I am doing my first deer. My cape is thawed. I plan to flesh it tomorrow. I think I will order Liqui-tan. Is it ok to refreeze hide after fleshing and turning lips?I plan to refreeze it then order supplies. Is this ok? Any tips would be helpful.
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Go ahead and salt it after your done fleshing and turning then you wont have to worry about it.Good luck!
If it's thawed now, then don't wait until tomorrow to flesh it. Smiley was also right about salting... you'll want to include this step in your tanning.
Try to keep your freezing/thawing to an absolute minimum. This promotes bacteria growth which leads to hair slipping.
don't try to freeze with salt on it.After fleshing and turning ears, lips,nose,and eyes, salt the cape heavily, rubbing the salt into the hide, and then pour additonal salt over to cover. The cape then sholud be folded as if folding a bath towel. (some leave it open, your chioce) but be sure to put it on something like a wooden pallet, set up on one end so as to provide an incline for the fluids to drain away from the cape. After 24 hrs. shake off old salt and reapply new salt. After another 24 hrs. you get to decide whether you want to let the hide completely dry hard to be relaxed later, or start the pickle- and tanning procedures at this time.
There is tons of discussion in the archives on tanning, pickling, and salting. Hit the search button, then enter what you want to know. You will find that there is no one way to do something. However there are some very basic steps that you need to learn until you are to the point that you want to experiment. Word of caution here, experiment on your own capes, or scraps left if someone brings in the whole hide for a shoulder mount etc. A lot of good practice material there. Good luck and good reading in the archives. Swampfox.