Well the season is upon us , in fact as I type I have just gotten back from a very successful hunt on the Chifuti Safaris’ area , Nuanetsi ranch and I type as I sit in Maun , my folks arrive tomorrow and we will be on the tracks of some big elephant for the rest of the month …

As you prepare for your next African adventure and for some of you that will be this year heres something that I feel is not really taken as seriously as it should be …

In order to make the very most out of your taxidermy the game needs to be skinned and salted quickly, an eland bull that sits in the sun for three hours while you wait for the truck then gets loaded onto the piping hot bed of the truck and driven for a further three hours to camp will almost certainly lose most of the hair on its mop , on the contrary if its skinned fast , preferably right there in the field and then salted liberally it has a 90% chance of having 0% hair slippage.

Your taxidermist can only do so much with a hide that’s been poorly treated in the field. This year I have been very fortunate to hunt with two of my close friends, Dan Catlin and Adam Wickes , both front line folks at the wildlife gallery – having worked with the gallery for several years now it was fun to get these guys right on the front line and also very interesting for them to see exactly how trophies are treated and prepared , equally education for me was their comments on such …

It all boils down to one small but very important detail – how fast the animals are skinned and salted will be directly proportional to the quality of the hide your taxidermist receives particularly with regards to small cats , jackals , baboons and other thin skinned game ….few people will shoot a baboon in the morning and stop hunting to take it the three hour drive back to camp – even fewer will skin and salt it on the spot , but those are the folks who will have but a skull to show for there is a very very small chance the hide will make it.

On thick skinned game such as ele hippo or buff not nearly as important …

So as you prepare for your safari let your outfitter know that you would like your animals in particular the smaller thin skinned ones skinned and salted in the field or at least very quickly after you take them and you will have an excellent collection of great hides for your taxidermists to work with !

Just out of interest heres a poll – only answer on the animals you have killed

Question:
you killed a baboon and wanted a mount

Choices:
it was skinned within an hour and the skin was useable
it was skinned within and hour and the skin was not useable
it was skinned several hours later and the skin was useable
it was skinned several hours later and the skin was not useable

Question:
you killed a small cat and wanted a mount

Choices:
it was skinned within an hour and the skin was useable
it was skinned within and hour and the skin was not useable
it was skinned several hours later and the skin was useable
it was skinned several hours later and the skin was not useable

Question:
you killed an eland bull with a big mop and wanted a mount

Choices:
it was skinned within an hour and the mop is far less than it was
it was skinned within an hour and the mop was as it was when killed
it was skinned several hours later and the mop was far less than it was
it was skinned several hoyrs later and the mop was as it was when killed

 

Ivan,

I've had plains game skinned out and salted quickly and still lost the hair in spots like a kudu's mane.

The giraffe I killed surprisingly came out well. I know it took many hours to skin him and get the hide slashed and salted.

quote:

I've had plains game skinned out and salted quickly and still lost the hair in spots like a kudu's mane.

Probably poor quality salt?

Most of us put down grass or leaves in the car then dose the animal with water which gives the hide a bit more time. Carrying salt and skinning knives is mandatory if you are going far a field.

As Ivan as stated you got to get the hides into the salt quick especially if it is hot or humid.

I had a friend who hunted for tiger and leopard in India in the '60's. He told me that the cats were always skinned right away ...

When I shot my Lion in Zimbabwe, before they loaded it on the Land Curiser they placed several inches of fresh cut green branches in the bed of the truck to keep the hide off of the hot bed of the vehicle.

Also when ever you use Salt in the field it is best to use salt that does NOT have iodine in it.

When I do bear hunts that I drive to, I always carry a couple of bags of salt that I got from a taxidermist, several years ago...

Good advice, Ivan, although seldom followed.

Great thread to get hunters thinking about trophy care Ivan. One of my friends, hunting partner, and full time taxidermist (not a hobbyist) has several amateur videos posted that instruct DIY hunters how to properly cape and on some videos salt their hides. I posted the link to these on my blog in case anyone has interest in learning more about the process.

