My neighbor saw 5 coyotes on his trail cam so I was thinking to take a pass at trapping coyote. I have a few of the coyote sized Duke traps. Given that this is a larger animal, I was going to save the pelt. For the processing part, I have read a number of blogs but, it seems there is more than one way to skin a ... yote. So after dispatch: - Pull off the coyote suit from tail to nose, I made a leg spreader a while back. - Strip out the bone in the tail. (I might make a tail stripper. Are they really that useful?) - Do I keep the nose attached to the pelt? - Flesh it. - Cut straight up the belly and stretch on some particle board. I was going to use a staple gun. - I have 4 pounds raw salt I was going to cover the inside with. - if salt is wet, scrape off and add more salt. - should I use a fan to aid drying? This will most likely be inside my garage and that will have good air flow. My wife says she doesn't want me drying coyote in the living room. - let sit until there is no more moisture in the salt. (This could take up to 13 days) - break the fibers down - probably just kneeding though I understand that this can be tedious. - possibly add neats foot oil when breaking the fibers down. ... then what? Is it ok to "use" from then on? Maybe I will line some gloves or maybe just leave it around as a pelt. I am keeping the fir so I don't think I would need to tan it. Would this process be the same for rabbit and raccoon? Yes, I have my trapper card and this will all be done on my property.
I'm a trapper of many years. Don't use a staple gun. Use push pins. Case skin coyotes. Flesh very well. Lutan F is a very good tan for beginners. Coyote trapping is much harder than fox or wolf. Work on the trapping, then the tanning. You can roll up the fur and freeze it until you come up with a plan. Your coyotes may still be blue. Check with other trappers to see if they are prime enough yet. Thin hides are a bit of a pain to put up at first. Good luck. Go get em. Size three and up traps is what I recommend for any amount of snow on yotes in snow.
So do you tan every pelt after the drying process? I was thinking that the tanning was not required in every scenario. It was hard to tell from the stuff I saw online. If tanning is recommended, I will probably dry a few and tan them all at the same time. Also dispatching- any recommendations for clean and effective methods?
I don't tan anything anymore. I did when I was a kid. Now I send some to Moyles taxidermy in Idaho for a garment tan. A yote is about 30 bucks. Nice soft wall hanger tan. That is the only reason to leave the feet with pads on a pelt nowadays. Most of us send out hides to a auction. I quit that last year when NAFA cheated thousands out of their fur check. Dispatching: Depending on your masculinity, either shoot them in the lungs for easy skinning, with less blood cleanup, or choke em out. I do it differently. I smack them on the nose to stun them, and then step on their head and lift up hard and fast which breaks their necks instantly and painlessly. No blood at all on your fur. IF you have more than a couple coyotes to process at night this makes a huge difference. Be warned, you can and will get bit, if you mess up the old timer method. Google "catch pole". Always carry a catch pole for stray dogs, or the neighbors. You can get them out safely and send them home.
Yeah, I have seen people dispatch chickens that way. Seems to be effective. Thanks for the recommendation of the trapper club. I will check em out.
You bet. The learning process is long, but you will get more out of it than from hunting. When you trap you will learn to observe everything, from the movements of mice up to deer. Trapping will also make you a better hunter if you are a tree stand guy now.
JackHammer, I messed with tanning years ago. Like Camber said, a lot of folks send off their hides nowadays. But I understand if you want to try tanning yourself. You may want to wait for colder weather so the furs will be better, which is what Camber said when he mentioned them being "blue " now. Camber, I've never heard of that neck snapping method. Sounds like you could definitely get bit if you're not super careful and strategic. Why not just shoot them in the ear hole with a .22 or .17?
waste of money, loud if you are trying to trap quietly, zero blood. I don't like turning ears on a yote if you shoot them in the ear. That is why we recommend shooting them in the lungs. easier to deal with. If you are only trapping afew a year it won't really matter in the end. The neck method isn't for newbies or fox trappers. you have to lift the back legs pretty high to dislocate the vertebrae. If you just would reach out with your axe and give them a quick rap on the snout they will drop like hammers. just stuns them for 15 to twenty seconds. That is plenty of time to step on there heads and quickly pull up their legs. Doesn't work so well if you aren't very proficient and get a back leg catch. That is why I don't recommend you try this more professional method until you skin several yotes. I had a lady get bit by a grey fox years ago in the south. Just put a few holes in her upper leg. I warned her she didn't have the upper body strength but she was stubborn.
Sounds like the lung shot is to decrease the amount of blood on the pelt. I guess you don't want to oxy clean your coyote.
That's it. It is much easier to flesh when on your fleshing beam, which you should make or buy. If you should accidently rip the skin a bit, it is always easier to stitch them up with non- waxed floss. Consider pinching a few coons to practice on before you try to trap a yote. The distemper and rabies is a problem right now because the fur market pretty much sucks, and the coyotes in your area are sub par. A good highline white bellied montana/north dakota yote will bring in over a 100 bucks, but not yet. Skunks are worth quite a bit, even if you just grab a few syringes from the feed store and harvest the quill from the glands. You can get up to 35 an ounce now. Maybe even barter from a lure maker in your area. A big stripy will have up to an ounce and a half if it hasn't sprayed yet.
I caught so many coons that I had to stop catching them. I didn't have anywhere to put them and there were coyotes gathering and trying to dig up the coons. Then vultures would start hanging out, those would scare my chickens, it was a mess. The coyotes, coons and foxes pick off my chickens if they get the opportunity, this is why I don't care for them. I have an abundance of rabbits, maybe this winter I will have to trap a few of those too. My wife cooked one up a few years back, it was ok.
snaring rabbits is fun. I remember taking out my son and daughter and showing them where to set up the snares in the rabbit beats for a catch. Fun stuff. I bought my son a dozen number zero long springs for his first traps. He caught a good number of cottontails, but never got any fur out of them because the fox and coyotes would come in as soon as they heard the rabbits scream and leave nothing bug a leg in the trap. Had to use the snares to actual bring home any bunnies. Snowshoe hare is a fun rabbit to pinch when they get their white winter coat. Not very good eating compared to a cottontail or domestic rabbit.
I saw a coyote in the back the other day. It was slinking around the chicken run as I was collecting the eggs. A few weeks back I found that the gate had been pushed open a few inches, just enough to let a dog in. I have since started putting a cord around the gate.
I had some old porterhouse bones that I put out as bait. They got cleaned right away. I have some beef liver to put out. I need to make more of a corner structure so the traps won't get cleaned so easily.
I was hired for a depredation job on coyotes several years back. I only got 3 out of the pack, they moved on shortly after. Still in awe of how smart that animal is and how very quick the adapt and learn. Best of luck !!
We got some good weather here so I set a bunch of traps today. Beef liver for the coyote trap and dog food for the coon traps. I am not really expecting a coyote but if one shows up, that would be great. Maybe I will have a new hat tomorrow morning.
