bobcat question

I pretty much answered this question in post ten. You should never mount a hide with out some sort of preservation. Either tanning or DP, borax, DA, etc.

 

I prefer fleshing a salted hide.. But I use a beam, not a round knife.

 

If i plan on taking any hide to be professionally tanned
i flesh,turn the eye,lips ears and remove all toe bones,salt heavy inside roll up,fur out side for 24-48 hrs,un roll,scrap off salt,resalting and massaging it into skin with allot of pressure making sure ears are well salted and packed and any creses in face or lips and feet,hang to dry,making sure where i hang its warm with fan so it will dry faster

If i use dp
Ive only dp small or baby animals
If they are soiled
after skinning i will wash in cool water with dawn then conditioner,rince,squeeze out water and towl as much water i can,takemy shop vac and blow more water off skin till it feel damp,not water soaked,rub on dp,depending on how you use the dp or what brand you can dp it,let sit in fridge ober night,dp again the next day defore mounting or mount up after applying dp up to you.i mount up after applying dp.no slippage


I do not let any skins hang salted for more than a 2 months.its either at the tanners or in the freezer.nor will i buy any hide that are older than a year.never had one turn out to be very good.always stared to fall apart.just my experiences with hides.

 

Mounting a salted hide? Research for Pete's sake. Buy a fleshing/tanning video. Skin animal, flesh animal, salt animal, let animal dry, then do some research on tanning. If you want the best then you don't wanna use flippin dp or krowtann. Tan the hide.

 

suzzie34,
Not trying to be a smart a$$, but you wouldn't happen to be blond now would you ?

 

I wasn't sayin dp is wrong. There is a place for it in taxidermy. I was just saying to tan it if you are wanting the best final product. Personally I don't like Krowtan, and I do not dp anything. Everything gets tanned. Didn't mean to come off as a prick or anything, I realize this is the beginner section, but sometimes it seems that people want to do all of their learning on the forum and not outside research. I'm not picking on you and if I came off that way I apologize. I hear certain ways some do things and it isn't comprehensible to me. All of us are at different experience levels, learned differently, and can offer a variety of instruction. If you want to flesh a salted hide, or mount a salted hide then you were told the wrong information. It doesn't make sense why anyone would mount a salted hide, and flesh a dry salted hide. Or put a salted hide in the freezer. I recommend purchasing a few videos to aid in your learning.

 

Suzzie, have you purchased the DVDs that I suggested? They have all these questions answered for you and you can see it in action and watch them over and over. Please tell me you have purchased them.

 

Truebond!

 

Suzzie this may have been said before but IMO, the best thing to do is get the video from Brian Harness skinning fleshing mounting a bobcat. He was the best in world small mammal (bobcat) 2009 I think. His work is amazing & his videos can be purchased from his company Ozark Woods or Taxidermy Training Unlimited websites. Sadly he was killed 2 yrs ago in a logging accident & left us way too soon. Brian was a master at small mammals & his forms for them are the best around & easiest to work with. I assure you, you won't be disappointed with his videos or forms. It's well worth your time to check them out.

 

You need to make sure the face, especially around the eyes, is thinned out enough. This will help prevent pulling. You also have to babysit. You should check it a couple times a day for the first 2-3 days. Hold up reference pictures of each part (eyes, nose, mouth, ear placement, etc.) and compare and make minor adjustments.
To fix it, rehydrate as you said.

 

You don't need to pin anything. Get those eyelids thinned down like tissue paper, tuck, and babysit as it dries.