John you answered my question on the 7th (from DP to Tanning) and you said it was ok to salt and tan. My problem is my cape is thin now and you said I would have to shave it again after I pickle but maybe I need to press on with the DP. The only thing with DP mount is your first one you wonder if you have it cleaned good or will something start to rot. Thanks
Jim,if you think you have thinned youre hide down enough before you pickle it, you can still tan as is, the reason most of us thin it down more after pickling is that the hide plumps up allowing you to thin down the hide a little easier without-hopefully-cutting holes in the hide as opposed to doing all youre fleshing after the salting process . If you choose to still tan,use one of the syntans ,the one I use the most is Liqua-Tan, because these are very deep penetrating tans. Bruce Rittel markets some real good tans also.You still have the option to use dp also. Youll step on some toes bringing up the issue of dp vs. tanning. All I can say is if you like it use it, my dad used it for over 25 years and all the heads are still intacked. I prefer to tan because I dont get as much shrinkage, and I think the reason for this is because of the extra thinning of the hide after pickling. As for youre question about a skin rotting, the red meat and fat must come off, you dont have to thin down any further than that, but you will have to pin down all areas on the skin , like the facial areas because you will have shrinkage, I hope this helps you out.