Skinning for taxidermy

[deerskin]

Hey all,

I'm skinning a couple of wolves for someone who wants to stuff them. I've skinned lots of other wolves, but not specifically for stuffing. Anybody have any tips on doing ears/eyes/lips/paws?

[Bushmaster]

Are you doing a dorsal cut ?? Lots prefer the dorsal cut.

[deerskin]

Dorsal Cut??

[Bushmaster]

Dorsal...up the middle of the back...done for full mounts...not rugs.

[deerskin]

these are probably more than likely for rugs than full mounts. I guess more specifically what I was looking for...

1) Do you keep the cartilage in the ears, or fold them inside out and remove cartilage ( I have read both ways)

2) How much of the lips do you keep on? Do they need to be split, etc.?

3) What do you do with the eyes/eyelids?

4) Do you keep the centre pad? (Obviously not for rugs, but what about full mounts?)

5) Should I salt the hide, or dry it?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

[juniper]

If you have never skinned out something to mount then my advice would be don't. Most taxidermist would rather skin it out. Then they can get the proper measurements.

If they charge to skin them out the think of it this way. You need to turn the ears, lips and eyes. If you start to punch abunch of hole through the skin then they will charge for that too. Best thing to do is call the taxidermist and see what they want. They may tell you to skin it but leave the head and feet in.

Question # 4 For a full mount you keep everything !
But if you want to learn how to turn the ears and split the eyes, and lips then PM me I have a video link I can send you.

[sourdough doug]

X 2 -- You nailed it right on , Juniper, would not be nice to get a bud p....d at you for wanting to do a favor.

[SugarCreek]

Talk with a taxidermist......some are willing to have you watch what they are doing. I offer that to clients so that they know how to skin things out especially if they are hunting in the back country and a freezer or a taxidermist are no where near them. Videos can help but I find that doing it or seeing it in person is the best teaching tool and there are some taxidermists out there that are willing to help out to teach these items.

I agree with Junipers comments. For lifesized work, I prefer to skin the critters myself so that I can get accurate carcass measurements which are important in form preparation. When a green skin comes in, I can stretch it any way I want but that is not accurate and nothing beats what mother nature has created and that is the animal for doing the measurements off of. For those that skin their own, they should talk in advance to their taxidermist before hand to find out what measurements are needed.

Bottom line is (as Juniper said) any holes put in the animal in skinning are extra work for a taxidermist and the holes that will affect the beauty of the mount are the ones made in the face more so than any others. The hair is usually short and the face gives the animal life when mounted correctly. Any blemishes take away from that.

Hope this helps..........Marco