# Selling hides before being tanned



## azbearhuntr

Hey all, I had a question regarding selling untanned hides. I live in AZ and have been predator hunting for a few years now but just started being successful. Last spring I called in 5 coyotes (killed only one, I take a shotgun now, sad story) and a huge bobcat. I was wondering if there are folks out there that buy caped out hides, especially for bobcats. I am a big game hunter so I can field dress game but I am still working at learning how to tan, Basically I don't want the hides to go to waste and would like to sell the skinned hide but still attatched to the head of the animal. I understand this would get me less than a nice tanned hide but at this point I am just throwing them away. Thanks in advance!

Sorry I just realized there is a section for fur handling and tanning lol, I am new please forgive my ignorance!


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## prairiewolf

Yes, you can get good money for the pelts, but you skin them different then caping as you do for mounts. I call it tube skinning, you skin down the color line of the back leg to anus and back up the other leg following the color line. Then you start peeling the hide off all the way to the nose tip.< just a quick description. You then need to stretch them on a stretcher that is for the type of animal and let dry(this is a 2 step process, fur in and then fur out). Globe Hide and Fur will buy the pelts. coyotes avg $30 and bobcats $250-350. Now he is a middleman and you can get probably double that if you want to travel to a buyer out of Az. You can buy metal stretchers or wood and also make your own wood ones. You may PM me if you need further info on anything if you like. There are a few posts on here that you can look for also. Also, welcome to the site.


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## youngdon

Welcome to the forum azbearhuntr.
You got some good advice from Prairiewolf, he'll help you get on track with those hides.


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## bones44

Welcome ! Great advice PW. I need to relearn from when I was a kid. Never was any good at tanning, hides I mean. LOL

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2


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## hassell

Welcome to PT, some great advice there.


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## hassell

bones44 said:


> Welcome ! Great advice PW. I need to relearn from when I was a kid. Never was any good at tanning, hides I mean. LOL
> 
> Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2


 If you were anything like me growing up it should say - How many times did you get your own hide tanned !! HA !!


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## bones44

I'd still be counting Rick !! LOL


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## 220swift

more tha I can count......lol


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## 220swift

The vast majority of hunters and trapper sell their furs green or finished. Very, very few tan. As far as skinning, most fur animals are case skinned (tube). Beaver are skinned in an open type of skinning. A bad skinning job will hurt a fur's price about as quick as anything.


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## coyotejon

One thing to consider is the cost of getting all of the stuff you would need to put the fur up yourself. You can always just skin them out and throw them in the freezer until you have a pile and sell them "green".


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## prairiewolf

I dont know of anybody here in Az that will buy green hides at all. There's really not alot of costs to it just get a couple of 1x4 or 1x3 and make a stretcher and thats it, everything else is labor.


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## coyotejon

Knives, the space to do it, a fan, making fur hangers, making a skinning table, fleshing beam, skinning gloves, apron, belly wedges. Just a fleshing knife will typically run you 50 to 100 bucks for a decent one, push pins..........


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## prairiewolf

I guess I am old school, I dont use a fleshing knife on coyotes(you dont need them) I only use one knife and that is an old timer muskrat double blade pocket knife,dont use gloves or an apron, no belly wedges needed if you make stretchers from 1x4. no fan and no skinning table, just hang them up with a chain like a dog choke collar and to strip the tail I use an old pair of old fashion pliers, just as good as any tail stripper out there, as for push pins I have enough small finish nails to last a life time. This is the way I have been doing it for over 30 yrs and will be how I do it untill I die. LOL


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## coyotejon

Either you're old school or cheap!!







You're right though, every guy has their own way of doing things, and I am sure your way works great. Try doing a few beavers or raccoons though and you might change your tune about the fleshing knife!


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## Ruger

I trapped with a guy once that caught a raccoon and he showed me how to flesh it, alot of work!! I think I'll stick to yotes and cats.


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## prairiewolf

Coyotejon, you are right on maybe needing a fleshing knife for raccoons or beavers, but I rarely call them in.Like never LOL

And the guy that posted this here is also from Az so I dont think he will be calling in any beavers and as for raccoons very rare and would have to be in the forest not the desert.


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## 220swift

Guys, keep in mind the geographic difference. The location of animals will determine the fat layer on the hide and the fat is what must be scraped off or the hide will slip (rot). A coyote in the high desert of Arizona will have considerably less fat than a coyote from northern Minnesota. As I stated, geography plays a big role in how pelts are handled.


