Meat processing and hide tanning

[JohnTRourke]

http://www.rockymountaintanners.com/

I've had a couple things done by them, 6 months, reasonable prices good quality
salt it or freeze it or both, they don't seem to care
salting definitely dries it out

[Robb]

I've gone to RMT's and had great results. However I believe it was on this site, a member or two had bad experiences, didn't get their hides after they paid 50% or something to that effect, so I hesitate to recommend them now. I probably last used them 5 years ago or so.
It would be good to hear if others have had no issues with RMT.

And I sure stand corrected on the tanning kits, I had no idea they existed. I saw what my friend did with the brain tanning and it was a chore, but the kits seem pretty easy. Live and learn.

[Rucker61]

Rock / water softening salt, applied heavy and rubbed in to flesh side. You need to salt ,if you're not going to flesh right away. If you don't salt and the hide is rolled , you get mold & bacteria. The salt does a real nice job of drying the flesh / fat on the hide, making it easier to scrap. I have a nice scraper for fleshing, somewhere in the shop.
For sausage i suggest 2 parts pork to 1 part venison, depending how moist or dry you like the brats.

We use 40% pork for our sausage, which seems to work well for summer sausage and ring bologna, but our brats seem a little dry to me.

[CO Hugh]

Looks good co Hugh!
im working on my antelope right now. Although I should have put the head in the freezer to kill the maggots....oh well! Got it all pretty much ready to go and boil. Just need the time to do it

Sniper, my friend did antelope, the horns will come off as they are different than deer and elk. I think you just glue them back on.

Some of the articles for European mounts talk about leaving the head outside for weeks or putting in water, so maggots good. I was going to try ants, but it rained and messed it up.

[davsel]

You can find a taxidermist with Dermestid beetles to do the skull for you, or buy, or even find, your own beetles - smelly, but interesting.
http://www.skulltaxidermy.com/kits.html
http://deepwater.org/bioteacher/11-E...aintenance.htm

[Great-Kazoo]

We use 40% pork for our sausage, which seems to work well for summer sausage and ring bologna, but our brats seem a little dry to me.

Kick it up to 50-60% we did 50/50 and they're slightly dry. A few lbs , prior to cooking marinate in dry sherry and garlic 30 min, then grill. I think next time i'm going to have my process guy throw in 50% pork and say 1-1 lb wise with pepper bacon.

[sniper7]

Sniper, my friend did antelope, the horns will come off as they are different than deer and elk. I think you just glue them back on.

Some of the articles for European mounts talk about leaving the head outside for weeks or putting in water, so maggots good. I was going to try ants, but it rained and messed it up.

My last antelope I forgot about and left it in a game back in my dads boat. Didn't get used for over a year. When I finally found it the skull was super clean, beetles still in the bag but dead and I just used textured white spray paint on the skull and black on the horns. The horns slid off easy since the beetles got up and under them. Painted those black and made my own panels and it turned out awesome. Hangs in the den now.

This one I won't forget about and will boil it and bleech it so it turns out better.
I'm still thinking about doing it in bronze or nickel

[Robb]

I was at Steve's Meats in Arvada and see they offer those taxidermy services of putting metal on the skull along with engraving etc. How is that done? Anyway, cool ideas, I had never seen the metal skulls before.

[sniper7]

Pretty sure it is just paint. I figure I can spray mine for under ten bucks. The airbrush stuff is really cool though.

If you want a great taxidermist let me know. Better than the guys at Steves and better than the Jonas brothers as well.

[CO Hugh]

Here is an article http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/hun...an-mount-1-day

DIY Taxidermy: 3 Ways to Make Your Own European Mount -
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by Mark Kayser

Photo by Nick Ferrari; Dermestid beetles courtesy of skulltaxidermy.com
Some trophies just don’t deserve a trip to thetaxidermist for a shoulder mount, yet they don’t deserve to be tacked to the tool shed, either. European skull mounts are the answer, and it’s a cinch to produce a classy mount in a single day. Which route to a clean skull should you take?
1. Skull Stew
Boiling a skull doesn’t actually involve boiling, but instead uses gentle simmering to loosen tissue. Hard boiling will cause the bones of a skull to fall apart.
For best results—and to preserve your marriage—conduct the process outside or in the garage. Use a propane stove and an old canning pot large enough to submerge the skull up to the base of its antlers. Fill with water, and add a dash of dish detergent as a degreasing agent.
Remove as much excess meat and brain as possible, and protect any portion of the antler that might be submerged with clear plastic wrap secured with packaging tape or tin foil. This will preserve the antler’s color and natural look.
Now simmer. The chore may take several hours, even all day. After each hour, remove the skull and scrape meat away. If the water gets too goopy, dump it and refresh the bath. If you want the nose cartilage to stay intact, be careful when removing the fleshy portion of the nasal canal.
A moist skull cleans easier than one that has dried out, so if you can’t simmer soon after you kill your animal, freeze the skull until you have time to process it.
2. Beetle Juice
A hands-free method for removing meat from your skull is to employ dermestid beetles. A colony of these ravenous insects can make short work of a skull that’s had most of the large chunks of meat removed. In days, the beetles will eat away dried leftovers, saving you a stinky cooking job.
If you don’t want to grow your own insects—free-range bugs can eat everything in sight—send your skull to any of the many beetle keepers you can find online at beetlecleaning.com or atcleanbone.com. A clean skull is only a UPS truck ride away, for $50 to $100, plus shipping.
3. Power Wash
Put that power washer in your garage into play for skull cleaning. Restrained power washingremoves meat with pressure and, when combined with simmering, can hasten the skull-cleaning task.
Don old raingear, rubber boots, latex gloves, and goggles to protect yourself from splashing gore. Wire the skull to a board or a fence, and then start with low pressure, since deer skulls are fragile. Increase the pressure as needed. For best results, use a rotating nozzle. After you’ve removed all the meat, give the skull a degreasing bath in dish detergent.
4. Post-Clean Bleaching
After the meat is removed, enhance your mount by boosting the skull’s whiteness. An easy path to a white skull is to purchase kits available through taxidermy outlets like Van Dyke’s Taxidermy. You can also use the hair salon products referred to as “basic white.” Mix this with a 40 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide and paint the paste on the warm skull, fresh from the pot. Wrapping the skull in foil or clear plastic wrap allows the concoction to soak in, enhancing the whiteness. After a day or so, brush away the flaky residue.

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The Lazy Man's Euro Mount
If bugs and boiling sounds like too much work, don’t toss the rack just yet. Mountain Mike’s mounting kits ($43; masterofskulls.com) come complete with an authentic-looking European skull reproduction. You simply saw the antlers off your real skull and use the hardware to mount them on the plastic-­reproduction skull provided. Available for deer (in white and camo) and elk.