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Post by taosdjango on Dec 14, 2011 22:00:45 GMT -5
i've got a few coyotes i' been trapping. how do I go about tanning at least one . they are just dried and hanging cased right now.
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Post by paulette on Dec 14, 2011 23:00:34 GMT -5
Dried eh? Did you salt them real well first? You don't tan deer or anything? There's definitely a learning 'curve'.. If you allow them to 'flint' dry after being fleshed well.. you'll need to soak it till just pliable.. in a heavy salt water brine.. tough to rehydrate a dried fur like that. makes it a bit easier to get that fur to slip.. see when you salt them it pulls junk out of the skins and also helps to set the fur. Also when you salt them it helps keep the gluey skins from shrinking up and hardening and glueing themselves together! If I were you I'd go for pickling but the skin would require rehydration and then pickling, degrease.. MAY require some thinning around the neck possibly.. I would also guess that the furs AREN't real prime yet? PA? Course ya never know.. it IS December AFTER ALL and some can SEEM to be plenty furry bout this time.. probably depends where you live. The skins look more white than blue when they're prime. Best ones I have gotten were in the months of Jan and Feb. If you pickled the skin well you may be better assured to keep the fur intact rather than to try using brains or other things to soften than tan with smoke. Vegetable tanning could be an alternative or bark tanning I would write. PA has done some nice fur skins by pickling than tanning. There are many pickles on the market. When I first started doing fur skins I used a sulphuric acid pickle however many think that the acid can never be neutralized completely.. after the pickling the skins are neutralized with baking soda. for just a short while.. sometimes the skins if thick are shaven and returned to pickle completely. '
Well anyway just to give you an idea:-). Oh yeah faces and ears snouts if kept intact require turning.. lots removed to preserve them. I generally used my fingers below my knife to judge how thin to trim! I work for hours on faces and feet alone! You don't want to cut off the ends of the whiskers or they'll pull right out! and the ears, if they're not cleaned up really well/or the cartilage removed, then they'll shrink up, dry and tighten in a weird shape and possibly even break off.. and the tails? the tails need to be opened right up out to the very tip.. otherwise the fur will surely slip off.
what am I forgetting?? hmm.. surely something! tired..been adding grout to ceramic tile and refinishing a bathroom cabinet today! so just wasted.. wanted to write more to well the Skinner's really! that will have to wait till tomorrow.. hope this has been helpful and possibly Loren can give you a few tips.. Congrats on the trapping.. I hear the coyotes can be a challenge to trap but sounds like you got it down!
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Post by taosdjango on Dec 15, 2011 6:19:19 GMT -5
I didnt let them flint dry. i probaly shouldnt had said dried , ole boodro told me to put them in the freezer and buy a book before i start on them. they were headed to the freezer anyway they hanged for about 3 hours until i was told what to do. i would have started on one but he said to have a better plan first. No i never have tanned any hides of any kind , i trap and hunt and skin and sell and thats all. it is trapping season here in west texas but coyotes are not in the fur bearers class and differnt places have differnt laws but as for prime they don't ever get good prime fur here. most all our fur here is messed up and no prime any more. had early freeze in novembre 1st , then 80 degrees for a week after that. only two freezes since. most days too warm. its 36 now at 5am but will be in 70's by noon. should be much cooler during the day by this time of month but it has not been that way in years. they say globle warm. the only thing changes on coyotes is the tail gets thicker and full . summer time the tail fur is gone at the base. havent seen a prime fur here in several years. I think i best try van dykes to tan my first one . i want to brain tan before long.
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Post by whitedove on Dec 16, 2011 3:27:17 GMT -5
Taosdjango,seems like you've found alot to talk about here.Brain Tanning(good subject),I've drove quite a distance to learn, and look at many peoples work.Spring will soon be here...lots of Rendezvous,lots of displays,and Oklmugee,OK had quite a few BuckSkinners & their families. As well as other places do. Glad you've found something you like to talk about. Looks like your weather is similar to New Mexico,even over by the Colorado/NewMexico border it's seems similar.Lots of good work displayed here.I too will continue to learn,some of the best folks have their work here.IMO
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Post by taosdjango on Dec 16, 2011 18:14:22 GMT -5
no, the weather here is not the same as new mexico, and certainly not as far north as colorado/new mexico border , thats over 10 hours away. whitedove what do you have to contribute to my question on tanning coyotes?
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Post by whitedove on Dec 17, 2011 4:42:06 GMT -5
Pardon,just was sayin the weather was, as you described.From the temps,was the same where I was,with the early cold morns to the temp variation in the day. And you said your Question was on coyotes."Sorry not an expert "Guess that Book might be best. I would say or maybe one of the others, will tell you their opinion.Still learning,I have combed their furs.But not tanned them.
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Post by paulette on Dec 17, 2011 10:00:02 GMT -5
I appreciate the passion you have for learning. Lots of things can be taken from you but not what you hold in-between your ears! I appreciate the kindness of your acknowledgement of my work WD!
Well the weather here isn't all that frightening, yet.. knock on wood! But it IS beginning to feel a whole lot more like Christmas with the little dusting of snow we have out there this morning.
I'd say WD contributes her share to me Taosdjango! I take all the compliments I can get! I don't often get ANY money doing this POOP.. but just seeing something look fine to me is somewhat satisfying and comforting. If you can make a bad looking coyote look good after its tanned, well that's saying something! I've seen a few folks just cut their heads and paws clean off! I spend hours and hours on these damned stink in' coyotes! No more, I tell ya.. they're bad Karma.. It's better to live and live WELL than just to survive! WD knows all about living well.. It's respecting herself and others in Christ! That's the main thing here.
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Post by taosdjango on Dec 18, 2011 1:36:15 GMT -5
Pardon,just was sayin the weather was, as you described.From the temps,was the same where I was,with the early cold morns to the temp variation in the day. And you said your Question was on coyotes."Sorry not an expert "Guess that Book might be best. I would say or maybe one of the others, will tell you their opinion.Still learning,I have combed their furs.But not tanned them.
you must have been there in New Mexico in the spring or summer, but right now it's cold in new mexico during the day and night , not much variation in the high desert even. Did you read Billy's post about hijacking threads?
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Post by paulette on Dec 18, 2011 7:35:04 GMT -5
If you can just get those coyotes degreased and cleaned up extremely well and then some clean oils worked back into the skins KEEPING THE HAIR VERY DRY one can tan using smoke.. OIL TAN it's often called. I have a real powerful shop vac that has helped me tan skins immensely using nothing but oils and smoke. These animals are especially 'nasty' so I do like to wash them HOWEVER if you want to keep the hair on you need to get the fur real dry plenty quick. At the taxidermists the other day the guy was showing me machines they sell that REALLY have the power for helping get these heavily furred creatures DRY. so these are the basics and no matter what BOOK you have, hands-on is one of the best ways to learn!
If I had little money for tanning? I think one of the first products I would place my money on would be SALT for preserving.. and GOOD taxidermy degreasers.. There are solvent and surfactant degreasers.Probably best to start with the solvent degreasers. Learned this by first hand trials too!
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