Is it just me that has problems with bear ears and slipage

[rasorbackq]

  Been tanning many years now and seems lately most of the bears  ear seem to slip.  All my bears turn out perfect as well all the fresh bears but others that have have come in frozen seem to slip. Some not to bad and others very bad.
 Today I took out a deer hide and it too had slipped in a few spots.
 What I do is beam flesh  salt twice for 24 hrs , wash a few minutes to get rid of blood and dirt. pickle for 72 hrs in oxilac acid then  shave.  repickle 24 hrs and tan. Pickle is @ 2 or lower .
  Maybe my pickle is wrong.
  My mix is
4 litre to 16 grams of acid to 400 grams of salt or very close to 1 gal to .5 oz of acid to almost a lb of salt X amount I require.
 My last bear that slipped was a big boy and it took over 48 hrs to thaw enough to skin the head . I sprayed the ears with stop rot but didn't help  maybe it was not enough to get down to the skin.  This hide slipped before the salt was applied.
Seems the pickle starts to stink after about 2 days . Maybe I am not shaving enough but should not the acid penetrate the hide?? I am always afraid to shave too deep but do get a thin layer  off the hide

[clifftax]

I dont hear anything about a degreasing step in your process. I use the same pickle as you and have not had any problems knock on wood. One thing I do when bears come in is to skin out the head ASAP, turn the ears and then spray stop rot. From this step I then will freeze until Im ready to flesh and start the tanning process. It takes way too long for the head to thaw out after freezing.

[rasorbackq]

 I degrease during the pickle as well a degrease bath for 2 hours after the shave.
  Lots of taxidermist doing bears  and are they all having slip issues ?

[bearrug]

Why do you wash after salting? this might be your problem. I would pickle longer too .
I pickle everything for at least 5 days sometimes 7 days total.

[clifftax]

Heck Ive pickled up to a month sometimes. Not that it's needed, but just because I can

[rasorbackq]

 I wash to remove the dirt and blood .  Before I started to wash the ph was 2 at the start and by morning it was to high.  Found myself having to almost add the same amount of acid again several times over the next few days.
  Could it be because I don't let the hide dry after salting.  If hides are dry and rehydrate  , same as a light wash  No soap when I wash them.
 I read somewhere on here that oxalic acid mix should be 3 oz to one gal of water.  My mix calls for .5 oz althought my Ph is good it does tend to rise to above 2 on fourth day.
 Anyone care to share the oxalic acid pickle recipe?
Clifftax and Bearrug  What are you pickle methods.

 Also I use a heater to 68deg  as it gets cold in the mix.  Could the heat er be causing my problems?
 


 

[oldshaver]

http://www.facebook.com/notes/trubond-tanning-products-llc/tanning-bears-part1/227280140641324

Products available in Canada through Sirius Taxidermy Supply

[muscle20]

     If you had slippage before you salted, that indicates to me either or field care or you took too long handling the bear, with dirty blood matted bear do not subject them to water, just put them in your pickle pH 2.0  after a few days or more in the pickle, before you put them in your degreasing float after the first shave, then you can brush out the matted blood, you do not want to subject your skins to water for too long specially on iffy skins, your pickle method is just fine, just add enough acid to keep your pH low, I have never added too much acid same pickle that I use, and I have never had slippage issues if proper field care has taken place, as bear skins to me is one of the most hardiest skins to tan if proper field care has taken place. You do not have to salt dry your bear skins unless you plan on storing them for a long while, matter of fact you could put your bear skins straight into the pickle after fleshing with no problems as I have done many times, also educate clients on field care, do not take too long turning the ears or splitting lips, as soon as a paw is thawed out enough, start skinning it out even if there is a little frost, as you stated the bears that come in frozen are the ones that are giving you a problem, so the key to success is efficiency on your part and your clients. Also do not worry about keeping your pickle float warm as you stated that your pickle smelled, if the pickle is cooler it will work just as well, it will just take longer, and do not be in a hurry to pickle your skins leave them in the pickle for a week or more, that way you will be sure that the pickle has flushed out the fibers, you would be better off having your heater on your tanning float anyways,  hope I have been some help.

[rasorbackq]

As always Muscle 20  you are a wealth of knowledge.
Thanks.
 The skins are only 5 minutes if that in the washer . All these hide clients say were in the freezer in 3 hrs . Yes most are balled  with loads of fat  so they are not freezing very fast. This last bear was  6 hours to prep .  Bet it had 25 lbs of fat on the hide.  I started on the head to turn the eyes and eyes but its weight was slowing me down so I opted to flesh the hide before the ears. 6 Hrs after the start of the paws the ears started to slip.  48 hrs before that the ears were thawed where the block of skull and fur were not.

 The last deer I did was like the hair is not slipping but if you pull on it it will all come out .  Like the hide is too soft .  Now it has not dried . But I still have to break the hide .

[rasorbackq]

Old Shaver ...
 that was  good read   but where can I read the pickle steps . I don't want a face book account.
 And I am using truebond from Surius taxi supply with great results but my problem is in the pickles  Seems the hides are not pickling  although the ph is low they tend to get a smell  about the 3rd day  before the degrease stage.and shave. From there I KNOW I AM IN TROUBLE.
 Been like this since last season  The couple deer capes I tanned all the hair was able to be pulled out  not like slip just like they not attached by much . Maybe I am shaving too thin  but I have a hard time to believe that . thinking not shaving thin enough.
 . On a hide I only remove a paper thin skin . Afraid to cut off the roots.

 
 

[rasorbackq]

 Have 2 deer capes in pickle now . Not feeling good about it . Can I drain and freeze til I find out what the heck is going on?

[Huggs]

Might help to apply Stop-Rot when you get them in or when ever the first chance to get to the ears

[rasorbackq]

 I did apply stop rot  but maybe not enough to soak the hair.

[Wasatch Wildlife Tannery (Mike)]

I am inclined to think the problem has developed well before you recieved the hides.  If the hunter is freezing the bears with the hide rolled up and the head tucked to the center, the inner areas of the hide will take a couple days to freeze.  The hide acts as an insulator.  Have seen this happen often.  Some hunters will also roll their cape or hide around the head after removing from the animal.  The head is hot and the hide holds in the heat.  Hides need to be cooled right away and with out being rolled up.  Lay in the freezer loose until they start to get firm, then roll or fold up.  Most hair slippage starts with improper care in the field. My two cents worth.

[rasorbackq]

  What about a deer hide that too grew the smell over 2 days in the pickle. and last year I was having problems with a few beaver hides . They were white on the edges and brown in the skin center when cut with a knife.  Every one tells me their hides were in the freezer in a couple hrs.