Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: criveraville on February 08, 2014, 01:10:01 am
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I caught two skunks today. I've never skinned a skunk and don't know about the smell. Any advice?
I'm completely lost on this one..
Thanks,
Cipriano
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put a clothespin on your nose lol
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Find someone to do it for you. ;D
I don't know if you can get the stink out of a skunk skin. Someone gave me skunk string silencers and very time it rained the skunk smell came out.
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Ok.. I was afraid of that. One is in aice trap and the other in a coil trap. I dispatched them both. I tried to get the one in the coil trap out, but the skink seemed to jump up on me and hitch a ride.
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I do have a case skinned hide that has no smell,but I have never gotten it wet.
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First of all dont handle it too roughly as you may cause the gland to leak. then make your cut from leg to about an inch from the anus on both legs and then carefully cut about 1 inch around the anus to remove the gland. DONT go too deep with the knife and just take your time and be kinda gentle with it. Then you must carefully separate the gland and surrounding fat from the skunk and once you are done bottle the essence from the gland and bottle the gland along with the fat as well. Skunk essence in my experience is the no.1 best lure for fox, coyote, and sometimes bobcat. for some reason canines love the smell. Its never let me down. once you have the gland off the skunk just skin as normal and onced fleshed soak the hide in a mixture of water and dawn dish soap with baking soda for an hour or two and it should be free of skunk smell.
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A light vinegar solution neutralizes the smell immediately
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Cip, McGinnis explained a good way to skin, just be careful when cutting on the back legs around the anal glands. If they sprayed when dispatched you shouldn't get much of a surprise. One gland on each side ;D beautiful hides though! Alpha neutroleum can be bought and will neutralize the thiols in the spray.
Tracy
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Cip, Hope you don't have school on Monday ;D :o :o Be real careful around anus area, the glands are little yellow pea shaped size. As someone else stated, K-9 for some reason are attracted to skunk smell so make a reset somewhere close to where you caught your skunks. I sent 4 skunks to Moyles an they came back skunk free and are one of the most beautiful furs. Didn't take ya long to become a trapper ;D I can tell by your smell. I have also used perioxide/ bakingsoda mix to remove scent from self and dogs. Make sure an flesh your skunks real good, they can grease burn from excess fat and grease. A little advice on dispatch, make sure you are up wind, I usually shoot them with a 22 short an then leave area for a day to blow off, next day remove and reset, 99% of my sets are legholds but I have caught a few skunks in the boxtraps . You can some times release or dispatch boxtrap skunks without the stink, go slow. Have Fun Bob
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One of the trading posts here has skunk skins. Some traditions use them for tobacco bags. But every one of them still has skunk scent on it despite the owner saying they don't smell. For some reason, the ones with the coarsest hair and yellower stripes tend to smell the worst. Off topic, but the only thing around here that attracts ravens more than a road-killed skunk is the burgers in McDonald's dumpster. Things that make ya go "hmmmmmm...."
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Mcgiinis was spot on I have skinned several. I traded some to Sterling a few years back no smell to mention. A baking soda,peroxide,dish detergent equal mix goes along way toward reducing smell. I think a male mink will smell worse if you bust the gland they have. Good luck!
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The scent glands are tucked just inside the anus, so following what mcginnis said is about right.
If you want to go non-primitive, put a little super glue on the anus to seal it off before skinning. That way if you are skinning your first skunk in the basement and you "whoops," the lovely perfumes wont go through your forced hot air ducts through the whole house. Ah, the lessons of youth.
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Another way to keep the perfume of your hands would be to let Diego skin them Skunks...
Hehehe...
>:D
-gus
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My daughter's skunk quiver doesn't stink a bit normally. Let the humidity get up around 90% and that thing will run you out of the pick up it stinks so bad! Good luck Amigo! Josh
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When my wife was pregnant w/ our oldest boy she wore a skunk skin cap around all the time. Don't know why, guess she liked it. Now she regrets the pics that were taken of her in it. ;D Like said earlier, it only smells when humidity or water is involved. I've skinned a couple, one I did right, the first I ended up having to dump. Put it on the leavy up wind of the college I went to at the time, campus smelled pretty rank for a few days. I had a big grin on my face the whole time...cept when I first cut into that glad. :( ;D ;D ;D
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Call me a dog, but I actually like the smell of skunk. From a distance at least. I've never been sprayed, but I imagine at that concentration it might be a little overwhelming...
