Self tanning

Megalon

Megalon

Well-known member
So this year as I get closer to retirement. I am thinking of cutting out the middleman and tanning my own hides. This would save me money I would hope. I am looking for all those mountain men out there who do their own hides. My question is what do I need to get started and what am I getting myself into? Is it worth it? I usually get between 25 to thirty coyotes a year. I like to do things myself but I have to be careful. The wife is a cleanomaniac
 
Part time taxidermist here.
check out Pro-1 tanning solutions. Their products are what I use. Lots of stuff on a forum "Taxidermy.net".
I wash furs in Pert shampoo when done to get some real fluff and just "break" them over the edge of my work bench. That being said, I just do them as wall hangings.
 
I used to use oxalic acid to tan skunk pelts. Now I send them to moyles for $20-$25 each get beautifully tan ed garment quality coyote pelts.
 
I tan all my furs. I use the Rittle's EZ 100 system. It's not that hard to figure out. Getting your hides soft after tanning is the hard part of home tanning. With out a fleshing machine or giant tumbler it can be difficult to get a hide thin and soft, but it can be done. You can easily make something good for hanging on the wall even if it's not quite professional quality. Doing 25-30 coyotes will be a lot of work, especially if you have to break them all by hand. The Rittle's kit works better than the TTI kit for case skinned furs in my opinion. I have used both. I buy my stuff at F and T.
 
Huachuca Caller said:
I tan all my furs. I use the Rittle's EZ 100 system. It's not that hard to figure out. Getting your hides soft after tanning is the hard part of home tanning. With out a fleshing machine or giant tumbler it can be difficult to get a hide thin and soft, but it can be done. You can easily make something good for hanging on the wall even if it's not quite professional quality. Doing 25-30 coyotes will be a lot of work, especially if you have to break them all by hand. The Rittle's kit works better than the TTI kit for case skinned furs in my opinion. I have used both. I buy my stuff at F and T.
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Thanks, that was what I was looking for. Maybe I’ll start off this year doing just a few myself. By the way Huachuca caller, I lived in Sierra Vista for almost six years and Bisbee for four. I went to work over at the Fort
 
What I do for coon is I flesh em out real good, then salt em for 2-3 days give it a 2 hour salt bath, flesh it some more, then dry it and rub it with egg yolks. let the egg yalks sit for a few days. then stretch it until there is no more black. then sanitize it with something
 
I'm a full time bird taxidermist, but dabble with personal mammals. I've tried several methods as mentioned and have never gotten one even close to what Moyle Mink produces. If you ever want to make mittens, pillows, etc... they are buttery soft to work with. I skin, scrape, salt/dry all the hides and hang them until the end of the season to send them all in as they give a quantity discount over 20 hides. The "cleanomaniac" part may be difficult to over-come either way....
 
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