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## hassell

220swift said:


> Guys, keep in mind the geographic difference. The location of animals will determine the fat layer on the hide and the fat is what must be scraped off or the hide will slip (rot). A coyote in the high desert of Arizona will have considerably less fat than a coyote from northern Minnesota. As I stated, geography plays a big role in how pelts are handled.


 A great reminder, as a lot of guys forget about location.


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## 220swift

hassell said:


> A great reminder, as a lot of guys forget about location.


Thanks hassell. Pelt finishing is a process that determines the final price. A really good animal handled wrong will turn into junk at a fur buyer faster than a 220 Swift bullet reaches it's mark.


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## 220swift

Stonegod said:


> Would more fat on the pelt translate into a better pelt? i.e...the colder...the more fat....makes a prime pelt? So even if a fatty pelt is more work, the $$$ will be worth the added effort/ work?


Not always, fat is more of a cold weather/food availability thing. I've seen pelts with a good layer of fat and only be mediocre at best on fur quality, then a pelt with a very thin layer of fat and be furred out very good. So many factors to fur quality. Region, animal health, food source, weather, and genetics are a few that come to mind right off.


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## 220swift

Thanks SG, just so everyones knows, I have no formal biology education. I only speak on this topic from working in a fur buyer's finishing shed in southern Iowa for around 10 years (seasons).


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## cocoyote

Cold is a factor in priming up a critter. But not as much as the amount of daylight. You could take a coyote from TX and turn him loose in WY and he would never grow the amount of hair the local population has. Just genetics. Amount of fat has no bearing on if a animal is primed up or not. Sick animals wont have alot of fur, as well as late littered females, as all the energy has been used in rearing young.


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## 220swift

You are correct cocoyote, prime fur is directly related to the amount of sun light (length of daylight). It's kind of the same process as the leaves turning color in the fall.


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## azbearhuntr

prairiewolf said:


> Yes, you can get good money for the pelts, but you skin them different then caping as you do for mounts. I call it tube skinning, you skin down the color line of the back leg to anus and back up the other leg following the color line. Then you start peeling the hide off all the way to the nose tip.< just a quick description. You then need to stretch them on a stretcher that is for the type of animal and let dry(this is a 2 step process, fur in and then fur out). Globe Hide and Fur will buy the pelts. coyotes avg $30 and bobcats $250-350. Now he is a middleman and you can get probably double that if you want to travel to a buyer out of Az. You can buy metal stretchers or wood and also make your own wood ones. You may PM me if you need further info on anything if you like. There are a few posts on here that you can look for also. Also, welcome to the site.


Thanks so much, I thought I had responded to this and hadn't, I called the guy in Globe and he was really helpful, even offered to help me skin them out so I didnt mess them up!


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## Beerman069

Dumb question do y'all leave the noses on?


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## prairiewolf

Yes


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## Beerman069

Good to know anything special need to be done to them so they don't rot or anything like that?


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## coyotejon

If your fur is finished and fleshed properly you should be able to store it until auction/sale without a problem. Just hang it in a cool dry place. I have also stored finished fur in the freezer without hurting anything.


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## Rdubya

So after I tube out a coyote, flesh the hide, put it on a stretcher, and dry both sides what do I do? Do I need to clean the fur or brush it out? If I do not tan the hide will the fur begin to fall off? I know that if I do not tan the hide it will remain stiff.


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## coyotejon

No the fur will not fall out. You should brush your animal out before skinning and again after it is put up and it is dry. Are you planning on selling your furs?


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## chopayne

coyotejon said:


> No the fur will not fall out. You should brush your animal out before skinning and again after it is put up and it is dry. Are you planning on selling your furs?


i believe the topic says "Selling hides before being tanned" = )


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## coyotejon

Yes but the question I was answering wasn't posted by the originator of the thread, therefore I am not sure what his intentions were.


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## Rdubya

I do plan on selling the hides. Unless I cannot get enough to make it worth my time. There is one fella that told me he would give me $12 per hide, he lives about a hour away so I figure that my time and gas to take the hides to him I would probably be upside down because I have not been putting a lot of fur on the ground this season. So I will most likely keep the hides for myself. I though about stringing them together and hanging them in my garage by my deer antlers and turkey fans.


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