Fur Handling Questions

[TheBig1]

From what I've been reading, Hern is the man to ask.

Good day everyone, I'm new to predator hunting, reloading, and now fur handling. I recently made an order from FoxPro and among my order I purchased two clearance DVD's. When I got my package there were 3 DVD's in there, thank you very much FoxPro for hooking a brother up, on purpose I'm hoping.

Anyways, I watched one of the DVD's, not sure which one, maybe Furtakers Volume 2, and in it Abner Druckenmiller asked his grandfather to do a tutorial on skinning a fox. It was pretty neat and looked like something that I could accomplish.

1. So one of my questions is, what sort of tools would I need to do this?

Gambrel, fur comb, tail stripper, fleshing block, fleshing knife, gloves, wooden stretchers, etc... What else might I be missing.

Also, I'm just looking to do this for fun, not looking to spend a lot of money.

2. Where would be the best place to buy all of this quality gear?

For instance in the video Abner's grandfather suggested a metal tail stripper and the wooden stretchers over the wire stretchers.

3.  Is it even worth my time to do any of this? I.e., safety issues as far as diseases, time, money, etc...

Also, I'm probably not looking to tan them myself. One thing that I learned in the video is that you can just stretch them and let them dry and they're good to go. I thought that was pretty cool. Again, I'm not looking to do much of anything with them. I might hang a few around the house but then after I've dried them I'd probably sell them to some fur guy or something.

Again, just looking to learn something new and have some fun.

I'd like to look around also and find some plans to build my own fleshing rig.

Thanks in advance,
Chad

[Hern]

1)you name it all. Except a skun'n knife.
2)Is there a trapping supply dealer near you? That's a good place to start.
3)Yes

Try to find a trapper or another predator caller in your area to help you skun & flesh. Learn from them.

[TheBig1]

Thanks Hern, I truly appreciate your input.  Of course I have a good skinning knife, didn't mean to forget to add that.  I recently bought a Havalon also, so I'm looking forward to getting that dirty.

I'm honestly not sure if I do have a trapping supply place nearby, I've never been interested in it.

Are there any down home there?  If you remember I'm grew up down there before leaving for the military.

I think that my only hang up here is going to be finding a place to work.  My garage is unheated.  If I were to work out there and then stretch and allow to dry in my basement, will my basement begin to stink?

Chad

[Hern]

Yes there are a few suppliers within 30 minutes of me.
I figured you had a skun'n knife. Just had to mention it...lol.
Unheated garage is perfect for fur. Done that for many years.
I keep my fur shed unheated, and hides dry fine.

With a heated shed or basement, hides may dry too fast if not watched closely. Then hides will be hard to get off boards and turn fur side out.
But anyway you dry hides, you will have to keep an eye on them.

[TheBig1]

Thanks Hern, I appreciate that.  Someone told me that I'd need a heated work area to do this but now that you've told me that I don't now I can look into doing it myself.

I'm sure that I'll be in further touch with you when I'm ready to get started.

Chad