I picked up a fresh roadkill deer in March.(It was still warm) The problem is, the deer was shedding.I skinned it out, salted twice in the first week, put into pickle,used neatsfoot oil to tan. When I was working the hide over a post and board the hair was coming out very bad so I decided it was time to try my hand at making a buckskin. I scraped all the hair off very easily with a board and had good results (I thought). Although it was a LOT of work pulling and stretching and may be my last time with this method. Is this the wrong time of year to tan a hide with the hair on? I am working the cape a little every day being carefull not to pull to much hair out.When I mount the cape is it going to continue to shed? I used the same method on a deer that was killed in Dec. but used Liqui-tan with good results. Thanks for any input.
Chris
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I'm not sure of this but I think that foot oil is just that (oil). I think you would have been better off using liqua tan it has tannins in it to preserve the hide. Also you may not have let the salt drying harden to set the hair. Nut
What the hell made you think Neatsfoot would be an equivalent to Liquatan? Some guys deserve what they get. You did get a permit to pick up the roadkill, did'nt you?
Neatsfoot Oil is not a Tan...it's an oil used to soften the hide used after tanning. Stick with Rittle's directions and for oiling and you wont have problems like that. At least you had the experience of creating a buckskin?
~ ETCC
Thank you for your input on this problem. I used neatsfoot oil because the taxidermy guide by russell tinsley (third edition) said to use this or tanning oil. I had already tried Liquia-tan on a deer that was killed in Dec.(which had a non shedding coat to begin with)and had good results.I just wanted to try something different so I could compare methods to see what might work good for me.The oil to me seemed to work good. Atleast as a softing agent. The buckskin was soft, my cape is almost dry, and I have sanded the cape during this time and now it is looking good. Time will tell if it will last. I did not let the hide dry with the salt on it. Any other hides I have tanned, i didn't either. I am new to this and have just learned on this forum that you should leave the hide dry with the salt. I guess my real question is: Is a deer that is shedding its coat to begin with, going to keep on shedding its coat after it is mounted, regardless of what salting or tanning solution you use? Everything I did between the two deer or any other hides (squirrels) I have done was the same except for the neatsfoot oil on this one deer hide. And none of the other hides were shedding to begin with like this PA. deer in March. Maybe these spring and summer deer are the ones to make buckskin out of without the hassle of hair-off kits. Thanks everyone you all are very helpfull. Chris
Could be the out-of-season Spring Deer...but most likely because it wasn't double-salted and allowed to dry first. That's what preserves the skin and sets the hair.
If the salt is washed off before it has dried...just wasting good salt for nothing...it's an ancient rule...Salt is cheep...useit...LOL.
~ ETCC
I have always double salted any hides but have never let them dry. I have not had this shedding problem with any other hides (deer or squirrels) until this Pa deer in March which was already shedding when I found it. I will double salt and let dry from now on. Like you said I was probrobly wasting salt. Thank you ETCC. When I get the cape done and mounted I will try and come back here and give an update on wheather the hair kept falling out. Chris
Send me a photo when it's finished...always enjoy seeing other's first works..Best of luck m'friend.
~ ETCC