[bryanh]

Is anyone tanning their own? Saw some nice ones on here that AY had done professionally, but was wondering what all could be done without taxidermy skills and tools. Any pics or links?

 

[ursus]

You can have hides tanned at a reasonable price if you skin, flesh, and stretch them yourself. I have attempted to tan some myself but they didn't come out as good as I wanted. I ended up sending some to Moyle Mink and Tannery and they came back looking good and cost way less than a taxidermist would charge.

 

[bryanh]

When fleshing them out, how do you know when you're there? No more pink tissue, or do you need to get every bit of the white stuff too?

 

[Hobbshunter]

I tanned a bobcat that I shot during deer season a few years ago. My brother has tanned a bunch of stuff.
We've used different kits from Van *****. I didnt think it was too bad. Fleshing is 90% of the work. Get all pink meat off and any thick hide. You'll know if you've gone a little too far bc you'll see the hair follicles from the other side. It's not too hard. My bobcat's a little stiff around the neck. I think I should have fleshed it more aggressively there, but overall it's great.

 

[Trapper]

I've tanned a few critters in my day. Now I find it much easier to just send them to the tannery. The finished product is a lot better too.:up:

 

[ursus]

I'm by no means an expert when it comes to fleshing hides. I think that I do a good job but I'm super slow. I definitely get all of the muscle tissue off and as much of the fat as possible. The best advice that I could give is to watch someone who knows what they're doing. They can make it look easy. I wanted to have a nice pelt collection and learn how to work fur. Coyotes and bobcats have very little excess flesh on their hides after you skin them but a skinned beaver seems to be 60% fat and excess tissue. I can tell you that fleshing hides with a greasy-handled fleshing knife for a few hours will absolutely kill your forearms. These guys that do this all winter long must have some serious grip strength.

 

[campbell2054]

Any particular knives or tools work better for fleshing out the hides?

 

[ursus]

I use a necker knife.

 

[neotoxo]

I'm no expert but....
The last hide I tanned was a small buck.

When I skinned the deer I took it slow and ran my fingers
between the flesh and hide to separate them.

It took a little more time and a bit more strength but the end
result was an almost completely clean hide. I had very little
fleshing to do before starting the preservation process.

The end result was a bright white hide with no hair loss and
workable flexibility.

Good Luck

 

[JaredDrake]

Cool post. Something I've wondered about for a long time. Anybody here try squirrels? I think that's where I'm going to start, but they sure drop a lot of fur when skinning them. Any tips?
Jared

 

[rntquackaholic]

What do ya'll use for preserver or cure? I could get the fleshing done, but how do you make them soft, thinkin bout tannin out the next deer hide out for a rug. Thanks for any info. :up:

 

[Bowman]

I have a bobcat in the freezer I killed a few years ago and would like to have it tanned. I have no idea how to skin it out..Anyone around NEA want to skin it for me at a resonable price so I can send it off to be tanned.