I like Gus's suggestion, let Diego have a go at them >:D
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Cameroo, Overwhelming is an understatement, ;D when you get the full up close dose it takes your breath away and if it gets in your eyes can cause temp blindness. :( I once got some skunk leakage on my green hip boots and there was a permant spot on the boots , Took the Green color out of the rubber forever, just left a pale yellow spot. Seems like a totally different smell to me when you are in close and get hit. :o :o :o A little side note, skunk essence used to be used in the perfume trade and was worth more than a prime skunk pelt. hmmmm
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Would not surprise me if it was still used in perfumes. Another random side note - an extract from a beaver's castor glands (AKA butt juice) is used in perfumes, and also as a "natural flavor" ingredient in food. Apparently it tastes like raspberries... I can't imagine how that was discovered?!?
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I seem to recall people talking of soaking them in a moving stream for a few days prior to skinning to help with the scent already present. Whatever you do, best of luck witht hose glands! :o
-Dan
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"hose glands!" ;D ;D ;D Hope it doesn't turn into that!!! :P
Total difference in smell from a skunk hit on the road from aways away and the actual wet spray. Burning difference.
Dogs might like the smell of it, but I've never seen a dog carry a dead skunk home, but had many dogs at home that smell like skunk. Same dogs would bring home dead mature racoons...just sayin. ;)
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loooooong stick.....and really sharp knife....lol
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At one time Beaver Castor was about $40/ lb, I probably got 2# in the freezer, Every 6-8 beaver is like gettin a free one. Kept wondering why my frozen sweet corn taste like raspberry's :o :o I did not know Castor was also used in perfums I thought all the Castor's were used in trapping lures. If I'm not careful gonna learn something everyday. Bob
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put a clothespin on your nose lol
LOL Then you will have to breath through your mouth. You will taste it then. What you need is one of those self contained breathing apparatuses. I took one out of a trap once and stayed up wind the whole time. My clothes still smelled like skunk for two weeks.
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Ive yet to have one spray or leak out on me (thank goodness), but i have had some spray after dispatching. That why now if im looking to trap skunk on purpose ill set box traps then when they're caught i drape an old blanket over them and carry'em to my 55 gallon drum full of water and put them in anus first with just their head above water so they cant spray then dispatch them with my trusty old pellet gun right between the eyes. Its an instant death so no suffering. O:)
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Would not surprise me if it was still used in perfumes. Another random side note - an extract from a beaver's castor glands (AKA butt juice) is used in perfumes, and also as a "natural flavor" ingredient in food. Apparently it tastes like raspberries... I can't imagine how that was discovered?!?
How many people just swore off raspberry flavored stuff?
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A old trapper I knew years ago.. Said he skinned them under water in a tub.. A little vineager won't hurt...
Thanks Leroy
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Thanksgiving 1975...
A date that will be burned into my memory till the end of my days...
Something... had dug a big hole up under the slab of our house two nights before.
So my Pop had me set a muskrat trap (spring trap) just inside the hole Wednesday afternoon.
Later that night Mom was cooking the Turkey and Dressing for friends and family coming in to have dinner with us.
And Man, was it smelling Good...
About midnight the dog started going ballistic. So Pop and I, armed with a Flashlight, Benjaman Pellet gun and a Machete and the dog went out to check the trap.
At this point we still didn't know what we had
Pop had the light and Pellet Gun.
I had the Machete and the dog.
As I laid a hand on the Tight chain, the dog lunged and barked down the hole, and out popped the Biggest Skunk I've ever seen...
And understandably, he came out fighting.
It was Pandemonium...
Pop missed his shot...
And I had the skunk by the chain... never thought to just let it go and run... I was 8.
