I am doing some research on before my first moose mount. I look threw the achives and got some good info But I have a question on the thinning and tanning of the hide. I haven't been in the business a real long time but done a several deer mounts, but the thickness of the skin on one of these beast is unreal. I am still waiting for my autotanner to be delivered (I got the big one) and was going to start cleaning up the hide and turning everything. How thin does a guy turn a hide like that and is there any special thing about preping before tanning. P S I do have a good size chunk of hide from the back to pratice with on the autotanner .
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Moose are not too tough to shave or tan despite the size. You must shave about 3/4 of the thickness away from the forehead down the back of the neck to the shoulders. I use a Rawhide flesher. For moose I adjust the guards to take a pretty good bite for the thick areas. Ventrally, moose skin is somewhat thinner. For tanning, I use the pickle and soak and am not sold on the autotanner, therefore I usually shave moose 2 or 3 times before the tanning soak. Moose skin has a very loose skin structure, very coarse and fibrous so it tans very nicely in the shop. If your moose has a bell (some dont) make sure the bell is split out completely. I shaved and tanned a bison last week. If you think moose skin is thick, you ain't seen nothing yet.