Hello iam thinning down my first cape and the problem iam having was the deer was shot in the neck with a 300 ultra mag with ballistic tips as you can imagine the bloodshot is terrible,the deer hung head down for like 3 hours..i cant seem to get the red out of the skin,i think the blood soaked into the skin because i cant get it thin enough to get the red out without cutting through and making a hole..iam using a scalpal, any advise would be appriciated.Sorry about the typing my hands are pretty cut up.hehe....Thanx Tracy
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That's normal. It may or may not come out after the tannning process. I don't know if your going to tan it or what or what your trying to do with the cape. If you gives us a bit more info we may be able to give you a bit more advise. But all in this is a normal thing.
Thank you for the response Frank..It is my first attempt at mounting so iam going to use the DP method first for practice...Iam a little concerned about how long it is taking me to flesh it,i hear people say 30 to 45 minutes ive already got about 6 hours and alot of sewing to do its a little discouraging at times but my buddies are willing to give up thier capes for sacrafice,thanx again ill keep pluggin away after work tonight...Tracy
Good morning and happy holidays to ya. If your using DP after you removed the flesh and meat give it a quick wash in a good blood remover or Era detergent. After the wash which should be no longer than a 5 min wash rinse clean, wring or hang to drip for thrithy min. and tumble it in a dryer set on cool heat only COOL not heat, with some old towels. This will help get most of the moisture out of the hide. Take out the hide and rub the DP on it and mount it.
As for people doing it fast, well we have a big fleshing machine that does the work for us. When your doing it by hand, that's fleshing and trying to shave it, time should not be a factor. Take your time and enjoy. Then thinner the hide the better the mount you'll have using DP.
Also use a high quality hide paste. Epo-Grip has one that can be used on DP skins. With-out a good paste to hold it in place you may have drumming going on. Many folks here use any paste they can get cheap and use pins, nails, staples and other what not to hold the skin in place while it's drying. I gave up on that years ago when I started to use Buckeye Supreme hide paste but quickly changed to Epo-Grip hide paste. Honestly the only pin I use is to bury the tear duck in that's it. Plus my hides fit the manikin and I don't over stretch the hide either.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question,hope you and yours had a merry christmas.I will keep plugin away at this,thank you again..Tracy