Make sure you get as much of the meat offas possible. You should be able to getit all off with just a little yellow fat holding the fan together. Use borax instead of salt. Put the fan indoors so bugs won't get on it. It won't smell if you get the meat off and put borax on it. I have never had a problem with a fan smelling or bugs, and I have done many. I keep all of my fans indoors, whether in my house or at the camp. The more meat you get off, the quicker it will dry. My fans take only a week to dry, but I get every bit of meat off before pinning down and applying borax.