Help! Smelly moose hide

[.X.]

Hi,
   This is my second year making my own rawhides for drum and banjo production. I get deer and moose hides from local hunters. I just received 2 moose hides, one that was cut up into 3 pieces, so i fleshed it first since it was easier to handle. What i noticed as i went was that it was very badly skinned and alot of the hide wont be usable. Then i looked at the full hide and saw that it was in much better shape, as far as the skinning goes. But, this hide is starting to smell REALLY bad. I know about Stop Rot, but i live in the middle of nowhere and dont have access to it. Is there anything else i can do to kill this smell so i can clean it and save it?

Thanks is advance.

[Lisa M]

I'd salt it right now.  That'll stop any bacterial rotting.  Salt it, flesh it, salt it again.  Then maybe you'll be able to save it.  Stink is not a good sign though.  Reminds me of when I had a freezer go out.  I lost about $3000 in critters.  Literally made me puke.  

Good luck.

[.X.]

Thanks for the quick reply. So do you recommend i salt it before i flesh it? Or should i just flesh it all then salt? I'm just wondering what the salt before i flesh will do. It's not really a big stink yet, but it still isnt a nice one. I dont know if my memory is serving me right, but i once read about washing the hide in a mix of water and bleach/javex to kill the smell, but i could very well be wrong, i'm very much an amateur.

Any other tips are more then welcome.

[Lisa M]

Do a rough fleshing. Then salt.  Wait a few hours/1 day.  Then flesh again.  Then salt again. 

Bleach/water, I don't know about.  You could try water/pine sol.  I've done that before on fish.  It is an anti-bacterial I think.  Cuts stinks down.

I'd get some SR just to keep on hand anyway.  It won't save an obviously rotten hide...but those that are on the edge...it'll damn sure give you a fighting chance. 

[.X.]

Oh ok, thanks. This hide isnt rotten, it's just starting to have a pretty unpleasant smell. I've been researching a bit and i've read of people who had black and green spot on their hides. So i'm still way ahead of that, haha. I dont think the hide is past the point of saving, it's just that for drums, if you dont kill the smell, every time you wet the skin to fit it on, or even when you sweat on it, the smell will come out. I'll start by the rough flesh procedure you explained and see how it'll go.

Thanks again!