# Tanning process?



## RyeDog (Jul 28, 2006)

I just brought my deer to a local Taxidermist to have it mounted and I was short on cash so I called around to a few places and went with the cheapest one. I figured I cant go wrong with getting a shoulder mount for my deer but after I had already dropped my deer off to this guy he started mentioning to me that he is cheaper because he does not send his mounts to get "professional tanning"?? He said he does it himself and thats what keeps the cost down. Should I be concerned with this?


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## WannabeCoyoteHunter (Jan 16, 2006)

I am currently in the process of researching different places as well.... I am not going with the cheapest but the person who has the best quality...As a good buddy of mine once said.. 

The biterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten 

You are going to look at the mount for 10plus years, do you want to say man sure wish I would have paid that extra 100-200.00.... 

Anyway enough on that! From what I have found the thing to ask is powder tan vs. wet tan, I am told "old fashion" wet tan is the way to do... the "new" powder tans do not last... 

Hope that helps, unfortunetely the time to ask questions is before you dropped it off... Good Luck! 

Aaron


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## fish patroll (May 8, 2002)

Aaron, You are a smart man ...your comments are right on...as always make sure you check out a taxidermists work and base your decision on that,not price.


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## wyodeerguy (Nov 27, 2006)

It just depends on how much experience he has tanning. Tanning a hide is easy, but tanning a cape to be mounted is not. Many Taxidermists tan the capes themselves because it can eat into profits to have a tannery do it.

I work at a tannery and we stopped doing capes for taxidermy because what we would have to charge to make it worth our time is more than most taxidermists were willing to pay.

the difficulty lies in 'shaving' or thinning the inside of the cape. You need to remove all the wierd cartilidge and muscle tissues that remain attached after skinning out a head. (in the ears, the lips...) Hides are easy because they are basically flat, but capes need to maintain the original shape and that makes the process very time consuming.

when picking a taxidermist just make sure to see some of the mounts that have done and if they do tan the hide themselves ask them how long they have been tanning.

and unfortunately, the cheapest guy is not usually a good choice.


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## Ebowhunter (Apr 5, 2000)

Check out the finished goods.

Tanning is important. Where it is tanned is not as important.

There is no such thing as a powder tan. Dry preservatives are frowned upon. There are a very select few in the country that can turn a dry preserved cape into a quality mount.


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

In taxidermy, you really get what you pay for. Taxidermists that charge cheap prices allways cut corners. First find out if any potential taxidermist is licensed and insured. If they are not, then don't even consider them. I have yet to see a legal taxidermist that charges cheap rates that does not turn out sub par work. I get lots of people shopping on the phone for the cheapest price. I always ask these people if price is all they are concerned with and if they care about how the mount will look and how long it will last. People that expect a cheap price and a quality mount are on the road to disapointment. Every year I get remount jobs from people that took their trophyies to hacks and got burned with shoddy work. 

IMHO, dry preservatives should never be used in a deer mount. Contrary to some peoples claims, there is no savings to send capes to a commercial tannery. Done properly, I have found that inhouse tanning is more expensive than sending them out. Supplies and my shop time are valued and when factored into the tanning process, it costs me more money when I do my own tanning, but I gain better quality control and much better turn around times. A tan is only as good as the tanning process though and not all tanning processes are created equal.


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## Andy Montalbano (Apr 4, 2006)

A buddy of mine started doing taxidermy work 2 years ago and he does all his tanning in a pressurized tanner at home. I had him tan a red fox for me last year and i have it hanging on the wall. Seems to be a really good tan, it did harden up a littlebit, but since i was just hanging it on the wall i did't go crazy with working the hide. 

I decieded to get into the taxidermy work also this year, and i was able to build a pressurized tanner out of an air tank, seems to be working pretty good for me. It takes four hour to have a completely tanned hide.

The pressurized tanners cost around 2000-5000, thats why i built one, it wasnt that bad to build one as long as you have access to the tools.


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## MGV (Jan 22, 2002)

Ok now you guys got me wondering. What is pickling a hide then? I know this is the cheap way to do it and might last long or rot in a short time.


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

MGV said:


> Ok now you guys got me wondering. What is pickling a hide then? I know this is the cheap way to do it and might last long or rot in a short time.


Pickling, as it is referred to in hide tanning, is the process of soaking a cape in an acid/salt solution to kill all the bacteria on the hide. Most long lasting tanning processes call for pickling. I do it.


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## MGV (Jan 22, 2002)

I thought pickling was the cheap way to do it?


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## Ebowhunter (Apr 5, 2000)

Pickling has always been part of the tanning process. Most of the topical oil tans are encouraging pickling - they did not when they hit the market.


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