flesh before or after.

Submitted by curt shepard on 12/17/01. ( ) 12.2.142.7

doing my first wt mount, did the spliting of the lips,eyes, ect. salted,then salted again. but i did not flesh it before i salted, what kind of problems am i going to have,or if any. thanks

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depends....

This response submitted by b bishop on 12/17/01. ( bishops@newnorth.net ) 209.83.43.11

did you leave any big chuncks of meat or fat ? if not, you are fine . Get that hide dry . Then rehydrate,wash, pickle,neutralize,tan. done!


In my 30 years of experience...

This response submitted by Gerard Tessier on 12/17/01. ( fleshing@atreide.net ) 207.96.128.104

Hi Curt,

I agree that many taxidermists flesh fat and meat before sating. I tried after turning ears, eyes and lips to rub the salt in and it worked fine. No shedding at all, use a slanted rack for salting, let the water drip out, do this in a cool shed (not in the heated shop) and don't let it get dry. The salt will cure the meat and fat.
When ready to mount, put in a pickle bath for a week and flesh. The work will be much easier. You will save 30 min. For those that think i'm wrong, try it on the back end of a deer you would trow away, no one wants problems with a customer cape but why the extra work? Time is money.

Gerry


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