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Author
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Topic: Question about tails..
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grayman
Knows what it's all about
Member # 822
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posted March 26, 2006 05:00 PM
Hey all,
I was wondering, if you get a fox/coon/coyote and take the tail do you still have to tan/cure it? I have no idea wheather yes or no.
-Grayman
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Posts: 46 | From: West Valley City, Utah | Registered: Mar 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted March 26, 2006 05:15 PM
I suppose there are several reasons for hunting predators? If you like to keep the pelts for your personal use, it is probably better to leave the tail on. Those that belong to clubs probably clip the tails? If it's a personal trophy, suit yourself.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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grayman
Knows what it's all about
Member # 822
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posted March 26, 2006 05:20 PM
HEH!
Yeah, I was wondering if you had to tan the tails if you are just keeping those.
-Grayman
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[Img]http://www.graymanmedia.com/sigs/animated/grayman.gif[/img]
Posts: 46 | From: West Valley City, Utah | Registered: Mar 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted March 26, 2006 07:03 PM
If you know how to strip the tails with a couple round sticks? Cut all around the base and skin it back an inch or so, stand on the back legs and grip sticks tighly in both hands. Give the sticks a good tug. Tail should pop off cleanly. Then, what you do is stick a soda straw down inside as far as you can get it and pour salt into it and tamp it down until the whole tail is stuffed with salt and then remove the straw. That should preserve the tail for as long as needed.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted March 26, 2006 07:23 PM
grayman,
If you're just going to have them hanging in the shop and don't care how long they last, no. You can salt cure them and they'll last a while. Maybe a year or three, depending upon how humid it is where you're at and the temps.
If you really want them to last a while and you want them to be nice, yes, they need to be tanned. The tails themselves have fat and water in the skin and muscles/ tendons, just like the rest of the animal did. And that's the yechy stuff that turns rancid, spoils the leather and causes the hair to slip and fall out.
[ March 26, 2006, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: Cdog911 ]
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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grayman
Knows what it's all about
Member # 822
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posted March 26, 2006 09:50 PM
Sweet,
Thanks for the info guys. I guess I now have to learn how to tan what I shoot. YEY LEARNING!
-Grayman
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Posts: 46 | From: West Valley City, Utah | Registered: Mar 2006
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted March 27, 2006 04:37 AM
grayman,
Here's a good, basic tanning compound that I use on critters up to coyote size.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01003502
Just follow the directions TO THE LETTER and you'll be okay. You might check around as they used to have a smaller sized bottle, too.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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grayman
Knows what it's all about
Member # 822
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posted March 27, 2006 10:03 AM
OOOOHHHH!!!
That quick and easy way to tan hides?! NEATO!
I will try that, seriously it looks good. Thanks for the info.
-Grayman
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[Img]http://www.graymanmedia.com/sigs/animated/grayman.gif[/img]
Posts: 46 | From: West Valley City, Utah | Registered: Mar 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted March 27, 2006 10:52 AM
Lance, what's your take on brain tanning? Ever done it?
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32363 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted March 27, 2006 01:57 PM
Yes I have. Did a muley hide once. As a matter of fact, that was the topic for the very first article I ever did with T&PC. Back in (I believe) '92. The method I learned was only for hair-off deer buckskin, and not for hair on pelts. I recall an article several years ago in T&PC where the author did outline a variation of braining that supposedly worked well on pelts, but I don't have it.
The method I learned was the actual method used by the Lakota Sioux. Right down to the wahintke scraper fashioned from elk antler. Rather than flint, we used a sharpened piece of high-carbon steel for the blade, but it was lashed to the antler handle using real rawhide.
When properly stretched and dried, true buckskin will outperform commercially made leather in every category. I went thru a bunch of commercially made tabs before I started shooting my bow with a mechanical release. Then, I made myself a tab using buckskin. Used it for four years before I dropped it somewhere and lost it. The more I used it, the better it got. Made several for archery friends and they're still using them several years later. True buckskin will strain your giblets trying to tear or rip the stuff. We even made the stuff water repellent over a smudge fire. Lotta work, and a lot of fun.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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