Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

PELTS, BUCKSKIN, RAWHIDE 299Remember that the taxidermist or furrier must soakthe skin to soften it before he can do anything elsewith It, and if it has been allovv^ed to decay at allthe hair will come out when soaked.To make a good job of skinning is somewhat tedious,and to make buckskin or tan pelts calls forplenty of elbow-grease. Amateurs are apt to betaken in by humbugs who profess to teach quickand easy ways of doing these things. There is nonostrum nor hocus-pocus that will save you thetrouble of good knife work in the field, or of reallabor if you do your own tanning.In skinning out heads, or full pelts, one can donretty fair work with no other tool than a jackknifftwith TWO blades, one of them thin and pointed, theother thicker edged for scraping and for workingclose to bones. It is best, however, to have twoknives. For making incisions and for skinning outthe more delicate parts a good instrument is thetaxidermist's knife shown In Fig. 181. It has aFig.181.—Taxidermist's knifethin three-mch blade that takes a keen edge, weighsbut two ounces, and costs 35 cents. Then have athand a jackknife or a small hunting knife 'or therougher work. You will need a whetstone hs skinrning is hard on knife edges. When slitting a skin,lise point of small blade, edge up, so )^ou do not haveto cut the hair.When heads are to be skinned for mounting, oneought to have a pocket tape measure and make notesof actual dimensions on the animal itself. Sincetrappers and hunters of big game are afieldonly Incold weather, there is no need of arsenical soapor other chemical preservatives.