Need Advice Preparing Wolf For Taxidermy

[brn2ryd]

So I shot a wolf yesterday and need advice on prepping it.
Here is what I have done so far.
-Shot wolf yesterday after noon, -3 degrees. packed it out and got half way done skinning it before it go too dark.
-finished skinning this this morning except for the feet which took me until this afternoon
- I washed it the best I could to get all the blood out.
-It's drip drying in my garage right now.

I called a few taxidermists but haven't gotten a response yet. I either want a rug or some kind of mount depending of how well I prepped it.

I don't have any salt and wont have access to salt for another 2 days.

Should I roll it up and put it in the freezer while still wet/damp.
continue letting it dry out? cooler the better or use some heat to dry it faster?
inside out, or fur side out?

I really don't want it to spoil. Temp is about +5 now. Any advice you can give me would be great. Google search has mixed advice.

Full story and pics to follow if people are interested.

[guest]

If you don't have access Salt your best to freeze it.
But.
Do not roll it up , your better to lay flat or fold rather than rolling it as you could get slippage down the road from either the thaw process fast outside, slow inside. Don't roll the head up, you may get slippage off the ears or head. It doesn't thaw evenly.

Freeze it, .........When you have lots of Salt, thaw it, flesh it, Salt, Dry, get it into a Taxi.

Thanks for taking out a predator.

Good luck CT

[Rackmastr]

Fold it in half and put it in the freezer. Best thing you can do right now.

Do not apply heat. Water can also introduce bacteria as well, so get it in the freezer right away and then deliver to taxidermist.

[Blainer]

Freezer is best bet
often people fold and put in freezer with warmth trapped inside, this will cause slippage.
if it’s all cooled, keep folds to a minimum and get into freezer.
now you have nothing but time to think about that mount.

[Jordan f.]

Thought you were cooking wolf meat...


Not gonna lie. Had my interest.

[trapman]

don't role it up fold once or twice than freeze

[brn2ryd]

Thanks for the advice. It's in the it's folded in half/flat in the freezer. i'll be in town on thursday for salt and a fleshing knife.

Story is,
with only a few days left of moose season, I was up early and hunting at first light. A few inches of fresh snow had me breaking trail to one of my hunting spots. Visibility was not great and I was grunting with breaks of silence to try and draw a late season bull out of the woods. The silence was interrupted with howling wolves off in the distance, maybe a km away. Sounded like a fairly large pack. Well, no moose in it's right mind was going to make it's presence known now..
I howled back with my best imitation. I got a response so I howled again. This went on for a few minutes and then we were back to silence. I don't know what was said, but it was an exciting conversation nonetheless.
I hiked back to the truck and went to another spot a short drive down the highway. A few grunts later and... more wolves. What the heck. Game on. The stalk was on. Only, things got quiet as I got closer. I was busted.
Back to the truck and off to another spot a little closer to home this time. As I back tracked passed my first hunting spot I spotted lone wolf tracks right over top of mine that branched off down the shoulder of the road. It had to have come by within the last hour or two. One of the paw prints had speckled blood in it. I followed the tracks in my truck for a few hundred metres until the left the road and appeared to cross a creek.
I snap out of it. I have moose on my mind once again. Heading down the highway, I've got one eye on the road and one eye on the hillside. Something catches my eye. I pull over and grab my binoculars. Of course, It's a wolf. It's sitting 600 yards to the east, looking in my direction. I watch it for 10 minutes or so. It appears to be injured. It can't seem to put pressure on its front right leg. I can see a streak of blood above it's elbow.
This is my chance, I'm going for it. Out of the truck and down the snow covered bank towards the creek. I've decided I need to get within 200 yards of this beast, to get a shot at it. It sees me and flees the scene. I'm committed at this point and plan to try and put it off. As I round the back of the hillside I can see a clear path where the wolf has knocked all the snow off the willows. I'm now tracking this thing. I feel like I'm in a movie, only i'm sure it's going to end with my doing the walk of shame back to the truck. 500 metres, 1000 metres, 1500 metres. Who knew a three legged wolf could cover so much ground, so quickly. I'm about to accept defeat as I stop to catch my breath. There! up on the hillside 300 yards from me. again, He is sitting looking in my direction. I need a better game plan. I know if I go straight towards him, he'll be gone over the back of the hillside. Instead I move off his track up an adjacent hillside and parallel his tracks until I can get closer. At 150 yards I take off my pack to give myself a nice rest. Bang! It jumps up and disappears over the hillside.
Now, I'm a novice hunter, only having a mule deer under my belt. I had a huge adrenaline dump. The kind of adrenaline dump that I see hunters have on Youtube. The kind my wife makes fun of. I vibrated all the way down down one hillside and up the other. I see blood, an lots of it. I follow the blood through the snowless willows, and there he is, not 20 yards away, motionless. I make sure I have another round in the chamber. I'm waiting for the cunning beast to jump up and latch onto my throat. A few pokes with my 30-06 and I let out a sigh of relief. I got him.
After I calm down, I realize I don't know what to do. I've never skinned a wolf before. I decide the best course of action is to get him back to the truck and head for home. I strap him into my Mystery Ranch Metcalf, just as you'd strap a child into one of those child carriers and head through the snow covered willows and through the creek and back to the truck. I figure I made the 2km trek back to the truck in good time, arriving in just under an hour.
The wolf is now skinned and in the freezer.
Tomorrow is last day of moose season, I'm going to give it one last try.

If you asked me one year ago, I would have told you I would never shoot a wolf, or any predator for that matter. I have researched both sides of the argument. There is definitely an imbalance of predator/prey. I know feel an obligation to make a difference. I have also gained a lot of valuable information off this forum. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

[Wild Images]

If you are going to thaw it out make sure you turn the ears , split the lips and turn the feet out to the last knuckle
before you salt
once salted they turn to jerky and are a bugger to get

If you don't know how leave it in the freezer for the taxi once you deciede what to do

[LuckyIfYouGetOne]

Since you froze it no need to salt or flesh any further just take to the taxi and let them do it...ask taxi to show you when he fleshes and turns everything so you know how to do it next time.

[skibum]

I called a tannery yesterday with the same question - told me to take my weekend bear out of the freezer and salt it before bringing it in. But that was a tannery not a taxidermist.

I harvested a wolf a couple of years ago, just salted it and it is still hanging stiffly on the garage wall. No slippage.