to do a good job though. I don't bother with a scalpel-type knife, although I suppose it would work. I use a Case trapper pattern folding knife. The drop point is used for the big cuts on the tail and back legs, while the spey point blade is for the delicate work on the head (eyes, ears, nose). I use a choke collar with a snap on one end to hang the animal from a convenient tree.

First, I make cuts starting from each of the hind feet, and ending at the anus, then I cut the tail along the bottom, from about its midpoint, to the anus. Next, I skin out the tail (remove the bone) by gently pulling until the bone comes out; once you get the feel, you'll be able to tell when the skin is going to break (you'll have to cut it more if it feels like breaking). Then I skin the legs, and cut the skin free of the back paws. After the back legs and tail are done, I hang the animal, and start pulling; the skin will come off pretty easily if the animal is warm. After you get to the head, you'll need to cut the ears free, cut around the eyes, nose and lips, and then you're done. You'll end up with the hide inside out, ready to be stretched on a wire form. I normally don't dry or flesh my hides, I just freeze them, and sell them green. You'll get a dollar or two more for them if they're properly fleshed, but when you've got a couple hundred hides, fleshing them and drying them takes up a lot of valuable hunting time

Dave,
Listen to what Redfrog says. He's got it down. I've killed over 1900 coyotes, skinning about 1600 in the field while they're warm and flexible. Don't have to carry them back to the truck. A couple things......when pulling over the body, do LOTS of pulling and very little cutting. No matter what they are skinning, beginners always cut too much and pull too little. Also, I have been using the largest spike nail I could find with the point dulled to work through the front legs. Cuts my time by a minute or so. I like Redfrog, can skin in seven or eight minutes.
Mike at:Michaeljcanoe@Montana.com