Circling, the dog is trying to get at the skunk.
Pop's pumping the Benjaman, light flailing all over.
The skunk is bowed up on the dog.
And I'm trying to get an angle on the skunk with the Machete...
Then for a brief instant I got a clear shot on the skunk in the moon light and dispatched him with a clean stroke.
The whole sorted affair couldn't have taken more than five minutes.
But at the time it seemed like an hour...
As we stepped back to try to catch our breath all we could do was cough and gag.
The Skunk, fighting for his life, had managed to spray the three of us.
I'll never forget that smell...
The smell of Skunk and Turkey Dinner cooking...
Mom had to pack everything up and move down the road to a friends place to finish cooking.
Pop the dog and I were not invited...
-gus
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I feel your pain Gus...
July 10/13
After driving 14 hours from the B.C. coast home.. We unload the truck.. Ms. Kerrie lets Luke out to see me.. He's ripping the house apart... So I take him out for a little walk.. Thinking the stretch could do me some good... 200yards from home.. Luke puts the run on a black and white kitty... Mama and 4 little ones.. He is 5 yards in front of me... She stopped turned locked and loaded.... BAM instant stink... Mama takes off in the creek bottom we head for high ground... Too late... 11pm knocking on my own back door asking my dearest ifin she go to the grocery store and get mater juice... Just what I wanted to do bath a Irish setter and myself in the back yard.. 2 showers with lemon juice Still had to sleep on the couch...
Thanks Leroy
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but the skin sure is purty
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So Cip....have you skinned um yet?
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The smell of skunk from a distance is certainly a different smell than skunk up close. The smell changes when it gets to a certain intensity. I like roadkill skunk. Up close skunk is BAD!! My dog has been sprayed twice. Both times he ran back to me without the skunk and began plowing his face and body in the dirt and grass. It obviously was burning his eyes and seemed to irritate his skin too. I couldn't imagine the taste. I had to throw away his collars both times. The smell wouldn't come out of the metal. I let one sit out in the weather a few months and it still stank before I tossed it.
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I exited a S-10 pickup at 15mph in town. All I'm saying is it involved a girlfriend and a cutsey wootsy lil baby skunk that (allegedly) can't spray. Nothing like being 18 on all fours in the middle of the road blind and foaming from the mouth and nose as your pick up jumps the curve with the cutest lil skunk ever at the helm! TRUE STORY
Keith
Also ,Sterling should have kilt made from skunk hides I traded him.
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I exited a S-10 pickup at 15mph in town. All I'm saying is it involved a girlfriend and a cutsey wootsy lil baby skunk that (allegedly) can't spray. Nothing like being 18 on all fours in the middle of the road blind and foaming from the mouth and nose as your pick up jumps the curve with the cutest lil skunk ever at the helm! TRUE STORY
Now That's some Funny Stuff right there...
At least from Here...
:)
-gus
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Wildman - That's a awesome story
Thanks Leroy
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Thank you all for the great advice. I went and bought some superglue and headed to the trap line of nine spring traps and three box traps. I had two skunks. I disposed of them and got ready to skin them. I couldn't do it because I knew the wife would not let me back in the house and I would be sent home from school.
As Gus knows, shes not too keen on the trapping, the snake skinning and smelling like skunk just from using lures has put her over the edge >:D 8)
It's too bad because they were real beauties, but I am going to have to trade for skunk pelts..
Cipriano
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Those lures are pretty loud smelling, aren't they? Whew!!
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Those lures are pretty loud smelling, aren't they? Whew!!
Yes Greg!!!! I had both the mini van and the truck smelling like skunk in no time at all. The wife was not happy about that each time she got in either car and made a real STINK about it. So I knew better than to go all out and skin a skunk. I usually do it anyway, but I think with age I have wised up just a little.
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It didn't matter how much I sealed them up in multiple containers, they still announced their presence with authority!! I did catch a fox and a coyote with them though.
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How about possibly freezing them in a double...triple trash bag and skinning them while frozen. Maybe the "essence" would freeze to and not be expelled. Just a thought I just had. Sorry you had to get rid of them w/o any souvenirs.
