took it out of the freezer,thawed,washed,rough fleshed,salted on a screen for 2 days,put in pickle for 2 days,ph was good.hair is slipping,still smells like ponch also.i started re fleshing but didnt go good.after a few hours it seemed to be drying up and sticking together so i returned it to the pickle.is there anything i can do or is it junk?also is there any way to get a ph if your out of paper no one around here carries it.thanks
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is it to late?
Theres a million things that could be wrong. If its slipping in clumps your to far gone, if only a little hair here and there you could save it by mounting and hurry the drying process. The stick is probally a good sign that the skin is done for also. Since your post isn't that detailed (probally why nobody is posting back) I'll give you a feel main reason for this.
1) Bad care in the field
2) Did you apply salt before you frooze?
3)Humid when salting? Acording to some matterials you don't have to salt till dry, but it seems like salt will soak up the humidity before moisture from the cape. If this is the case you have to chang the salt constantly or build a little tent/room with construction plastic, put cape and dehumidifier in there. If had this happen to me if you can't tell!
4) Not sure but maybe you got a ph spike? Don't know if it will make it slip but if you checked it right away then ran out of papers it probally went up. Also you can buy PH papers at a ton of places...pool, hardware, and hobby stores to start
Hope this help!
JOe
it was not salted before froze.it was very humid at the time it was salted.it didnot shrink at all.it was almost like a fresh hide after 2 days.is it supposed to get hard like air drying small game on a stretcher?i didnt think it was supposed to but im very new! at this.my first time yet.i have also been told the hair will come out if the hide is wet.you do have to give it a tug to get it out.makes like a snap or pop sound.i always trapped furbearers and never saw this.but it is a different situation also.i also made a post on tanning.i think i explained it the same.anyway,thank you.any info is helpful for this green horn.
ph paper mite be available at the places you mentioned in your area but in my small community in 25-30 mile radius no one carries ph paper.only stuff i found was 6.5 and up [pool supplies].only place i didnt try was the hospital.ended up ph stayed good for 4 days.
what is the stick your talking about? thanks