Taxedermy question

Many guys on here are saying that slipping fur cannot happen as a result of the tanning process...that it can only be caused by the taxidermist or "improper handling". This is simply not true, it can very definitely happen as a result of the tanning. Don't get me wrong here, I am not siding or taking up for or against anyone. I don't even know these folks. Bacteria causes fur to slip and so does the tanning chemicals themselves if they are not adjusted properly. Black bear ears and bobcats in general are especially troublesome. I always tell guys to carry denatured alcohol with them and get it in those ears as soon as possible. It does not hurt to spray down an entire animal while the hide is still on the carcass. This is just one of those ounce of prevention things.
It can also happen as a result of tanning and that is why I prefer to do my own. I can control the chemicals and make certain they are adjusted properly. Big tanning houses use a big vat and do many hides at a time. Yours gets thrown in with all different hides both for tanning and relaxing a salt dried hide. If they are left in the relax for too long, the temperature gets a little too high and/or there is other hides in there with bacteria it can make an otherwise properly handled hide slip. Sorry this has cost you some really hard to get hides, but I would suggest next time you take them to an outfit that does it all in house. At least you wont have two guys blaming each other.
Best advice for handling:

1. Do not allow the animal to get warm.

2. Get it sprayed down good with denatured alcohol asap.

3. Skin the animal within 8-12 hours {cooler temperatures allowing} of the kill and wash it in Dawn dish detergent.

4. Flesh off as much if any fat from the inside when you skin it and apply lots of salt.

5. Flesh it again the next day {no more than 24 hours}.

6. Once skinned {same day} salted and fleshed twice get it in the freezer immediately.

7. Give it to the taxidermist or tannery still frozen if at all possible.

I would never take an unskinned animal whole to anyone and leave it for them to do. Unless you really know the guy and know that he will do it immediately. You just have no way of knowing when he decides to finally get around to it. That alone is the most likely cause of slipping hair, unless it is very cold out as in almost freezing at least. Better luck next time.
 
Do not salt a hide if you have not fleshed it completely. Most taxidermy guys i have talked to don't want you to salt at all.

Salt changes the skin, and makes it tough. To properly flesh and dry a hide you don't need to use salt. Many use Borax.

A normal hunter can go out hunting for the day, and if you stop in the middle of the day or after dark and pull the hides, you can then roll them (fur out, face on top) then put in a bag, and spray flee & tick killer in the bag, and then put in the freezer when you get home. Leave them freeze until you are ready to flesh. Take out a few hours to half a day (depending on how cold it is) then turn and flesh. (this is why the face is on the outside, so that it will thaw first and you flesh that first and work toward the tail, cold to kind of frozen fat is easy to flesh, as long as the flesh is thawed)

Professional tannery places are not causing issues with the hides, or they wouldn't be in business. No taxidermist is going to send hides to a place that has a bad history.

This is just my opinion, and everyone has their way of doing it, but If your not sure, talk to several taxidermy or tanneries and they will tell you their preferences.
 
Originally Posted By: LARUEminatiOriginally Posted By: msinc2. Get it sprayed down good with denatured alcohol asap.


First i've heard of this, what does it do?



Kills the bacteria that is the main cause of hair slip and tightens up the hair follicles. Taxidermy suppliers sell a product called "Stop Slip" which is just about 99% denatured alcohol. It was advertised as something that would even save a slipping hide due to decomposition. Sometimes, depending on how far the hide has gone it would really work. Nothing can bring one back after it is gone, but it was worth a try on a rare or hard to get hide.

Edit: denatured alcohol can also be used to treat antlers in velvet. I have a whitetail rack that was killed in velvet back in 1988 that still looks like the day it was shot. You have to catch the velvet just right though, if it is close to drying out and ready to be rubbed off then it is better to remove it and flock the antlers. But, if the tips are still a little soft then injected alcohol will preserve it. They used to sell a product to treat velvet antlers, cant remember the name, but it was just like the stop slip...99% denatured alcohol.
 
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Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZ.....Do not salt a hide if you have not fleshed it completely. Most taxidermy guys i have talked to don't want you to salt at all.....Salt changes the skin, and makes it tough. To properly flesh and dry a hide you don't need to use salt. Many use Borax.....
Professional tannery places are not causing issues with the hides, or they wouldn't be in business. No taxidermist is going to send hides to a place that has a bad history.....This is just my opinion,.....


I can tell. Don't mount many animals do you??? "don't use salt"...maybe not, if you are going to use "dry tan" which is really not tanning at all. Borax {like dry tan} does the same thing as salt, it dries out the hide, period, end of story.
"professional tannery places are not causing problems with hides"....not intentionally, no. There is zero chance thick heavy hides such as cow hides tanned in the same vat as a bobcat is going to work out for the cat. This is exactly what they do.
Please stay just the way you are and keep on believing what you wrote.
I started actually hands on doing taxidermy and tanning, not conjecturing or reading about it, in 1986. What I have written is not what someone told me or based on personal religion...it is fact.
 
Originally Posted By: msincOriginally Posted By: Tbone-AZ.....Do not salt a hide if you have not fleshed it completely. Most taxidermy guys i have talked to don't want you to salt at all.....Salt changes the skin, and makes it tough. To properly flesh and dry a hide you don't need to use salt. Many use Borax.....
Professional tannery places are not causing issues with the hides, or they wouldn't be in business. No taxidermist is going to send hides to a place that has a bad history.....This is just my opinion,.....


I can tell. Don't mount many animals do you??? "don't use salt"...maybe not, if you are going to use "dry tan" which is really not tanning at all. Borax {like dry tan} does the same thing as salt, it dries out the hide, period, end of story.
"professional tannery places are not causing problems with hides"....not intentionally, no. There is zero chance thick heavy hides such as cow hides tanned in the same vat as a bobcat is going to work out for the cat. This is exactly what they do.
Please stay just the way you are and keep on believing what you wrote.
I started actually hands on doing taxidermy and tanning, not conjecturing or reading about it, in 1986. What I have written is not what someone told me or based on personal religion...it is fact.

Good info msinc.
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Experience shows, but no experience stands out!!
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The tanneries I dealt with wanted (twice) salted hides. Salt pulls non-tannable proteins, sets the hair on fresh hides, makes rehydrating easier, and gets the hide ready for an acid bath and then a tan solution like Lutan-F.
I’ve been out of it for a long time, but I don’t think the basics have changed??

*
 
Yep salt is a good thing,esp in places that have a lot humidity unlike AZ. A fan and a salt will do wonders for drying hides. A friend killed a Russian brown bear and it came back salted and dripping wet from the trip. We put it up on saw horses and put a fan on it for a day and it dried out nicely.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeYep salt is a good thing,esp in places that have a lot humidity unlike AZ. A fan and a salt will do wonders for drying hides. A friend killed a Russian brown bear and it came back salted and dripping wet from the trip. We put it up on saw horses and put a fan on it for a day and it dried out nicely.

Yep,
Salting a fresh hide and sending it to a reputable tannery is as foolproof as it gets.

Makes me want to get back in the taxidermy business!!
 
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