I will be thawing out an 8pt buck to get started with taxidermy in a couple of days. What should I do with the hide before sending it out? Does the tannery completly flesh the cape? Do I salt freeze then send,just salt then send? also what is the diffrence between a wet tan and a dry tan? do I rehydrate the cape before I mount it? Thanks for any help with these most basic questions...
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I forgot , when you rehydrate a cape is it in just water or it it in some kine of prepared rehydration bath? thanks again all
If you are asking what to do with that cape before you send it to a tannery-your best bet is to take it to a taxidermist.
There are several things that need to be done before sending it to a tannery. This includes fleshing, the ears need to be "turned" the lips "split", remove the cartilidge/open the nose, salting, then drying it out.
Dave , if you have to ask these questions then you have no idea what your doing . I hope this head isnt for a customer . If your just learning , start with a squirrel or something small or you might as well toss this head in the garbage . Also try that orange button to the left and put that head back in the freezer until you get your answers. Rick
Here is a tip. If you want to be a taxidermist you better DO YOUR HOMEWORK! You don't go to the dentist, sit in the chair, and then have him call another dentist and ask him what to do next. DO YOU? Buy a book! Buy a video. Or go to the library. But you HAVE to do SOME homework.
Guys, come on, you didn't know these things when you started out either. These are legitimate questions for someome that wants to mount their own, and I think it can be appreciated that he "is" in the process of doing his homework by asking questions via this forum. Dave, you should flesh the cape, turn the ears, split the lips, salt and dry just as Verba said, but don't take it to the taxidermist........do it yourself so you can get the experience..there are also many videotapes available that can take you through the steps..if you mess up, now is the time....just make sure you do it in quick enough to avoid hair slippage. Soon you should be able to get another cape from other taxidermists/meat processors if this one don't work out right. Give it your best shot. Good Luck.
This person has gotten his cart in front of the horse. None of use knew this stuff before we started,gramted. but neither did we have the animal on the ground and skinned before we started asking those questions. I feel those first answers were in line on this particular one. No amount of answering is going to help this person as "splitting lips" and "turning ears" is quite likely to be a foreign language as well.
The way I see it, this guy is a true beginner, he went to the "Beginners" forum, and asked a beginners question. I'm sure he has already gained knowledge from our comments, and now he knows that he needs to find out how to turn ears, etc. And now, thanks to George, he should realize that he made a mistake by not leaving that thing in the freezer until he knows what to do. By the way, the new apple scented antibacterial Dawn dishwashing soap has provided me with superior results.
Why does everybody keep saying to turn the ears when this is easier done after tanning and can cause sawdust blowouts?(Breakthrough whietail manual) Dave, your best bet at this point is to send your FROZEN cape AS IS to Micro-Tan. They'll do all the fleshing and splitting for you. At a price (of coarse). You can do it yourself next time after some researching. Next order a Breakthrough Whitetail Taxidermy manual from WASCO before THINKING about going any further. Good results can only be acheived if YOU do your homework(and lots of it).Mirco-tan can be reached at http://www.micro-tan.com/price_list.html Good Luck. Peace - Jeff F.
I appreciate the help especially from Jessie and George, I am as you can tell the greenest of beginners but I didnt come here to get "SLAPPED" for not knowing. I haven't taken it out of the freezer yet and I won't untill I know how to turn the lips ect. The head was given to me by a neighbor and it seems to look like it is in good shape. I WILL NOT ruin this head by going half assed about it. I appreciate the animal more than that. Guys, when you sayflesh the cape do you mean just get most of the meat off with a knife or do I need to put on a fleshing beam? I dont have a shaving machine...yet.... I value all the critters out there and again I will do my very best to do the job right!
Rookie;
You do have to turn the ears before you send the cape to the tannery. Or if your going to tan the cape yourself.
The cartlage is easier to remove after the cape has been tanned. If you don't turn the ears they won't get tanned.
Coyote
Dave;
Skin out the cape, get all red meat and fat off the cape. Turn the ears, split the lips, nose, and eyes. Salt the cape down for a good 24hrs. Make sure you rub in the salt in all the creases and folds. Do not roll the cape up, instead fold the cape and put it on a angle so the fluids can drain off. After 24hrs, scrape off the salt, then do another fleshing. This will get the membrane off of the cape. Resalt with new salt, and let it dry until it rock hard. Now you can send it out to the tannery.
I am No Professional. I do Taxidermy as a pleasant distraction. I have only been at it for 6 years. But I was fortunate to have someone show me the trade secrets. To flesh a hide for tanning it is best to remove all of the flesh from the hide, and as much of the membrane as possible, a reliable tannery will clean up the rest nicely. Turning the lips consists of skinning then down the outside and up the inside. this is time consuming for the beginner. And caution must be taken, as the inner lip skin is extremely thin. the nose must likewise be skinned into the nostrils and the cartilage removed from between them, again work slow, and be careful as the skin is thin. The ears must be skinned to the tip. I do so By starting up the back until I have reached a point where there is only membrane cutting right to the cartilage. Then separate it to the tip with my finger. Being careful not to poke my finger through. I then turn the ear inside out, fold the ear and cut through the cartilage half way down the ear. Then peal the cartilage from the ear. I then flesh up to the eyes. Removing the oil glands and thinning the inner lid. I like to leave about 3/16 of an inch of inner lid. as I use eye Capsules this gives me plenty to tuck. Now you should be ready to salt the cape. Hope this helps you out.
Yes I was once a beginner too. Before I did anything, I ordered every piece of information on them I could find. Years later I ordered the Breakthrough BOOKS and Jonas books. I suggest you spend the next year reading the ARCHIEVES located at the bottom of this page.
WHY? You may ask, Because everything is there except photographs!
Dont get the cart before the horse or your ride will be ruff.
My bad. I was thinking removing cartilage. You're of coarse perfectly correct. Been a LONG week and I was kinda miffed seeing a newby get nuked when trying to approach the forum. And Dave, getting slapped is a piss pore way of stating things. If you're not thick skinned then you're in for a heck of an adventure around here. Don't burn bridges(poof,ETCC) that you may have to cross later. Peace- Jeff F.
You can E-mail me directly with questions if you would like. I have helped many guys with simple or complex problems. I am not a world class expert taxidermist, but I rem,ber when I started and all the jack-a$$es around then. We had no internet, and if you asked a Taxidermist then on the phone any questions you would be hung up on. If you went into their shop, you could have been thrown out on your butt. Anyway, there are many here that can help you. I have to agree with being thick skinned, Nobody here has not had to answer back to the same abuse one tme or another. It is just part of the game here.
Don't sweat it though. I think you can do a good job and if not, it will be a good learning experiance. You can alwasy get more capes later to practice on as well.
You can E-mail me directly with questions if you would like. I have helped many guys with simple or complex problems. I am not a world class expert taxidermist, but I rem,ber when I started and all the jack-a$$es around then. We had no internet, and if you asked a Taxidermist then on the phone any questions you would be hung up on. If you went into their shop, you could have been thrown out on your butt. Anyway, there are many here that can help you. I have to agree with being thick skinned, Nobody here has not had to answer back to the same abuse one tme or another. It is just part of the game here.
Don't sweat it though. I think you can do a good job and if not, it will be a good learning experiance. You can alwasy get more capes later to practice on as well.
Dave
For your first time see if you have a taxidermist in your area who would be willing to show you how to do the splitting and fleshing and maybe even the tanning of your deer. Offer to pay him for his time. Some would be willing.
Wade