i've been shooting stuff for a long time now but have just recently gotten into skinning my kills for the hide (i also eat them of course). i can skin chipmunks, squirrels and anything that size fairly easily. what i do is just slit 'em up the belly and peel it off the legs and over the head. but for larger animals like fox, yote, raccoons, etc...how would i go about doing them? the same way or i've heard of doing it so it turns out something like a sock..? thanks, im doing a google search right now.

It's been a long time, but I'll try to explain how it's done.

-Dad always hung his by the back legs, and would cut the hide around the ankle.

-He would make a slit from one leg down and over to the other leg (like what would be the inseam on your pants). Part of that is cutting around the anus and leaving it intact (be careful not to hit the gland right there).

-After that, you peel him as if you were taking off a sock, skinning him as needed.

-Be careful once you get to the neck and head andhopefully you'll avoid cutting holes through his hide, and be able to keep his eyelids and nose intact.

-Front legs you cut at the ankle and just peel them on down and off, so the only "hole" you should have would be between his back legs (his inseam).

I'll see if I can find a better description of it on the net, and post it for you here as well. Good luck with your skinning.

Here is an excellent page for skinning reference:
http://www.mntrappers.com/skinning.html

It would be similar to how he's done theraccoonon that page.

Also I should note that you "can" leave the feet intact, they just take more work, so most people cut them off. Smaller animals like a Pine Martin or Weasel you could leave them on and have them be ok if you were tanning them yourself. A coyote is kind of big for that though, but it isn't impossible.