i'm doing my first coon and i got one that was in a freezer for a long time. i skinned,turned the ears and lips,but couldnt get the skin down to the end of the toes! they are all hard like a rock! i salted it down, left it over night and got as much fat and meat off that i could and salted it again!i intend to let it dry and try my hand at tanning. can anyone tell me if the toes will get soft in the rehydrating solution so i can get the toe bones out before i pickle this thing? i hope i didnt mess up this coon has beautifull thick fur and a great color. thank you in advance,
pat
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Pat,
If you're going to completely salt dry your coon,you're going to have to re-hydrate to wet it back for you pickling solution.During your re-hydration process,add 1 oz.of ULTRA SOFT to every gal.of water. Ultra soft is a Rittel product and works great.After the wetting back process is complete,put the coon into your pickle solution for a couple of days. Now go ahead and skin the toes out.
Hopefuly this will help you. Any questions, feel free to get in touch of me anytime.
Have a good day,
Dave VanDyke's
P.S. When mounting, dont forget to add clay back into the toes. Otherwise, they'll shrink up and look worse than if you never removed the toes!
i'm feeling better already! i'll do as you suggested. i'll check out some of your forms if this skin turns out. he's 2inches from nose to corner of eye and about 20 from nose to base of tail. thanks again,
pat