I was trying to salt dry a cape at a barn on the land that I hunt. The barn is well within 100 yards of Lake Michagan and for the past 2 1/2 weeks the humidity has been around 80-99% I tried everything to get this thing to dry and it still wouldn't so I had to take it to my house (SE Wisconsin)where the humidity is low and it dried almost completly hard within 24 hrs. Next time I'll be using a more controled environment.
My only concern is having a slipping problem. Is there any way to tell before I tan the capes? Over the 2 1/2 weeks I resalted 4 times and hung to streach and drain. I also gave a little pull on the hair to see if it would come out and nothing did! Thanks everyone
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yep sounds like they are fine. Once had a client drag salted pronghorn all over the Rockys from Montana to N.M. for ten days, they were fine and were never dried hard.
one more cape to practice on! any precautions i should take before the pickle
I use a little higher pH, the reason is I relax the capes in the pickle. Just keep the pH under 3.5.
John, when you say you "relax the cape in the pickle", do you mean you just mix your pickle, and add the hard salted cape right in there?
I do the same. Just wanting to clarify. I am working on a coyote, and I bought a bottle of Kemel-4 to use as a degreaser. The bottle says it can also be used as a relaxer, but I'm thinkin' if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Thanks!
Mike