whats the best way to thaw a "skull in" whitetail cape prior to fleashing? Had it in a fridge all night, and its still froze. Also a little worried about hair slipping. Thanks!
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I would suggest this, put the cape back in the freezer, and get some STOP-ROT. Once you have the STOP-ROT in hand, pull the cape back out of the freezer and let it start thawing at room temperature. As it thaws to allow exposure of the flesh side of the cape, brush the STOP-ROT on that, just keep brushing it on as you get the flesh side exposed. Also, brush it on the nose pad, lips, the epidermis around the eyes, on the inside and outside of the ear (work some down into the ear canal also) and the fluffy hair area around the ear butts.
Sometimes you will get into a deer cape and head combination where the deer was hung by the heels for a little too long at the wrong temperature and blood has ran down into the head. Then once the head is cut off and put in the freezer, a lot of the blood and serum will back-flush through the capillaries into the skin, the STOP-ROT helps terrifically in bringing this problem under control.
Go to TaxidermyReference.com and follow the STOP-ROT links to learn more. This is a product that every taxidermist should have on hand, especially know with all these early season deer.
This month marks the first birthday of STOP-ROT on the marketplace. Thanks to many of you!
Glen
for that speedy and well explained answer!