DIY hide tanning

[Big Brass]

I was given a bobcat recently that the hunter decided not to do anything with. I am going to tan the skin so I thought I would post up the process I go through. This is the method I have figured out and it has worked well for me so far. It's not professional quality but it is a fun DIY proect for me.

I start out with a rubbermaid tub filled with water.


And I add 2 pounds of canning salt from Wally world. This is a 4 lb box. We'll use the rest later.


Next I put in 2 capfuls of Lysol Concentrate and mix well. This is my thawing solution. I add the salt and Lysol to kill any bacteria during the thawing process. Bacteria are what cause hair slippage.


After that is mixed up I add 1 frozen whole bobcat.

[Ohio Darin]

Looking forward to the rest of your progress. Keep them coming and thanks for posting

[Duzy]

Interesting. Keep it coming.

[Blood Trail]

Nice. Thanks for posting. What's next?

[Big Brass]

I let the cat marinate in the thawing solution until it is flexible enough to skin.


I start the skinning process. I did not get many good pics of the skinning process. My wife was less than thrilled at the idea of taking pics of a half skinned cat in our garage.


And end up with one bobcat pelt and skull. The skull is going to a friend in the DFW area who has been looking for a bobcat skull to get Euroed for his office. You can see the size of the hole where he was shot.


I try to remove as much of the meat and flesh from the hide as possible and then I lay it out on a flat area with some salt. I'm using a large rubbermaid tub lid here.


I lay the hide out and start thoroughly covering it with salt.


And here is the hide completely covered with salt. I may have overdone it a bit. I used 8 lbs of salt for this one hide.


I'll leave him in the salt for 24 hours. Tomorrow afternoon I'll shake the salt off and start the pickling process. I will be using the Lutan F tanning kit from Van Dykes. Before then I need to go buy some more salt.

[badkarma]

Rock on! Can't wait to see the rest

[Texastaxi]

How many critters have you skinned using this "thawing" solution?

[Blood Trail]

hurry!

[K9carlo]

good post

[Big Brass]

How many critters have you skinned using this "thawing" solution?

This is the first I've skinned after thawing in this brine. But I have used the same brew to thaw 3 other hides that were just skinned and frozen. In this case I just needed to thaw the cat to make it flexible enough for me to skin. The other frozen hides I just wanted to get them thawed out to salt them. I don't know if I am really getting any benefit from the Lysol and salt but it doesn't seem to hurt. It's just a simple 'peace of mind step'. I realize this whole thread may seem pretty comical to a taxidermist but I'm just having some fun with hides that otherwise would end up in the trash. I know my process and results are far from professional.

[holdin4horns]

Keep it coming!! Cant wait to see the finished product!

[woodsman1031]

Toby,

I am glad you are posting this. I have a bobcat in the freezer that my wife killed. I have not done anything with it yet. When you are finished with it I will show my wife, and then hopefully get to do it to HER bobcat.

Tommy

[windwalker]

Keep us posted

[Texastaxi]

I've never seen anyone thaw an animal (or un-tanned hide) in any kind of solution.
It's new to me and I was just wondering if you've done enough like that to encounter any problems.

I rehydrate, measure, then freeze all my dry tanned capes and of course, freeze the wet tanned capes. I do put them in a sink full of water to thaw them, when I'm ready to mount, but I've never done it with an un-tanned skin.

Not saying it's wrong ... just never seen it done.

[Big Brass]

I've never seen anyone thaw an animal (or un-tanned hide) in any kind of solution.
It's new to me and I was just wondering if you've done enough like that to encounter any problems.

I rehydrate, measure, then freeze all my dry tanned capes and of course, freeze the wet tanned capes. I do put them in a sink full of water to thaw them, when I'm ready to mount, but I've never done it with an un-tanned skin.

Not saying it's wrong ... just never seen it done.

It's interesting to see the difference in the professional process to me. Again, I am not looking for anything suitable to mount but am just making tanned hides that are suitable for throwing over a couch or ottoman. I came up with that brine recipe after reading every written description of processes on the net that I could find. The science involved in disinfecting and salting makes sense to me (I have a degree in zoology and studied microbiology in grad school). I don't need the precision or care in my process that a taxidermist making a mount requires. I just need something that does not shed hair and will look presentable on a chair back long term. I have a blackbuck doe hide I got from Wil Taylor (delriowil) a few years ago that I tanned using the same process and it turned out to be a very nice ottoman rug with NO slippage of hair using this same process.

I'd like to see from a taxidermist the process they use to split lips, ears, tails, nose, etc... This is still a mystery to me. I, and I am sure many others posting on this thread, would love to have the input of a pro on how to do this.