I just got back my mount from the 09 season and I'm not happy to say the least. When I took the deer to the taxidermist it had a 16-1/2" inside spread and about a 10" tip to tip spread. Now I get it back yesterday and the measurments are 13-1/4" inside and about 8" tip to tip WTF!!! He claims that they shrunk that much. There is also major hair slippage on the throat area that he claims was from dragging. I told him it was not drug anywhere it was shot and loaded onto a cart then loadad onto my truck still on the cart. So now he says ok maybe its fighting wounds. Bullsh-- I told him Looks to me like your tannery sucks. This is total B.S. its the first time I used this guy that was so highly recommended by a couple of friends. Now I not only got a messed up mount but I need to kick a couple friends in the ass to. SORRY GUYS JUST NEEDED TO VENT!!!!!!!!!! 

Posted By Topgun 30-06 on 24 Jul 2010 03:59 PM
JHerdebu---Just a quick question and that is, if tanning doesn't take care of the bacteria before the cape is put on the mount, what does so that the taxidermist puts out a good mount with no hair slippage or other problems?

Okay here is a simple, all be it long explanation of what happens during tanning and how when things go wrong slip happens.

Taning does slow it down but I have had taned capes slip in my hands.  Taning cures the skin through first pickeling and then by adding a taning agent and taning oil to stablize the cell structure within the skin.  The "KEY TERM here is SKIN"   The pickling part is really not much different then turning cucumbers into pickles.  Tanneries and Good Taxidermists that tan in house add a Bacteriacide to their solutions to kill off as much of the natural bacteria as possible within the hair mass, because you can't tan the hair,  because hair is already dead for the most part before you ever shoot the animal just as any other hair is dead including your own.  If you take a piece of hide that has had the hair slip and proccess it and tan it you will still have leather.

The hair slips because the bacteria gets down into the hair folicals and destroy the rot ball at the base of the hair, literally it each the hair roots.

In a properly tanned cape that is mounted using as little excess water as possible and is dried in a timely manner after mounting the skin shrinks as it dries and locks those little root balls in in their sockets, (folicals).  If the bacteria gets in before it drys and destroys the anchor point the hair slips and falls out.

In animals such as Pronghorn Antelope it can be very hard to prevent slippage becasue the hair is hollow and the temps are usually high during that hunting season and that gives the advantage to the bacteria because of the increased suface area access to the hair roots.  There are chemicals such as Stop Rot that can be used help prevent slippage but the best way is to get the cape fleshed and salt dried  or cooled and frozen as soon as possible to shut the bacterial action down.  It can not work in a dry environment it will go dormant until moisture is found.  Freezing won't kill it either, it will slow it way down just as salt drying will but it will stil be there waitting, just as any bacteria does on surfaces every where. 

The key in handling hides as a Taxidermist is getting it from the client to a frozen or dry state quickly, from a there it can be kept long term.  Most Taxidermists and Tanneries that I know of use a Bacteriacide in their rehydration solution prior to tanning, it doesn't kill it all off but it knocks the numbers down to control it.  That is the best that can be done because we can't just throw the hides in a bucket of bleach water and kill it as it would destroy what we are trying to save just in a different way. 

I hope this helps you to better understand slippage and how to try to help us prevent it so we can provide all of you with the top quality mounts you invest your money with us for.

Jeff

Lungbuster,who did you use ?

PVIGILETTI,

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