How Long

[hunter1947]

I know this has been posted before but can't find the thread ,,my question is how long do you leave the hide in water to soften up the hide ???? I want to remove the hide off the skull plate and it has dried up somewhat ,,is there a better way to get this hide off the skull plate ??? thanks to all for any feed back :)..


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[wrenchhead]

It's warm enough now to put it outside in an ant hill, just tie it down so n animals make off with it.

[Wild Images]

Throw 1/2 lb of salt and 1 tbl spoon baking soda per gallon of water

[sawmill]

It's warm enough now to put it outside in an ant hill, just tie it down so n animals make off with it.

Ants won`t eat rawhide.I`v done lots in water Wayne,it takes a week or so,it will never get soft like fresh hide but you can get it off with a flat screwdriver,pliers and a sharp knife.Wear heavy leather glove too,saves on stitches.I always ask guys I do horns for to either skin them right away or get them to me soonest.Saves a lot of B.S.If you want to see how I mount them give me a call.I have a couple finished and a couple works in progress so you can see what I do.There is a lot more to it than just wrapping a covering over it.

[hunter1947]

I got the hide off both sets of antlers the mule der was 2 years old the WT was a 2014 Jan kill I soaked both sets in water far 8 days here are the results.

[hunter1947]

The hide off both sets..

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[rocksteady]

Nice... Good job old timer....

[Poguebilt]

Nice... Good job old timer....


Pot calling the kettle black ;)

[M.Dean]

I've had good luck putting the skull in a old pot and then use the side burner on my old Bar Ba Que to get the water good and hot, after a few hours simmering away the dried hide starts to loosen up, then, like Sawmill said, use a flat screw driver and pliers and start prying and pulling. I've got a big old pot I use just for boiling heads, and what I did a few years ago, was cut two pieces of plywood so they stick out past the rim of the pot about a foot all the way around, then, I cut the middle out so once the head and horns are in the pot of boiling water, I slide the two pieces under the horns so they stay there, and the foot or two of over hang keeps the heat off the horns so they don't shrink or burn. I put the pot on top of the plywood to start with, drew around the pot so I could cut the hole out smaller than the pot, then cut the outside square about a foot larger than the pot, I cut it in half so it will side under the horns from either side, works just great!

[dd3boss]

I've had good luck putting the skull in a old pot and then use the side burner on my old Bar Ba Que to get the water good and hot, after a few hours simmering away the dried hide starts to loosen up, then, like Sawmill said, use a flat screw driver and pliers and start prying and pulling. I've got a big old pot I use just for boiling heads, and what I did a few years ago, was cut two pieces of plywood so they stick out past the rim of the pot about a foot all the way around, then, I cut the middle out so once the head and horns are in the pot of boiling water, I slide the two pieces under the horns so they stay there, and the foot or two of over hang keeps the heat off the horns so they don't shrink or burn. I put the pot on top of the plywood to start with, drew around the pot so I could cut the hole out smaller than the pot, then cut the outside square about a foot larger than the pot, I cut it in half so it will side under the horns from either side, works just great!

I really like the plywood idea. I've taped paper towels on to protect the antlers from the hot water but the plywood sounds like the answer. I'm going to try it this year.