ive got this coyote that i recieved from someone who had taken the body out and then put it in the freezer unfinished for a decent amount of time. there is a stiff layer of muscle tissue on the skin thats is just giving me hell, its almost impossible to avoid making holes and this person didnt take the cartilidge out of the ears nor did they turn the eyes or lips. the coyote is absolutely beautiful and i cannot waste it but i dont want to ruin it either. what would make my job easier?
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Stop Rot on it liberally and inject it into the ears. Put it back in the freezer till you get it. Or, I have a pickle (safety acid recipe) that I use when I get iffy skins in and let them soak overnight before working on them to soften and help stop bacteria.
Inject the hard spots w/ water after you do the stop rot or just use the stop rot for injection. The freezer burn spots will rehydrate w/ injection of liquid.
Mix the relaxing agent and soak the area you have a hard time with. In your case - if it's the head area - use a bowl to relax it. Normally a 12-15 hour soak is sufficient to relax the area back to normal. I prefer using our Ultra-Soft relaxing agent. I use 2 tablespoonfuls of US-609 to each 1 gallon of water needed. I put the capes or sakins in at 5 PM and pull them at 8-9 AM the next day. Normally the freezer burned area is relaxed and ready to prep for mounting.