Hunters, Hold Those Hides! A Quick-tip Guide For Predator Pelts

Many fur handlers recommend using sawdust or a cold water wash with mild soap to clean the hide of blood and dirt. Coyotes, like many canines, love to roll in everything from scent markers like urine and scat, to carcass piles of decaying prey. Bottom line, they stink! Coyotes are also very susceptible to mange, and other parasitic issues such as ticks and fleas. The use of gloves is highly recommended, as is a facility that can handle such issues as they arise. I don’t process coyote hides in my dining room, to say the least.

Fur Harvesters Auction Inc has a great guide on pelt handling standards which can be viewed here. A basic video search on the web or video platforms like YouTube will furnish a plethora of how-to videos on coyote skinning and hide-handling basics.

final thoughts

Once dried, the hide is preserved to buy time to either ship to a professional tannery, or sell to a prospective buyer. If you plan to tan the hide right away, the process of stretching and drying the hide is not necessary. For those who plan to use the hide for personal garment use, the paws of the animal can be left intact, albeit the process of skinning out the feet pads is a little more cumbersome. The final product, however, is rewarding. Mountain-man style hats are highly sought-after and functional in cold climates (just be sure to include some blaze orange flagging if wearing out in the woods during hunting season!)

Home tanning products are readily available from trapping/taxidermy supply shops, and come in a myriad of different formats - ranging from liquid bottles premixed, to intricate step-by-step chemical kits. The brain-tan method is also an increasingly common form of home tanning hides and pelts, which is a more traditionalist method for homesteaders and the like. These home tanning methods do require extra work to achieve a supple tan. One can also ship your hide(s) (once dried) to a commercial tannery to achieve a more desired supple “garment tan”. Some tanneries also offer garment creation from the hides you ship to have tanned. USA Foxx & Furs and Moyle Mink & Tannery are two of the larger, more well known tanneries specializing in professional hide tanning.

Skulls and other bones of the animal can also be utilized for educational display. There are several methods of bone preservation, including the use of dermestid beetles, maceration, or skull cleaning kits available from taxidermy supply shops.

If we are going to promote the notions of sustainable use and regard the regulated take of wildlife as a resource, attempts to properly utilize these resources should be exercised whenever possible. Obviously, there are situations beyond our own control (via pest control measures, roadkill, disease, etc.) that may not warrant usage of the animal’s remains. From a fur handler’s perspective however, predatory species of fur-bearing wildlife can be just as coveted and respected as any big game animal.