Learning how to skin a raccoon is not a difficult task.
With a few simple tools and a little patience anyone can learn how to skin, flesh, stretch and dry a raccoon pelt.
One of the biggest mistakes made during the fur harvesting process occurs during the skinning or fleshing of the furbearer.
Why is this stage so important?
Improperly skinning the animal can decrease its value or even worse, make it worth nothing at all.
Proper fur handling is an important step that everyone should understand.
Not only will you feel a sense of pride or satisfaction from a job well done, you’ll also get a better price from the fur buyer for all your hard work.
There are two basic ways to skin a furbearer……open and cased.
“Open” describes a method used to skin beaver or badger where a cut is made down the belly and the pelt is tacked out flat.
“Cased” is the most common method of skinning a furbearer.
Muskrats, mink, coyotes, fox, raccoons and many other animals are skinned this way.
Cased furs are processed by cutting a slit in the animals hide from one hind foot pad to the other.
A small slit is made in the tail and the tailbone is removed leaving the tail fur attached to the pelt.
Then, the pelt is removed from the animal in a process that’s similar to taking off your shirt or socks.
Once the hide is removed it’s then fleshed, stretched and allowed to dry.
How To Skin A Raccoon
Although it’s pretty easy to remove the skin from a raccoon, they contain a lot of fat which sometimes makes the fleshing process a little time consuming and messy.
Before you begin, I recommend wearing a pair of latex surgical gloves during the entire process.
The rubber or latex gloves not only keep your hands clean, but they also protect you from various diseases that raccoons have been known to carry.
I’ve also found using a thin bladed skinning knife or pocket knife, like a Buck or Old Timer knife, with a sharp blade works the best.
How To Skin A Raccoon Step-By-Step Process
To begin cut around the front and rear ankles where the fur meets the top of the foot.
Next, starting at the hind foot pad, on the inside of the foot just above the heal, cut straight across the body just above the vent or anus.
Cut all the way across in a straight line to the opposite foot pad.
In a “V” shape cut around the vent on both sides and then cut about a 3-4 inch slit along the underside of the tail.
Using your knife and hand pressure, remove the skin from around the legs far enough so you can attach a skinning gambrel or other similar device around its rear legs so the raccoon can be hung upside down.
Using your knife to remove any connective tissue, work the hide off the legs, around the cuts near the vent and around the cut on the tailbone.
Expose a couple inches of the tailbone and remove the tailbone using a tail stripper.
For best results use a push/pull motion with your hands and the tail stripper.
At this point you can pretty much grab the hide and pull it down like a sock, using your knife to cut away any connective tissue that gets in the way.
When you reach the front arms, work the hide around the elbow and stick your fingers between elbow/armpit area until you can pull the hide down off the front wrists.
Do this on both front legs.
While pulling down on the fur, remove the fur from around the head until you reach the ears.
Cut off the ears leaving them attached to your “cased” skin.
Using the ear holes for leverage, continue to pull the pelt down and cut around the eyes, lips and finally cut the pelt off at the nose.
That’s it!
The skinning process is now done and you’re ready to flesh.
How To Skin A Raccoon – Flesh Removal
Place the cased raccoon skin over your fleshing beam, flesh side out.
Using a small clamp to clamp the nose area will keep the pelt from slipping over the end of the fleshing beam.
Position the pelt evenly on the beam and begin to slowly remove the flesh and fat with the sharp part of your fleshing knife.
Start at the base of the ears and slowly work your way down the pelt using a slight slicing motion with your knife.
Necker Fleshing Knife
Once the fat starts coming off you can turn your knife over to the dull edge and push away from your body, removing the fat from the hide.
