I just recently unthawed my deer cape from last november. I just have a few questions. After I clean up the cape,split the lips, nose and turn the ears, should I flesh it down first or can I salt it first, let it drain and salt it again? Will it be easier to flesh after I salt the cape? This will be my first deer and I want the best quality cape I am capable of. My other question is about thinning the cape. Other than a fleshing machine, what do others do and how do you know the cape is thin enough to work with? I guess the trick is to get a nice even cape but to do it with a knife seen like you would get different thicknesses!
Thanks very much
Joe
Return to Beginners Category Menu
Definitions of unthawed on the Web:
still frozen; "there was'nt time to cook the unthawed turkey, so they had to settle for hotdogs"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Definition: Unthawed
Unthawed
Adjective
1. Still frozen; "there was'nt time to cook the unthawed turkey, so they had to settle for hotdogs".
Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Date "unthawed" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1895. (references)
http://www.websters-dictionary-online.com/un/unthawed.html
Synonyms within Context: Unthawed
Context Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Cold Unwarmed, unthawed; lukewarm, tepid; isocheimal, isocheimenal, isocheimic.
Density Undissolved, unmelted, unliquefied, unthawed.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.
joe ill answer your question about this cape
then ill tell you what i do
1 wear gloves for protection and to minimize the heat from your hands
2 then salt over night ,shake off and resalt(that is what the experts say)
3the cape will stiffen up and make shaving easier
whem i first got started i used a surgical scaple on the face
and a old hickory on the rest
4 the cape will have a blueish tint to it just before you hit the roots
hope that helps on this one joe
now as for what i would have done
1 get some stop rot and read on the site www.whitetailsystems.com
this stuff will give you the time as a beginner to flesh up front
after the application of the stop rot
2 you can still flesh with the surgical scalpel but as time goes on and if you want to get serious get a good! fleshing machine
you simply cant beat one
3 there are many tanning products out there research them in the archives ez100,krowtann,jrts,liqua tann the whitetail designer system and many more
hope all this helped
good hunting paul e
after the tan, you can thin anything with a skive knife if you do not have a machine to do the job.
words on post after post and now she's critiquing unthawed ?! good grief ! you need to thaw out !
as a beginner, i wouldnt suggest wasting alot of time fleshing real thin before you salt! get the cape split ie; turn lips ears nostrils, get a sharp knife or scalpel, draw knife and beam and remove all the fat and red meat then salt. After salting get it in the pickle, once pickled you can shave or thin any way you choose. Now it will be plumped up, easier thining and less likely to give you slippage problems, Your 1st cape is going to be a long process!
Take your time, have fun.
Get off your high horse would ya? Most of us are smart enough to take what he said in context and comprehend what he was asking in his post. I've seen some of your posts in the past, and you seem like a know it all that doesn't know all that much..obviously that's why instead of answering his question or referring him to the orange button, you decide to satisfy your shallow mind with a reply like that. You are either young and naive, or older with serious issues.
By the way, while your thumbing through the dictionary, look up the word refinement, as it may help you down the road.
Sarah is a 17 year old girl (literally) and thinks she is God's gift to taxidermy.
To answer your question Joe...
Once the cape is thawed, work fast and get the majority of the fleshing done.
Then turn the lips, and flesh the lips and chin, then turn the eyes, and flesh the eye area, then turn the ears and flesh the base area.
Then liberally salt the cape, shake off the wet salt after 24 hours or so, and resalt making sure to get into all the crevices. I put a fan on my capes while they dry and get them into a postions so they can drain and not sit in a puddle. Once they are almost dry, then i fold them up. If you wait until they are bone dry, they will never fold without wetting them down and are a pain to fit into a box to send to the tannery. If you are tanning it, then disregard.