I've got several animals in the freezer that I caught this year and plan on working on soon. First, I decided to practice with a raccoon because I've never tanned a lifesize mammal yet, and I didn't want to mess up any of my bobcats or foxes. Anyway, I got the raccoon out last night to let it thaw. Well, it's almost 4:00 now, and it still hasn't thawed enough to skin. My shop is in my garage and it is pretty cool out there, probably in the lower fifties. I searched the archives but didn't really find what I was looking for. Is it OK to leave it out until tomorrow, or should I put it back in the freezer until the temps warm up. Or, should I go ahead and skin the tail, etc. as it thaws and get some salt on it. I'm going to use saftee-acid and liqua-tan. Thank you for any suggestions.
Bryan Hays
Bryan,
try to keep it off the floor while it is thawing,the floor is always colder keep it on the work bench or up some where where it is warmer.Dont wait until it is real soft you can start to skin the animal as long as it is not rock hard. As you skin the animals out they will continue to thaw out.I keep my shop at 50 degrees also sometimes I will take my animal in the house for awhile and let them thaw. Also I have heard of thawing them out in water it is faster. I hope this helps you out. Rob
I was able to talk the woman of the house into letting me bring it inside for awhile to thaw out. So, I should be able to get to it tonight. Thank you for your help.
Bryan
is OK at the temps you mentioned, and you can even start skinning it if you think it will be completely thawed by the time you finish. However, I would make sure that the legs have been "worked" free from the carcass before skinning, grab them and move them around a bit, pushing, pulling, flexing, etc. I have found that if you start skinning without doing this it is easy to accidentally cut the hide (especially on thick fatty animals like coons) because you think you are cutting fat, you miss the folds of skin tucked in and around the armpits.
Also, it is easier to skin out the head when you can pull the hide away from the skull, like the ear canals.
The coon should be OK, even over perhaps as long as going into a second or third day.
The fox and 'cat, I would follow some of the other advice, bringing them inside the house, or even thawing quickly under water, as has been suggested previously.
Hope I've helped you some here! Good luck, and have fun!