Elk flat

I just took in my first elk flat. The lady drops it off for her husband stating she wanted it back in time for his B-day. I told her no way, its in 3 weeks. It was frozen when she got here and been thawing all day. I finally pulled enough out to start fleshing and hit a spot under the porter house stakes that are left on this thing that is like plywood, freezer burn the size of a basket ball. I hit it with stop rot and it is starting to get flexible again. I don't think the freezer burn area is going to be a problem. It was wrapped in a pillow case inside of a plastic bag and she said it has been in the freezer for 6 years. She has a contract where I state that frozen specimens will be inspected once thawed. My plan is to finish rough fleshing and see how many more spots I hit. I have done about 1/4 of this thing.

here are my questions.
1 if the stop rot gets everything back in order will this thing tan up nice, due to all of the fat? its got to be two and three inches thick in some places. 2. If I go ahead and finish it, how soft does the freezer burned spots need to be before salting?

I am sending it off to be tanned and would hate to waste her money if the product had any sort of chance of being less then great. I have ran across small freezer burn and thin fat before but never anything like this. Basically what I am asking is, what are the chances of pulling this thing off? It was a young bull and the hide is very thin in most places that i hav got to. Thanks for your help

Return to Beginners Taxidermy Category Menu

I wanted to add

I applied Stop Rot by brushing it on then once it softened up I injected the whole area. Freezer burn is now all but gone. Still is the fat going to cause grease burn.

Joey id take it to the hide

maybe some have a different opinion but i always take all the red meat and fat off
now i know what your thinking wow thats a lot of work
(it may take a lot of stop-rot)
ya it is i hope you have yourself covered
do you have a draw blade?or a ulu

ive got pletty experiance with ifffy stuff but not with freezer burnt stuff

perhaps someone with more experiance with elk and tannery will chime in

my gut tells me you should be able to save it
p.s. dont forget to fit the antlers to the form while its on the wall
being your first hat to see ya mount it up only to find the antlers dont have enough room
paul e

tanning

It should be fine; flesh it down good, salt it, dry it, and send it to your tannery.
If the stop rot is softening the skin, it will tan, elk can have a lot of fat, but they do not gease burn easily.

Thanks Its is just a throw

when I pulled it off of the fleshing table all kinds of lose hairs came out. I salted it heavy so we will see Stop rot save one for me lets see if it will again. Time to reorder though it took a half a bottle to cover this thin and inject into the skin. cleared up right before my eyes though. Back is killing me this mourning. I think I will take the rest of the day to go rest in the turkey woods.

I hear ya Joey elk is a big job

Joey let me know how it all turned out
my coffee hadnt kickedin yet
i didnt catch you were just doing a flat throw

got a monster i have to tackle in a month or so
now what ya mean about the back

i think im gonna take the plunge and try the pressure washer thing
paul e

Yes sir

if I ever take another one in I will try that myself. Thanks Paul see ya

Try it You will love it guys!

I bet with someone helping me, I could power wash it in under an hour, and all the freezer burned areas would soak up. The hide would be white as snow as well! once you try it you will never go back!