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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: heartlandbowyer on August 18, 2013, 08:15:00 AM
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Hey guys, in a couple weeks I'll be going on my first elk hunt. If I'm fortunate enough to harvest my elk what is the best way to preserve the skin so its not wasted? The meat will have a freezer to go into but if my partner kills too I fear that we will run out of space. Would like to use the skin for quivers and such.
Thanks
Cory
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Work really carefully to skin it with as little flesh and fat left on the hide as possible...after watching my guide buddy skin a moose with the same paring knife he uses for bear I am a believer in a small, thin, very sharp blade...take a big bag of salt with you and salt the hide thoroughly...then dry it in the sun...I have a bear hide from May of 2012 done that way that is still fine...thanks for reminding me I need to either learn how to tan it or get it to the tannery soon
DDave
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Cory,
Dave is right on the mark with his answer.
FYI it's going to take 20-25 pounds of salt minimum to salt a complete Elk hide.
Pat
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The only problem with salting is that if you then want to freeze it when you get home the salt can prevent proper freezing. You'll need to get it to a tannery right away. Many taxidermists recommend not salting a hide because they want to freeze it until they have a chance to work on it.
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Cory,
If you can't get it frozen or to a tannery right away, salt it. When you get home roll it out in the yard hose off the salt best you can, roll it up and freeze it until you can get it to a tannery or taxidermist.
JMHO....Pat
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Thanks gents.
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Are you planing to tan it or Taxidermist ? If you are them make sure you take the advice given in above posts. If not then I would fine Taxidermists in the area and have them tan it.
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Form the taxidermy point of view....
If you want a taxidermist to tan it or send it off to be tanned. Fold it skin to skin once it's cooled put it in a cloth bag. NOT I REPEAT NOT a plastic bag. Then take to a taxidermist near by and have it shipped off.
Salting is good but some common mistakes can be made. First of all not having it really clean of meat fat and membrane. It must all be gone for salt to work. Second salting it the folding it up will all most certainly ruin it. Salt pulls the natural moisture out and if it cannot air dry it will slip all the hair. If you salt lay it out let the salt work until it is dry. Also if you toss some salt on it and take it to a taxidermist and its not clean prepare for some grumpiness. He will spend all day on a stone and the dry parts are hard to work around.
Be cautious hosing it off. Water is not your friend. Freeze it soon after or get it dry or as much water off as possible.
These are words of experience. I have had to explain to more than one person why their hide was ruined and it was their doing not the shops.
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Hoping to tan it myself hair off, but will have to do a bit of reading on that first or if I'm luck find someone with a little knowledge to help with that process.
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Thanks gents.
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I'll add,don't dry it in the sun and never freeze a salted hide.
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If you're going to tan it yourself go to brain tan.com and learn a bit about the "old ways." Brain tanning an elk hide is an excellent experience in patience by the way. Back to your skinning first though, lots of folks make the leg cuts on the inside of the animal but if you cut on the front side of the front legs and down the back side of the back legs you'll get a more uniform sized hide, again that site about brain tanning can prove that to you. Be very careful not to score the hide when you skin, as any scoring will be a weak spot in the leather. Many people like to "punch" off the hide when the animal is still warm, works well on a deer but you better be strong to do it with elk. Which ever way you get the hide off its better to leave extra meat and membrane on it than to score it. You'll be spending a few hours with a drawknife removing flesh and membrane anyway so skinning really clean isn't the way to go.
Now about hair slippage, if you want to tan the hide hair off slippage doesn't matter so fold it skin to skin and you can leave it like that for a day or two in warmish weather. The longer you leave it the more it will begin to stink but also the easier it is to remove the hair.
If you can't get to the hide right away toss it in the freezer, don't salt it ever if you want to brain tan. If you can't freeze it then remove the big pieces of flesh and ideally the membrane but this can come later, lace it to a frame and let it dry, it'll keep that way for a long time indeed! In fact if its nicely scraped and dried keeping it for a couple of years will make for a much softer brain tan in the end.
Another thing you can do is simply make hair off rawhide and that stuff has a lot of uses too, its easier to make and if you ever want to brain tan the rawhide you do have that option.
I could go into the whole process but it would take too long, it's a very rewarding experience though making your own leather from an animal that you killed yourself.