i am just starting out and was just wondering when i skin out a animal and flesh him turn eyes,lips,ears...... then salt them can i just leave them salted for a real long time or do i salt let hang for 24hrs. and then put in the pickle. i will be tanning these myself but would like to do them all at once so can i just salt and not worry bout anything for a couple months and then pickle?
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If you search here you will find different ideas on this. Personally, in the winter here in WI when it is low humidity and 65 degrees in my basement, I salt dry my deer hides by salting once, waiting 24hrs, and salting again, then after a few days hanging the hides to dry where it is cool,(outdoor shed). But I have salted 24hrs. and pickled. You can leave skins in a pickle for a few months if needed, but you have to check it daily for pH changes.
If you salt dry, you will need to rehydrate skins before pickling. You will find here that some salt 24 hrs. and pickle, some salt dry and some just use Krowtann and skip the salting altogether. So there is no "rule". I do what works for me, and usually the best route is to send the skins to the tannery of choice. I like the Wildlife Gallery in Blanchard, MI. They are not the most inexpensive, but do great work.
If you read some of the archived posts here on this subject you'll see what I mean about lots of different methods. Also Bruce Rittel has a website with tanning info. Have fun.
I usually salt the skins and leave them in the salt until they are completely dry. Then I go on to the scraping and tanning. It is easier to clean skins that start out dry. You can salt multiple skins at once without any problems. Just make sure every part of the skin has salt on it if you plan to leave it salted for a while. I made the mistake of leaving a rat-skin's tail unsalted and it rotted off.