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Skunk essence is still pretty strong after freezing, that is one of the reasons that is used in lures so they still smell in low temp where as other ingredients loose the odor in cold temps, Read somewhere that skunk oil freeze at alot lower temps than just 32 degrees. Cip, you have become very wise in the ways of woman and lures and skunks. Later Bob
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Cipriano, first point the tail away from you....... ::)
Gus, Outback, Stoker, and Wildman, I can relate to your experience. When I was in the third or fourth grade, my Brother, a Friend of ours, and myself , were walking along a ridge with Australian pines, and palmettos growing on it. The ridge was an old drainage ditch, which was dry. Well the dog our Friend brought with him, started off across the ridge, to a field, barking like mad, when all of a sudden, it stopped, and started going round and round, in a circle, with its' face in the grass and weeds! Then the smell came our way. Then the skunk came our way. It headed straight for the palmetto patch. Being the super intelligent kids we were, we cut some Australian pine saplings, and made spears, and were going to get a skunk! uh huh. Yep, we sure were. Well the Skunk ran down a rabbit path, in the palmetto roots, and was just sitting there. Well my Brother says, "Wayne go down to the other end, in case it tries to run out that way, and whack it when goes by". Me being the unsuspecting genius, that I am, did just that. Well meanwhile, I hear giggling and laughter up top, where my Brother, and Friend are. I asked what all the laughing was about, and they said oh, nothing, just laughing at the dog. OK..... Then they told me to see if I could see the skunk from where I was at. So I sat down, and looked up the little tunnel, as I was near the bottom of the ditch, and there was a steep incline, and yep I could see it plain as day. I told them yep. Then all of a sudden my Brother took his sapling spear, and shoved that skunk down the tunnel. Right in my lap! :o :o :o :o :o :P :P :P :P
When you guys say it smells different up close, and can take your breath away........ Spot on! I could hardly see, and cold not breathe, and was walking around trying to breathe, and finally was able to take a breath, but was not pleased with what I inhaled! I cannot describe what the smell was like, nor the taste! :o :P :P I got home and stripped off my clothes, in the carport, and went inside to take a shower. My Mother was not happy. My Dad got some big cans of tomato juice, and I washed with that, and showered again, and again. Oh, yeah, that was on a Sunday. Monday, I was in school. I had a seat all to myself in the back of the class room. Not to mention I could sit anywhere I wanted in the cafeteria, nor was there a line in the kitchen serving line to get the food. ;) Plus I had the whole bus seat to myself. Having not learned much from that adventure, years later, when I was in the seventh grade, my Family and I went to Wisconsin to visit my Aunt and Uncle on a dairy farm. Well I had my trusty fiber glass re-curve bow and my home made arrows with the hacksaw blade points. Well I decide to go out and scout the farm, and lo and behold there is a skunk waddling across the field not far from the house. Well I let loose, and it is a direct hit, didn't kill it right off, so another one finally dispatched it. Being experienced with skunks, I was a sufficient distance from the skunk. Like 30 feet. Wellllll, I go back to the house with my trophy, and my Mother has a fit! I didn't check the wind direction before I shot. Anyway, my Aunt thinks it is funny, my Uncle is happy, that there is one less skunk to get into the hen house and eat the eggs, and my Dad is just shaking his head. Ahhh tomato juice........ Doesn't work all that well. It does somewhat, but does not take the smell away completely. It just sort of has to wear off. I leave them alone now. I had one come up on my porch in Montana, and look in my sliding glass door. So I put my "Harold" electronic hoot owl on the porch, to run it off, next time it comes around. Well then I got to thinking....... Hmmm flashing eyes, hooting, might provoke a defense mode in the skunk. So Harold is removed from the porch. Oh yeah, the skunk that was in the palmettos, got away. He was no longer of interest us, especially me! I should have grabbed my Brother and Friend, and gave them both a great big hug! But I was too busy trying to breathe to think of any retaliation. :P :P
Wayne