Hide Preperation tactics??

[Astepanuk]

The first chance you have to wash out any blood on the hair of the goat will be great. So, if that's right on the mountain with a bottle of water and a bit of run-off, then I'd take the chance to do it.

Once back at camp, I'd work on fleshing everything out really well. I'd salt it really well and also rub salt into any area that may still have blood in the hair (if you don't have the chance to wash it out of the hair, salt in the blood will help a bunch). From there, let the drying process start and you wont need to do any rinsing, etc. Re-apply more salt the next day and continue to let it dry up until you can fold it nicely.

That's a quick-and-dirty explanation. Heat, moisture, blood, and meat blocking salt (All bacteria issues) are all the enemies in hide prep.

If you want a shoulder mount, cut it long enough for a wall pedestal and take the front legs down to the knees. If you want a 1/2 lifesize, take a lot more than you 'think' you'll need. Lifesize, well, self explanatory. Nothing worse than not taking enough in the name of 'weight savings'

Thanks Plan would be to skin it for a life size and most likely do a shoulder mount then make a rug with any remaining Hide.

[Rackmastr]

Awesome. If you aren't doing anything with hooves then I'd take it at the knees to save worrying about splitting hooves and salting

Also you may find it easier to make the cuts in the mountain (shoulder cape and then remaining piece) as its nice to give your taxidermist the option to have the cape wet tanned and then the remaining piece dry tanned. Also makes it nice for packing if that's your end goal anyways.

[Astepanuk]

Sounds good thanks for the info now Just for the smoke to clear so everyone can go Hunting... 20 days and counting!!!

[Seth]

Sifto pool salt is what was recommended to me by the taxidermist. It’s dirt cheap at Canadian Tire. I took 2.25#’s and that was more than enough for my stone ram this year. Leave another 2# at camp and another few pounds at the truck just in case your worried about it. You will need to do the eyes, lips, nose and ears though. Watch some YouTube videos. Do a search on here regarding the same topic and read Wild Images recommendations. Good luck!