did i mess up over the weekend I completed the prep work on three whitetail capes (splitting turning fleshing dp tumbled and then froze) to mount in a couple of weeks. Should I have put the dp on then or put on right before I was going to mount. THANK YOU
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When I use DP I use it as I am fleshing and then lightly again just before I mount, taking care to get it in all the corners and then shake & blow off excess. Did you, by the way wash your hides?. Some say if you DP first and then freeze that they shrink up but I have not seen that.
Getting back to washing, I cut off big chunks of meat, fat & flesh and then rinse. Then wash in Dawn. And then soak 20 minutes in Basacryl. Rinse then let drip out and NOW mist with Stop Rot and then freeze. When I thaw days later to flesh I don't have a bloody mess and the stop rot kind of sets the flesh up a bit. I sprinkle the DP on areas I am working. I might go ahead and mount or might have to refreeze if UPS hasn't gotten by yet.
Forrest I did wash with dawn and lysol wash and rinse twice and let drip dry. thanks for the advice
I think you will be OK if you mount it within 2 weeks.
I DP about30% of my WT Deer and have done so for about 15 years. Ive come up with a system that has worked well. When deer season starts, I skin every head that comes in ASAP. On the heads that I will be using DP method, Ill flesh them out completely. Paying special attention to the face. I like to get this area really clean and thin. My next step is to wash in Dawn and rinse out all blood and dirt. Then I tumble, put on fleshing board again and reflesh to remove grit. Then I go over the whole cape, face and all to double check to make sure I didnt miss anything. I take the cartilage out of the ears at this time. If I have the time and my form is ready to go Ill put on th DP and mount the head. If not Ill put the DP on then freeze. I dont like to roll the cape up, I just kind of fold it and double bag it. If its summer time I like to slow thaw in fridge. Another way to thaw more quickly is to put a fan on cape. Then when cape is thawed I powder one more time. Heres a couple more tips that ive learned. I dont try to put too much detail in a mount the 1st day, instead Ill make sure everything is tucked and all locations are correct, then I put a towell over the face and come back the next day to put in the fine details. Also, I dont like to release a mount too soon. It may look completely dry but I like to wait about a month. I use a dehumidifier in my shop and this seems to really finish the drying job. After the 30 day period is up then ill finish and paint. There is alot of shrinking going on in the DP method and I dont want that to happen on a customers wall! Anyway, enough typing!, Hope this helps you out.
D.P is the worst way to taxidermy work. It doesnt even tan the hyde guys. It is a cheap and stinky sloppy way to make money. Your animals draw up, have big time shrinkage and fade their colors, and fall apart after 5 years. Do the right thing and start tanning everything.
Good Lord pepole, turn them, salt them, ship them to a wet tanner - $35. Why mess with any tan much less DP. This time there is a better way. rwl