How often do I need to change my corn cob grit in my tumbler?
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If you do a dozen ducks, it may be if you didn't spin them dry before you tossed them in. Or it could be one turkey or 12 turkeys. You just have to see when your corncob grit is not drying them quickly enough. I've always used the 20 minute gage for most everything in taxidermy. If it doesn't work in 20 minutes, you might want to think about why. If my birds aren't dry to my satisfaction in 20 minutes, I change the barrel.
I put a box fan in the opening and just let it run on low until I use it again, I agitate {stir up} the grit every time I walk by and tell my kids to do the same and I've been using the same grit for 5 months, birds dry in 20 minutes, bears break soft in 40. Once summer gets here I empty it, replace with new grit and spread the used on black poly out in the sun for a couple/few days and keep rotating like that. It doesn't ever "wear" out, just collects enough moisture to where it can't "plump up" and retain anymore moisture and needs a good drying. I too like the 20 minute rule