kshunter

Just finished a deer mount from a cape I had tanned about 5 years ago (Sitting in a box). There was deffinetly a difference between this cape and newly tanned one. The cape seemed much more brittle, less amount stretch, and the more I worked with the cape, holes were much easier to make.

I remember a post a few months ago, where Bill Yox said to put the deer in the freezer, if you plan on storing it for a while. That's a great tip, if you're not using them right away.

The deer ended up turning out good, but it just took more work to make everything right.

Alex The Hawk

Shelf life is going to depend on different things, one is who the tanner is and what chemicals are used.
I found that capes tanned with sulfuric acid do not have such a long life in storage as say one with alum.

I have had capes tanned by advantage fur in texas that were hanging in my skin storage room for 10 years and the rehydrated like new tan ones.
Then I had some from Carolina that fell apart, while others from Carolina that are 6 years old are perfect.
Storage have to do with shelf life, I have an air condition shop and one room that is humidity free and that seems to extend the life of tanned skins better.

kshunter

Thanks for the info Alex. That makes good sense.

I've recently switched my tannery to Advantage in Houston. I really like the end product, and service.