The video, Part 2-Skinning a Bear for a Rug, describes the salting process about half way through the video and details what type of salt to use and what is trying to be achieved.

The dorsal cut video (Part 1 and Part 2-Skinning for Life-Size) shows how game should be skinned if the hunter is unsure about what type of a mount he or she wants. It will allow for a life size or a shoulder mount without a problem.

Link to Videos

I hope you enjoy the information. It is invaluable for DIY hunters.

Best always,
Shawn

You can skin the animal in the field within minutes of its passing, have all the salt the heart desires but if not properly skinned, taking extreme care in removing the fatty deposits at the roots of the hair follicles (mane, ruff, in particular) the chances of hair slip will be ever present.

Once back in camp the skinner should remove all the salt and assure himself that the field job was properly done and quite likely put the finishing touches to a possibly well done job that has missed out somewhere.

At intervals during the drying process, the salt should be rotated.

And yes, it is very wise to abandon the hunt after shooting a cat and get it back to camp asap - skinning it in the field is unwise and not recommended as the process is finicky, if not delicate, and best left to the head skinner. (IMO)

Fujotupu, good points about properly skinning. Rechecking in camp is of course a good idea. Skinning is very easy to learn as is properly salting hides. It is not a difficult process to understand.

Over the years, I have had more of my stuff messed-up through my not assuring things were done properly when I left it to the “professionals” to handle it. Sometimes even the simplest things. I was surprised at how many skinners and PHs are unaware of how to properly cape a warthog for a shoulder mount without splitting the cape or how to dorsal cut hides for a life-size.

Reapplying salt is important and necessary as you mention. Generally, the wet salt should be shaken off every day and re-applied three times. In most cases, it is fit for travel at that point. I have done this to all of my hides that I can bring home with me and never had a hide slip. That includes hides from Prince of Wales Island where it rained almost constantly. Not a missing hair on my life-size bear. If the hide is not coming home with you on an international hunt a fourth and final salting is appropriate.

On African hunts, if you have good skinners in camp that is great but IMO the hunter should always know what the correct process is and assure that his things are being taken care of properly. A lapse in paying attention or rushing to do something else can often translate to lost trophies.

Shawn

great post and valuable info.

Good info, but from my experience if there is problem it is always the other fellow i e taxidrmist blames the field work and the outfitter blames the taxidermist either one that did the mount or precesssed the trophies in country and they blame the outfitter in the field. No one is responsible for poor trophy mounts.

Also a tape doesn't hurt so you know the size of YOUR trophies vs the ones you receive. A little shrink is expected but not 10%+. Don't come home and forget about the trophies keep on everyones ass each step of the way. You know the squeeky wheel.

Ivan, the three types of game you mentioned have difficulties all their own. Small cats, baboon and jackal.IT is not so much the salt soon problem but a Grease and Fat issue, Most are lost due to not removing enough of the fat and grease on the skin, Salt will burn the fat,if it is left to thick on the skin. It will hold the hair till tanning, when tannery try's to rehydrate the skin the fibers will be locked together what we called grease burned. They will tan and hold hair but the elasticity and softness of the hide will be lost rendering them unmountable.
DENNIS

Camps reusing used salt probably causes more issues that most others. As mentioned, not properly fleshing, turning the ears, lips, eyes and nose is another great problem. The first salting should be heavy with new, clean salt and the skin kept out of direct sunlight and allowed to drain fluids. The next morning, all salt possible should be removed and a second salting applied. Options should include saltwater brine with an antibacterial added.

Trophy preperation is of the utmost importance and skinning on the spot is always a good thing but is also animal dependent.

For example Klipspinger must be prepared for and I usually take salt and skin immediatly, if salt is not available I skin and wash with water and keep the skin watered every couple hours until you get to camp. Zebra is another animal that needs skinning on the spot. Some animals can make it in the back of a hunting car for a few hours if the temperatures are mild, so you really must know how durable each specie is.

I think a lot of damage is done during the Dip and Pack stage as most operators wait until the end of the season to ship which is usually the humid time of the year and the skins sweat and need to be aired daily. I would try and encourage all operators to ship as soon as they can to avoid this process.