I am going to try and mount my first whitetail deer. Im having problems skinning the ears, i cant seperated the tips of the ears from the cartlidge nor can i skin the inside of the ears without tearing or cutting the skin. i would appreciate some advice.
thank you
kevin
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I assume you don't have an ear opener? You will want to get one soon. The ears can be 'turned' without this tool but it sure does make it easier. You will want to be very careful as to how much cutting you are doing. Imagine your hands are the ears. Put your hands together in front of you, palm to palm. Now 'turn' your hands open from the palm out to your finger tips. Imagine how hard it would be to open your hands via a blade without cutting them. The ears present the same challenge. Rather than cutting it open you are best off to separate them from each other using your finger nails or some other tooling. Don't worry about opening them right to the very edge at this point. You can leave the last 3/16" unturned until after tanning or preserving - it will be easier then.
To remove the cartilage, if you are going to use an ear liner, refer to the McKenzie catalog as they have a good illustration in there that will help. Good Luck (and buy an ear opener)
John Morley
www.RealisticMounts.com
I am a beginner that needs help with everything. I am interested in Taxadermy but I don't even know to skin a squirrel. Please help in between your laughter
We only laugh at Cecil, never beginners. Click that orange SEARCH icon to the left there and ask all the questions you'd like. You'll be amazed that most of them are already answered and you won't be concerned with anyone else. If you look and don't find it there, then come back here and ask.