Im as "beginner" as beginners get, I have skinned a few moles and a bird and I have been looking into tanning and curing hides more serious recently. I will be starting with the squirrels around my house. I have a good skinning knife (family used to run a sanitorium in the early 1900s so I have a ton of scalpals, surgical scisors, etc.) I have heard that for the pickeling process some people use diluted battery acid (Hydrochloric acid) and I'v heard to get a target PH of 1-2. A) Is there something easy to get ahold of that works better than battery acid? B) What is the best way to know if you have the correct PH? Also I have heard that you need to use Non-Iodized salt for the salting, what happens if you use iodized? Thanks a bunch.
Thanks a lot, Jason
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i would suggest a tanning kit from rittles ,and not the battery acid,,and salt is basically salt,,you want a fine grained salt,,like table salt...to test the PH of your pickle you will want PH papers..scrape the hides free of fat and membrane and salt,,the next day shake off the old salt and apply new salt,,and let them dry,,,rehydrate in 2 lbs of salt per gallon of water,,,and set them in your pickle,,,stir them in the pickle a couple of times a day,,,in a couple of days they will plump up and turn white,,,pinch them with your thumb nail,,,if the print stays there pickled,,,make sure you check the PH at least once a day,,,when they are ready to come out of the pickle,,,rinse them and let them drain,,,mix up 1 table spoon of baking soda to every gallon of water and soak them for 15 to 20 minutes,,,,rinse and drain,,,,you are now ready to tan,,,hope this helps ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,jim
If you look to the left, there is a orange button that says search. Ya see it well read this then click on it. If you will type in the word tanning you will come up with about 6700 post about tanning, or if you will limit the search to lets say (tanning deer) or in you case (tanning squirrels) the number of post should drop way down. There is a world of infromation in the archives on most anything that you would want to know. Just take it from another beginner and if you don't find what you are looking for then ask and there are guys here that are more than willing to help you out. Good luck and have fun!
Joey A.
Jason, Also try different phrases for your searches such as preserving squirrels or preserving hides. Just remember what you are trying to acomplish and all of the possible ways it could be said. Between that and weeding out the junk the rest is really easy. You will soon learn what names to follow by their sound advice and don't be afraid to try different ways to find what fits you the best.
Joey A.
if done correct in my opinion is the way to go
especially with the small critters
i tann deer or bigger
o.k. im ready let me have it
D.P., good stuff!
This stuff is great. New and easy also less mess. Use a 5 gal bucket. Good luck