i have 4 deer heads in my freezer and I was checking a fox I have in thier when I noticed water. I checked the deer heads and some are slightly thawed. I have them still in the freezer but was wondering If I sparayed them down with 650-bactercide would it be ok or I am I the only one this bad luck. (I should say that the freezer temp got turned down accidently), I've fixed that problem)
BTW, I am going to skin out the worst thawed one, but I am very slow so I can't do all of them in a timely fashion. Please help with any suggesations.
Thanks
Return to Beginners Taxidermy Category Menu
If I was in your shoes I wouldn't rest easy until I was sure I had skinned those heads and checked for slippage. You could do just about anything else you wanted with them but my suggestion is to quit thinking you got to do a perfect job and get busy skinning those heads. The worst offense and best conductor for bacteria is going to be the decaying brain matter and any digestive juices in the mouth and throat. You can skin them out as best you can and refreeze them to finish up fleshing at your leisure, but do the best you can to remove the decaying meat and tissue now. Several green skins I've bought have had enough meat left inside to feed a family of 4 so I know you can move fast enough to get these clean enough to roll and refreeze for a more convenient time.
Lisa, If the freezer is working now it doesn't seem so urgent. The one that thawed the most I would probably skin out and salt but if they did not thaw all the way it should be ok provided they were in good shape before. No, you are definitly not alone in this problem- lots of us have had a freezer die and the losses can be great. That's why I don't like storing too much in freezers, better to skin as they come in and store dry and salted- saves a lot of thawing time and cuts down on spoilage too. Good luck and remember to enjoy, Aaron H.
I skinned out the one & it seems to be all right The others where thawed in the nose area but the neck was still solid.
I think the tempature was turned down for about 2 days at the most. So I will hope all turns out well.
I use the auto tan method so I don't salt them, usually just split turn and tan.
I have my fingers crossed. I hope I won't be in any need for capes.
Thanks for the advice. Any other suggestion will be well accepted.
Lisa, Just to be safe, I'd get some Stop Rot from Whitetail designer Systems and paint a thin coat on the around the nose pads and eyes of the ones that thawed. the most likely place for slippage would be around the eyes if they partially thawed. Stop Rot is pretty amazing stuff.
I was just reading about stop rot. I'll definatly get some. I sprayed this cape down with 650-bactercide and refroze it, so I guess it'll be a wait and see thing.
Can you use the stopr rot with the auto tanner? or does that even matter what way i'm tanning?
Ya'll are great for answering my newbie questions. Thanks
Check out Glen's site and see if you can find your answer. If not e-mail him and he'll get right back with you. Real good guy to talk to and a straight shooter. Of course, he's from Indiana. This is his link http://www.whitetailsystems.com/ And BTW, it's always good to at least find the time to cape your deer before throwing them in the freezer. I personally don't trust a bacteriacide that much. Certainly not until my freezer is a walk-in. But that's a few down the road. Good luck with your crisis, they only seem to get bigger for a Rookie. Peace- Jeff F.