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Stretching

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:17 am
by 1Shooter
I'm very new to this fellas. How long should a person stretch a hide before it's ready for the next step? Is it essential to stretch the hide or can a guy 'get by' by just tacking the hide to a big board with the leather up?

Re: Stretching

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:22 am
by LeviM
1Shooter wrote:I'm very new to this fellas. How long should a person stretch a hide before it's ready for the next step? Is it essential to stretch the hide or can a guy 'get by' by just tacking the hide to a big board with the leather up?
I dry mine fur in, for 12 hrs - 24 hrs till dry, then flip fur out and strectch and dry for 1 week.

Re: Stretching

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:32 pm
by Prairie Ghost
If in the right conditions you can dry fur out but you have to be set up for it. I had gone to drying mine fur side out the last year i put up hides. Coyotes and fox and similar critters need to be tube skinned and put on a stretcher to get any kind of sale. If you flat skin it and tack it on a piece of plywood it will be worth nothing on the fur market.

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:28 am
by Coyotehunter
stretchers are cheap, go buy a wire stretcher to get yourself started.

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:39 am
by LeviM
i started by watching a video, got a grasp on what to do and dove in. Stretchers are cheap, make sure you flesh properly, and take pride in your work.

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:29 am
by 1Shooter
So if you want to get any money for the fur it's got to be cased, right?

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:14 am
by Tim Anderson
Depending on youre fur buyer you can sell them with the hide still on the animal, or you can skin the animal and just roll up the hide and store in a freezer untill ready to sell then take it out and let thaw before heading in to the fur buyer...The third optsion is to skin them and stretch them youreself you can make a little more money on the hides this way and also have the satifaction of putting them up as well..

Here is a pic of some coyotes on the stretcher fleshy side out the first stage of drying..
Image

After drying overnite the fur is then turned inside out and put back on the stretchers to finish drying which will take from 3 days on depending on room temp..
Image

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:20 am
by LeviM
Good Pics!

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:06 am
by 1Shooter
How long will they keep if they're hung up after fleshing, stretching and drying? Will the hair slip after awhile or will it stay in better because the hide is dry?

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:09 am
by Prairie Ghost
If they are put up well they will keep for a long time especially if you keep them out of the heat. If they are slipping it's because there was something missed in that spot while fleshing.

Re: Stretching

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:16 pm
by 1Shooter
T.A., I wish my garage looked like yours :shock: :D Thanks for the info. here guys! By the way Tim, I bought a wire stretcher yesterday and it has two jagged pieces of metal at the bottom. What are these for or how do I use them? I imagine they hook into the hide at the bottom but I don't know how they'd stay down?