should i stay away from dry preserve to mount skins
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but I have been using all methods of mounting including DP for thirty years, and have never lost a hide with DP.
Hear it goes again. No matter what anybody says if you want to create top quality mounts then tanning them is the only way. Short, simple and to the point.
How long have you been doing taxidermy ? The reason I ask is I have some small game I mounted over 20 years ago, that still look as good as the day I mounted with D.P. Every year goes by I wonder why I ever stopped using it, in favor of pickle, and liqua tan. Not trying to start something, the only difference I remmember is a lack of stretch and the D.P. being messy. What's the long term difference ?
what the heck and its cheap
I knew I should have put for big game. DP is alright for small game. By the way I know that it is you George.
If I'd said it, I'd have signed it. Just the way I play. And I've used DP for nearly 50 years now, so this is a "youngun" talking to you here.
It was me, I guess I was a little gun shy of liteing off powder keg of arguments. I would like to hear the difference between a tanned hide and d.p. hide in the long run 30-40 years from when it was mounted. I don't want to hear from someone that has only been doing it 20year's like (me). Someone told me to stop using d.p., It wasn't as good a tan. But he didn't have much more experience than myself. If d.p. is ok for small game, why not thin a deer, slap some d.p. on it and be done with it? Lack of stretch I guess, or are the eyelids going to crack over time, or can't get the detail like a tan ? I'm asking George or anyone else with his years in taxidermy. Not someone going off hearsay.
I doubt that I would change my way of doing things anyway, at least with big game.
A guy just brought a grey fox, complained a little about my price but left it anyway. Why is it most taxidermist charge a fox the same or lower price than a deerhead. To me there is alot more time in a fox than a deer (counting the base). Maybe I'm just to slow on a lifesize fox.
I began with DP on small game, birds and fish while tanning the big game hides with sulfuric acid pickles. Got tired of paddling that crap in an old bathtub and went to DP on everything. I have a couple deer on my wall that were done with DP in 1977 or so that still look like they did when I mounted them. (Bad). I used petroleum contact glue and that's managed to eliminate drumming. Still, the eyes around the preorbitals have suffered cracks that required repairs. The hide doesn't look as "soft" as the tanned hides either. The finish work was done with embalming wax so I think that kept most if it moist enough with the wax oils to reduce that area shrinking badly. One ear is drummed as that was the days before epoxy.
Today, with the epoxy hide pastes, adhesives, and putties, I don't see any reason a DP mount wouldn't last just as long. I still contend that they have a "harshness" about the finished product that a tanned and well oiled skin doesn't. I also like the stretch and pliability of a wet tanned hide versus the "raw" feel of a DP one. However, this is just MY OPINION.
Big Game mounts that are done with D/P do have a "HArshness" about them. My dad has a deer that he killed in 1979 that was tanned and the ears have split. I took it apart and the man didnt put any glue in there. But for small game I would say D/P is okay.
is the same, it's the wether you know how to use it or not. I've dp'd deer, and even elk, without any problems in the past, I just pefer the "feel" of a tanned hide. As far as longivity, dp will last just as long if not longer than a tanned hide.
And as far as tanning goes, there are so many on the market, how do you know which is the right one? That's a whole debate in itself. LOL
So try out different methods and see which one works best for YOU.
BP