Just finished my first WT. Everything was good except the hair started slipping. I used McKenzie Tan for the tanning. The deer was taken in 2005 and was frozen unfleshed until a couple of weeks ago. I took it out and fleshed it and pickled it and put the tan on as per the instructions. Then I refroze the cape and I thawed and mounted it today. The hair started slipping on the neck. None on the face, just the neck. The mount looks terrible. Any suggestions. I have another deer in the freezer I haven't started on yet. Same as the last one, he was taken in 2005 and is frozen unskinned and unfleshed. I will probably send this cape off to be tanned professionally. Know any good tanners with reasonable prices?
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Sounds like a bad cape to start with or it was neuatrlized improperly.
To pin point the problem on one deer, especially the first deer, there could be several things that could be the cause. Beginners luck would be the first problem to suspect. You are just starting the learning curve, now if you had done 10 deer and they all had slip, you could pin point the problem. Slip is a passage all first time people go through, and it's just your turn. Never expect much from your first few mounts, the practice course is a year long sometimes. Don't think to hard on the first few mistakes, they are teaching opportunities. After neutralizing, rinse the baking soda out completely, then spin the cape dry, or roll in towels to get the skin side as dry as you can. Lay it on dry towels when you apply the brush on tan. The dryer the hair side, the better. Work on the speed of processing also, that is a big factor with beginners, as to why slip visits.
sounds like you should try it again or buy a cape from someone already tanned. It could save you a long wait with the return. It's always good to learn a good in-house tanning method or two.