See also .257 Roberts for Elk Hunting? Best Ammo (Round, Load, Cartridge) for a Successful Elk Hunt Hunting Calibers 04 Apr, 2020 Posted By: Foundry Outdoors Is the .257 Roberts a viable caliber/load/round/cartridge for elk hunting? The accurate answer is “it depends”. However, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether the .257 Roberts is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest elk. As with anything, the devil is in the details. To answer the question completely, we would need to evaluate the downrange distance to the elk, the bullet type, the grain weight of the bullet, the physical condition of the firearm, the size of the elk in question, the shot placement, the local wind conditions, the expected accuracy of the shooter, the ethics of the ideal maximum number of shots – the list goes on. [Click Here to Shop .257 Roberts Ammo]What we can do is provide a framework to understand what average conditions might look like, and whether those are reasonably viable for a shot from the average shooter to harvest a elk in the fewest number of shots possible, i.e., ethically. Let’s dive right in. In the question of “Is the .257 Roberts within the ideal range of suitable calibers for elk hunting?” our answer is: No, the .257 Roberts is UNDERKILL for elk hunting, under average conditions, from a mid-range distance, with a medium grain expanding bullet, and with correct shot placement.Let’s look at those assumptions a bit closer in the following table. Assumption Value Caliber .257 Roberts Animal Species Elk Muzzle Energy 2040 foot-pounds Animal Weight 720 lbs Shot Distance 200 yardsWhat is the average muzzle energy for a .257 Roberts? In this case, we have assumed the average muzzle energy for a .257 Roberts round is approximately 2040 foot-pounds. What is the average weight of an adult male elk? Here we have leaned conservative by taking the average weight of a male individual of the species, since females generally weigh less and require less stopping power. In this case, the average weight of an adult male elk is approximately 720 lbs. [Click Here to Shop .257 Roberts Ammo]What is the distance this species is typically hunted from? Distance, of course, plays an important role in the viability of a given caliber in elk hunting. The kinetic energy of the projectile drops dramatically the further downrange it travels primarily due to energy lost in the form of heat generated by friction against the air itself. This phenonemon is known as drag or air resistance. Thus, a caliber that is effective from 50 yards may not have enough stopping power from 200 yards. With that said, we have assumed the average hunting distance for elk to be approximately 200 yards. What about the other assumptions? We have three other primary assumptions being made here. First, the average bullet weight is encapsulated in the average muzzle energy for the .257 Roberts. The second important assumption is ‘slightly-suboptimal’ to ‘optimal’ shot placement. That is to say, we assume the elk being harvested is shot directly or nearly directly in the vitals (heart and/or lungs). The third assumption is that a projectile with appropriate terminal ballistics is being used, which for hunting usually means an expanding bullet.Various calibersA common thread you may encounter in online forums is anecdote after anecdote of large animals being brought down by small caliber bullets, or small animals surviving large caliber bullets. Of course those stories exist, and they are not disputed here. A 22LR cartridge can fell a bull elephant under the right conditions, and a newborn squirrel can survive a 50 BMG round under other specific conditions. Again, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether .257 Roberts is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest elk - and to this question, the response again is no, the .257 Roberts is UNDERKILL for elk hunting. [Click Here to Shop .257 Roberts Ammo]This article does not serve as the final say, but simply as a starting point for beginner hunters, as well as a venue for further discussion. Please feel free to agree, disagree, and share stories from your own experience in the comments section below. Disclaimer: the information above is purely for illustrative purposes and should not be taken as permission to use a particular caliber, a statement of the legality or safety of using certain calibers, or legal advice in any way. You must read and understand your own local laws before hunting elk to know whether your caliber of choice is a legal option.Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online.We offer cheap ammo and bulk ammo deals on the most popular ammo calibers. We have a variety of deals on Rifle Ammo, Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Ammo & Rimfire Ammo, as well as ammo for target practice, plinking, hunting, or shooting competitions. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo.We offer a 100% Authenticity Guarantee on all products sold on our website. Please email us if you have questions about any of our product listings. Leave a commentComments have to be approved before showing up Your Name * Your Email * Your Comment * Post Comment
Flesh about half way down the pelt and then rotate the pelt on the fleshing beam.
Continue fleshing the pelt until all flesh and muscle has been removed.
Once the hide has been fleshed the final step is to stretch and dry the fur over either a board or wire stretcher.
Overall – How To Skin A Raccoon
Learning how to skin a raccoon the proper way will ensure the you get the maximum amount of money when you take your furs to a buyer.
Take your time, do a good clean job, and your hard work will be rewarded.
