They have a saying...putting the cart before the horse. Well, thats what you are doing. Skins need to be cleaned of flesh, meat and fat. Tails need to be skinned. THEN you get to salt them. From there its a matter of what you plan to do. If its off to a tannery, dry them, roll them into paper and box them up. If you plan to tan yourself, its onto the pickle process...after you FIRST read the books these guys suggested. Get that cart back behind the horse! And good luck to you.

Yes, I plan on tanning them. I am just trying to get done with step 1 first!

O.K. Yox, I'm getting that cart further back!

This last weekend, I shook off all of the salt, split the tails, and did further clean up on the hides. They were both pretty dry with the exception of the tails and the rear end of the white tail where there was some fat. Otherwise, BOTH hides are a stiff as plywood! (Does this mean dry????? )

I admit that I am a green-horn, and tanning these hides was a secondary idea since I had to way to dispose of them. Since then, I have become facinated by the art and I am looking forward to tanning all of the skins I can get my hands on this year. Also, my 11 year old daughter was helping me. When she first saw what I was doing, it was the typical "EEEWWWWWW." After I explaned what I was doing, she wanted to help, then it was "Since I am helping, can I keep one of these for my room?" How can I say no?

My wife on the other hand, who has NO problem field dressing, or cleaning any kind of fish, bird, or other animal wants no part of this. Go figure!

I'll get my hands on some books, even out of date one would think that the art of preserving skins has not changed much in a couple of thousand years right?

Also, I have a few doe tags and an either sex. I doubt I will get any kind of buck worth mouting, however, should I get a buck at all, I might attempt a mount, just as an educational project. However, should I only get does, would it be worth practicing a mount?

Tanning is a fun project for anyone (except for practicing taxidermists, then its just a drag, lol) but when it means you can have some fun time with your kids, thats GREAT. Good luck tanning!