I properly tanned a deer cape using WASCO's tanning kit 2 1/2 years ago.It was alot of work and it was my first deer cape.Its been hanging in my closet since then.Will this cape be OK to mount or is there anything I should know?I started taxidermy as a hobby about 3 years ago just then I had my first baby and bought my first house which has put everything on hold.Thanks for any help.
Matt
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Should be no problem Matt.
two things you can do, being that this is your first deer, you are learning just like I did and like everyone that is a taxidermist. FACT #1: you wont win a ribbon with your first mount so dont be afraid to screw it up. One thing you can do is round up the rest of your material if you havn't already, rehydrate the cape and go for it, mount it. The second thing you can do is sell it on e-bay and start over. But I wouldn't do that because you have got learning time put into this cape and you need to finish what you started. So go for it! Check out how to rehydrate a cape with the orange search button on the left here. Many ways to rehydrate, I would use water and salt with a bit of bactrostate, so add relaxer, and only soak long enough to bring it back to a flexable stage, 3 to 4 hours? Then rince in clean cool water to get the salt out. Maybe longer if the cape is thick, be carefull when you handel the hair side that you dont push or pull to hard, the hair may come out in your hand by the chunk fulls if you are to agressive. When the cape is dry, the hair is set tight, when you soak it, you get the picture, be carfull. But hey, cut your teeth and dont worry what it will look like. I have my fisrt mount in my work area and laugh at it everyday. With each deer I do, I get faster and better and now it is a no-brainer, (as if I had one to start with.) Go for it!
Mr.T, thank you for taking the time to answer my question.I very much appreciate the encouragement.Im going to save your response for inspiration.Thanks...
Matt