|
Order Online
Order by Mail
Field Dressing Deer
Skinning
Tanning
Fish Taxidermy
Bird Taxidermy
Waterfowl
Taxidermy Class
Learning Taxidermy
Taxidermy Schools
Do-It-Yourself
Online Lessons
|
Deer Hide
Tanning for Mounting Purposes
The easiest way to tan a
deer hide
for mounting is using a product called Knobloch's Liqua-Tan.
It is available from taxidermy supply companies and has proven
to be a fine product.
First, skin the animal as soon
a possible. Then turn the ears and split the lips and
nostrils.
Only remove any large chunks of
meat at this time. DO NOT flesh the skin yet.
It is important that the salt
be applied as quickly as possible after the cape is taken off.
Now salt the hide heavily, working the salt into all areas of
the flesh. Allow the skin to drain overnight. Shake
off the wet salt, re-salt heavily, and leave it overnight again.
After the second overnight
salting, the skin is now ready to be soaked in a salt solution.
Mix a solution of 2 pounds of salt per gallon of water and soak
the skin for three to four hours. This will loosen the
skin up enough to allow it to be fleshed.
At this point we recommend you
pickle the skin or go right on to fleshing.
Pull the skin out of the
pickling solution and neutralize the acid by soaking it for 15
minutes in a solution of 1 TBS baking soda per each gallon of
fresh water. (If you didn't pickle the hide, pull it out
of the salt solution and let it drain for a couple of minutes.)
Now flesh the skin using a beam or fleshing machine. It
isn't nearly as important what method you use to flesh the skin
as it is to end up with flesh that is thin and evenly shaved.
Pickling is an optional but
highly recommended process, especially for carnivores and any
skin that is not fresh.
For pickling with Saftee-Acid
use: 1/2 fluid ounces of Saftee-Acid and 1 pound of salt
per each gallon of water.
Leave the capes or skins
completely submerged in this solution for 2 to 3 days depending
on skin thickness. The pickling solution should have a pH
level of about 1.1 to 1.5 when skins are placed in the pickle.
An average deer cape will require about 3 gallons of pickling
solution.
After all the fleshing is
complete, take the skin to a sink and rinse it thoroughly in
cold water. It is important that you do this in order to
rinse all of the salt out of the skin. After it has been
rinsed, it should be dried with towels or drummed until the
majority of the moisture is gone (the Liqua-Tan will penetrate
faster with the moisture out). Lay the skin out flat and
apply the Liqua-Tan with a brush or work it in by hand over the
entire flesh side of the skin.
After applying the Liqua-Tan,
roll up the skin and allow the tan to penetrate for at least 5
hours.
You now have 3 choices:
-
Mount the skin immediately
-
Freeze it and mount it when
you wish because it will keep indefinitely in the freezer
-
Allow it to dry out and
re-soak it for mounting later
NOTE: If you are not
ready to immediately mount the skin, we find that Choice 2,
Freezing the skin, works best. A Liqua-Tanned hide will
that quickly compared to an untanned frozen hide.
Recap:
-
Skinning... Use salt as soon
as you can
-
Allow the salted skin to
drain overnight, re-salt and let it drain a second night
-
Soak in a salt solution
-
Pickling the hide is
recommended
-
Neutralize the hide
-
Flesh the hide, then rinse
well
-
Apply Liqua-Tan to the entire flesh
surface
-
Roll up the hide and allow
the tan to penetrate well for 6 hours
-
Either process to mounting
or freeze hide
|
"I ordered the
deer video as a
birthday gift for
my husband. He
has really enjoyed
it. I am ordering
the rest. Thanks
for the extra-fast
delivery!"
Shelly B., TX
"Bill, I have really
enjoyed the deer
video. The extra
close-up shots
really helped a
lot. Thanks."
Mike O., SC
"Bill, the fleshing
part on the deer
video really helped
me to do a better
job on my deer
mounts. They
look a lot better
now."
Frank W., MS
|
4 DVD Course Set