nutters, rabbits, g- hogs etc

[J0HN]

i know that most of the guys here eat what they harvest which is great but once you skin the critter what do you do with the fur or the pelt or whatever you wana call it? do you just toss it or is there a way to save it or idk. thanks, john

[shadow]

Some of the fur/pelt's I save  including nutter tails. The leftover's are buried out in the wood's. Ed

[J0HN]

thanks ed could i ask how you get to save the furs? can you just take it off and let it dry and its fine? and can you just cut off a nutter tail and keep it it as is, thanks, john

[longislandhunter]

Hey John,,,,

When you're skinning a squirrel, if you're very careful, you can actually pull the entire tail bone out of the tail leaving just the whole tail and skin. It takes a little practice but after awhile it's very easy.    Lay it flat in warm dry place and it'll cure on it's own.  

As for the hides, you can buy tanning kits but what I've done a few time is carefully scrape all the meat and fat off the hide, stretch it on a board nice and tight and lay a coat of kosher salt on it to help it cure.  Just leave it alone,,, the salt will soak up any of the moisture in the hide and cure it.  After it's good n cured scrape the salt off and you're ready to hang it wherever you want......

Jeff

[J0HN]

thanks for the tips jeff i appreciate it alot.

[shadow]

As jeff said, I have tanning kit's which I use on the hides and after I skin the nutter's  I just remove the tail and let it cure naturaly. Ed

[J0HN]

thanks ed, i know this is a real rookie question but how do you skin a nutter doing a good job and getting it all off in one piece? sorry ive actually never bagged a nutter before only birds and when i do i want to skin him right and get a nice hide.

[gamo2hammerli]

One time I watched a program on t.v...and it was about native indians in the old days, and how they trap, hunt and stuff like that. After they got a deer and got it skinned, they would use the deer brain (squashed and mushed up) and smear it all over the inside of the skin and then stretch it out on a frame. After the skin dries it's good to go.... Anybody heard of this?

[Progun]

Yep, it's called Brain tanning.Only works if you are Indian though.heh heh.

[gamo2hammerli]

Are you serious or just joking around? I've got to google this........

[Progun]

Hey John, I'm not  Ed but I'll give a try. If you want to save the hide in one piece but you aren't going to try to have the squirrel mounted by a taxidermist:  ala bear rug style: then start with a SHARP small blade knife and a pair of heavy duty scissors or side cutters and a pair of pliers or vice grips. and a firm flat work surface or cutting board. If rigor mortis has set in then straighten out the bent and curled specimen. Lay the squirrel on it's back (belly up).What you are going to do is: take your knife and make an incision from the wrist to the center of the chest . Now do the other arm  same fashion. Your cuts from both wrists should meet in the middle  of the chest following a line that is the underside of the arms and shoulders approximately where you see a transition in the hair from thick to thin.Think="Follow the underside" when cutting down the arms.Once you get handy with your knife you can make this cut from the "inside out" which will cut less hair and you won't be slicing the muscles. When your cut goes from wrist to wrist then do the hind legs same way starting at the heel/ankle area and meeting in the center of the groin. If your squirrel is a male, remove by "lifting and cutting away" the reproductive organs. With a little practice you'll learn  not to cut into the body cavity. When your cut goes from ankle to ankle across the center of where the reproductive organs used to be then you connect the top and botton incisions with a cut right down the middle. Careful not to cut through the abdominal wall as you make this cut.It will be okay if you do cut through but it will be messier. With practice your carcass will be intact with no cuts through the abdominal wall or leg muscles sliced. When the cuts are connected, start with your fingers pulling and peeling the skin away from the flesh. Try not to use your knife any more than you must at this point as you will do most of the skinning at this point by pulling and tugging and peeling with your hands. When you have seperated the hide from the flesh and you are down the the ankles and wrists, use your shears to cut the leg bones as close to the joint as you can.Don't cut the hide but rather the flesh and bone. When severed the feet will still be attached to the hide.Wnen you get to the tail, pull the "core" of the tail out of it's sheath. It's usually easier to accomplish this if you will first sever the tail from the body at the base and grab the wide part of the base with a pair of pliers or vice grips. Pull straight out but use your thumbs to stop the hide from rolling under and trying to invert.Sort of drawing the core between your thumbnail and index finger. Your hide should now be clearly seperated from the torso and tail and legs. Now you skin the head in one piece by using your knife to pair away the flesh from the skin as you pull and tug his shirt over his head, when you get to the base of the ears, cut deeply through the cartilage leaving significant flesh attached to the hide , just past the ears you'll be coming to the eyes. You can see them through the membrane. cut deeply here to further back toward the ears than you think should be necessary. Dig deep and you can remove intact the nicatating membrane and the eye lids attached to the hide with the eye itself still in it's socket..Further down the face you have the lips and nose cartilage to slice. This is where you get better with practice. Stick your finger in the mouth to guide the knife as you pair the lips away from the jawbone. This is easier than it sounds.Cut the base of the nose off deeply into the cartilage retaining the nostrils with the hide.Viwoila. Your squirrel is skinned in one piece. Clean the flesh side of the hide like longislandhunter said and salt it well.Get you some tacks and a hammer and a wood board big enough  to stretch the hide on flesh side up and tack down the edges stretching as you go. Place your board head pointing down and tack the tail to the board or better yet use a smaller diameter pin to anchor the tail to the board as near the tip as you can. This will allow the tail hair to bloom  for a fuller look when dried. If your drying board is placed head up and tail down you get skinny tail instead of fluffy tail.Stuff the head with paper towels filling the neck area to keep it from collapsing flat and let it dry for a week or more. After several days of drying , brush off the salt for a good look see. If the hide appears dry and stiff and the paws are dried hard and stiff, remove the tacks and brush again.You now have a squirrel rug  thats dried but not tanned.If moisture is still present  in the hide sprinkle 20 Mule Team Borax on the flesh side for another day or two of drying.It will last indefinitly. Many years if you keep it clean.No bugs either. The Borax moth proofs it.With a little practice it gets easy.good luck.

[longislandhunter]

That was an excellent post David,,,,, I enjoyed that !!  Extremely well explained...

Jeff

[GoodOlRWS45]

It IS true. The indians used brains of buffulo, cattle, deer, bear, etc.  It made the hide very soft and plyable.

[gamo2hammerli]

Wow cool. I never knew that..... U could learn so much stuff here....not just "bb" gun stuff!!!!!

[bassethound423]

There is actually a book out there, I have a copy in my library called "Brain Tanning". In the book it describes the method completely and no you don't have to be indian for it to work. The main thing to remember is every animal has enough brains to tan his own hide (including humans).