I would like to know if, when you use salt before you flesh
a hide, do you let the skin set out in the open air for 24 hours
before you start to flesh the hide? To me it seems like your skin
will rot in that period of time, especially when some directions
say to repeat these steps the next day
And also how long can you keep a skin out while
you are skinning it? Skinning deer hides still take
me a while on there faces
Return to Beginners Category Menu
You need to rough flesh the hide. That means skin the animal and
remove all of the large hunks of meat and fat. I use a fleshing beam
to do this. After you do this you need to salt the hide and make sure
you cover all of the flesh areas. Spread the salt evenly and let it
sit 24 hours tilted so the liquids run off. If you have a salt rack
all the better. I do not have a rack so a large table top slanted
does the trick. After 24 hours shake off all of the old salt and resalt
with new salt(never reuse old salt). I ususally flip the skin over every
12 hours to let it dry evenly. After the 2nd salting I usually fold the
skin in half and hang it over a 2X4 to dry completely. after that Proceed
with the rehydration,pickle bath and then tanning. I am not sure the
time you can keep a skin out. But you want to get it salted as quickly
as possible.
Todd B