taken care of yote hide

[Moonshiner]

So the dogs killed a yote on our land which had been harrassin our lambs. Anyway I skinned the yote, and it was quite the hack job, but it got done.
I tried to flesh it, but I didnt do very well, but I salted it till I could find out how to properly take care of the hide for a decorative pelt.

[larry]

DON'T USE SALT, put it on a stretch board and let it dry, did you case the hide or skin it like a rug? Think we have gone over this before on here? throw it in the dumpster and start over with another one

[Moonshiner]

i attempted to case the hide, ran into complications from inexperience and ended up cutting it up like deer, oh well.
Well I want to get used to taken care of hides, so i wont dump it, just use it as a training experience.
well the other peopel said to use salt, so i did, lol, i think i will stretch it, just not sure how, probably on a frame like they use for paintings.
Why shouldnt I have used salt? It can still be scrapped off, its drying right now.

[Arkansas Frog]

this time of year it is blue[not worth nothing]. and if you scrap it and dry it worms will get into it .I told you to go to Trapperman.com and you can learn all this, they are a trapping forum [the biggest

[Moonshiner]

well after having had the hide salted for a day the extra flesh, connective tissue and remaining fat was easier taken off, and the hide still looks in pretty good shape, except for a accidental slash I made with my "fleshing" knife, which I will repair with some dental floss.
I have yet to find a strectching board, I was thinking using plywood, any thoughts or suggestions?
Please keep in mind ya'll this is my first hide and im kinda fumbling my way around this, any suggestions for tanning?
Thanks

[Grzyadms4x4]

Hey Moonshiner, I understand. I learned how to tan hides with some pretty beat up bunnies. I understand that some people don't like to use salt, but it works so well. Make sure that you have let the salt do its job. Haste definitely makes waste with hides. I usually let my skins dry for at least a couple of days.
This is what I do, and please understand that I am no expert or someone with much knowledge on this, but I have had some pretty descent results with rabbit, elk, etc. I haven't worked much with cased animals and a stretching board or wire is defintalety a good idea to buy or make. I think hey make them out of Basswood, but I've heard some good things about the wire ones too.
First I lay the hid fur side down and apply a generous amount of NON-iodized salt and let it sit for a few hours, brush off any loose salt and reapply some fresh salt, then a either use thumb tacks to secure the hide, fur down, to a piece of plywood (just make sure that the fur is dry) or fold up the hide and let it dry very thoroughly. Then when it is dry I scrape off all of the salt and remove as much extra connective tissue and stuff as possible. I then wash the hide off with water and allow it to get pliable again. I then scrape the hide real good to start breaking it down and thinning it down just a little. Then I use a tanning kit like Rittels or something, here's a link to their product.
http://www.fntpost.com/Products/Tanning ... anning+Kit

It works pretty well and it isn't to spendy. I would do what some others have suggested and read and learn as much as possible. I have salted and scraped and re dried and scraped and then oiled some hides with no tanning solution and they are still in real good shape. It just kinda depends on what you are wanting to do with the hides. Good luck.

[Moonshiner]

thanks, ive bought two tanning kits and am just looking for time to get to it. The hides still in very good condtion, so im sure it'll get done this weekend.

[hounds7]

Hey give me a call-503-680-0506. got some tips and some great product for you!
Thanks
Yamhill Co.

[Hunter]

First couple yotes you catch, trap, shoot, run over road kill, poison, blowup, or what ever should be learning animals. Trying to explain the whole process would take WAY to much time so I will sum it up as quickly as possible. Hang it up and mentally draw a line down from the ankle to the vent (butt hole) following the under fur and back fur line. With a sharp knife start at the ankle and put the blade in angled toward the vent and make one cut. Do the same on the other side. Start pulling with your hands cutting sparingly around the leg. Once you free the skin work it down to the ankle and cut it free. I cut the tail free and strip it later. Getting down to the arm pits and brisket can be easily done with some elbow grease and pulling. Now for something that will help you alot (and free information ) Start at the ankle on the front legs on the underside and cut a straight line to the elbow. This will come in handy once you free up the brisket with your wooden dowel or anything that's stout and hard. Just pull and push. This is the hardest part of a COLD yote. Notice I said cold?? The quicker you start the easier to skin in my opinion. Once you have pulled down to the neck run your dowel under the armpit to free it and with one hand hold the hide and pull the carcass away from the hide. The leg will slip right threw that hole you cut from ankle to elbow. Cut the legs off about 2 inches down. You can save them but you run the risk of spoilage if you air dry it. Now just take your time and skin out the head.
First thing I do after I have it all skinned is wash it in dawn dish soap and pick all the burrs, sticks, and stuff out because this will leave a hole when you go to fleshing if you don't.
I flesh them on a beam with a "draw knife". Okay this is the taxidermy comeing out in me but you should "turn" the eyes, nose, lips, and ears. you don't HAVE to do this but you run the risk of slippage if you don't. After it is fleshed I run it threw the wash again making sure to get ALL the grease off.
At this point you can do acouple things. 1 leave it wet and freeze it until you deside what you want to do next. It won't hurt it to be in the freezer like this for acouple months 2 air dry it on a stretcher and tan later 3 send it to a tannery. A good one is Carolina furs in Raleigh NC. A yote hide costs 35$ for a lifesize/hide. It's well worth the price and you get a nice plyable, soft, clean hide that you can throw over the recliner and not worry about again. The self tans can be done but by the time you invest in the material and screw up acouple and all the time you have "breaking" it your better off just sending it to a pro.
I personally don't use much salt. I don't like to salt and throw the hide into the freezer. This CAN prevent it from freezing and bacteria can grow on it leaving you with bald spots. If you want to put salt on the hide do it before you do anything else right after skinning. It will HELP "lock" in the hair.
You can go to Taxidermy.net and find a wealth of information.

I hope this helped you alittle.

[cwtaxidermy]

make sure after a few days you dump off the old salt and put new salt on.