Tonight I skinned out the head and felt pretty good about that. No holes on the eyes or tear ducts and the lips went pretty good to. Was tired since I came off of nights today but decided to dive right in on the fleshing. I have the Sallie beginners video and on there it looks pretty straight forward. I started at the lips and so far just on one lip I have three holes! I know you may be laughing right now as you read this, but this is my first cape ever. I went out to the local hobby store and bought a small wood carvers knife. Has a one inch blade in it but not flexible and it seems sharp. But when using it I feel like I am pushing way to hard to get the meat off and then when I feel like I am doing good, but pushing hard a hole pops up! Could I need a sharper blade and not have to push into the hide so much? Any advise on this and a direction I should take would be great. Again, I am a total novice at this but wanting to learn for a extra way to extend my hunt into the winter. Thanks guys, Jason.
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Hunting is like Marriage, you get out of it what you put in it. Sometimes you score and sometimes you don't, but its always fun going out!
I use a scalpel for turning lips, eyes and nostrils. I also use a skiving knife for finish fleshing around these areas. I use a draw knife for knocking the big chunks of meat and fat off of the main part of the hide.You can buyall of theseat any taxidermy supplier.
put your fingers on the other side of the lips, when you are close to going through you will feel it. also us a scapal loe excaliber said. and take your time, i see all the time where someone says " i can flesh a deer in 20 min." well i can to , then it takes me 30min of sewing to fix holes!
If your pushing on the knife to get it cut, forcing it. Its dull. Your knife should be razor sharp. So sharp you could shave with it. I run a blade along the back of my hand to see if I can shave the hairs off. The sharper your blade the easier it is to flesh. Struggling with a dull knife will cause holes. I use a very sharp small bladed knife to turn lips, hardly any pressure is needed to remove the flesh. You should actually have to be real gentle with a good knife.
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08' Bowtech General
02' Champion Stratus
Fleshing and Frustrated Kinda?
