Dip/Pack Capes Question

[BLJC30]

How long can you wait before they need to be tanned? Just curious to how long capes and skins last in the dip/pack stage before they start falling apart?

 

[Hunt anything]

Salted and dried skins seem to last for a very long time, as long as they are not exposed to moisture.

 

[outwestidaho]

They need to be in a climate controlled room. (75 degrees or less) With no vermin and not lying on the floor. They need a shelf or a pallet to lay on . They need to breathe. After a year they are harder to tan and 2 years they a problematic at best. The thinner skins are the worst. None of them do well in the rehydration and will shave very hard resulting in more damage and later more work for your taxidermist to handle.
Best route is to have them wet tanned and store in the freezer. If double wrapped in plastic they will last years.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I had a salted caribou cape that sat bagged for almost a decade. I had no expectations that it would be usable when I finally got around to it, but when I rehydrated it to use it, it mounted up just fine. Not saying that's the norm or something one should strive to try...

 

[everett]

I had an untanned duiker cape in my gun room for about 10 years before mounting it. May have been a nightmare for my taxidermy (although he didn’t say anything to me about it), but it turned out fine.

 

[BSO Dave]

How long can you wait before they need to be tanned? Just curious to how long capes and skins last in the dip/pack stage before they start falling apart?

This is something I would leave to a reputable taxidermist to answer for you... My taxidermist recommended that I tan any dip & packed capes that I plan to mount as soon as possible. A tanned cape can be stored indefinitely until you are ready to mount it and lasts as long the mount itself would be expected to last.

 

[Philip Glass]

How long can you wait before they need to be tanned? Just curious to how long capes and skins last in the dip/pack stage before they start falling apart?

Years and years salted and dried as long as insects dont get in.

 

[outwestidaho]

Years and years salted and dried as long as insects dont get in.

Some can , some can't. More complex than you would think. Any hide rehydrated after a coupe years is never the same hide it could have been. Thin skins like jackal , genet , monkey etc can almost dissolve when rehydrated after a couple years. Thick like wildebeest do well. It also is dependent on care and drying by outfitter. Some get to the states and stored in plastic bags and in dark places. They will ,with a little bit of moisture thrown in from humidity develope a pink mold on them. This will cause hair slip on rehydration. So states or areas that are dry do well, with storage. In states with high humidity not so well. So blanket statements just wont fit.

 

[buck wild]

Outwesyidaho is giving the best advice !

Is there a chance they will make it? Possibly.

Maybe answer this. WHY do you want to store them? No room to mount them yet? Funding issues? Haven't made up your mind if you really want mount etc? The ANSWER to why, might lead to better advice on how/what to do next.

We are here to help

 

[Philip Glass]

Some can , some can't. More complex than you would think. Any hide rehydrated after a coupe years is never the same hide it could have been. Thin skins like jackal , genet , monkey etc can almost dissolve when rehydrated after a couple years. Thick like wildebeest do well. It also is dependent on care and drying by outfitter. Some get to the states and stored in plastic bags and in dark places. They will ,with a little bit of moisture thrown in from humidity develope a pink mold on them. This will cause hair slip on rehydration. So states or areas that are dry do well, with storage. In states with high humidity not so well. So blanket statements just wont fit.

Excuse me. I suppose my comments were meant for what I have experienced in Africa and Texas. For sure there is not too much humidity Where I come from. I certainly was not talking about some idiot putting it in plastic!
My lion sat salted and dried for 3 full years before it got here and was tanned by The Wildlife Gallery. It was perfect with no hair slipping that I could see. My leopard similarly sat in Bulawayo salted and dried for just short of three years and had no issues when tanned by The Wildlife Gallery.
So sorry for my blanket statement from my many years of hunting the world.
Philip

 

[BLJC30]

Maybe answer this. WHY do you want to store them? No room to mount them yet? Funding issues? Haven't made up your mind if you really want mount etc? The ANSWER to why, might lead to better advice on how/what to do next.

I think it may be a combination of funding and not being sure if I want certain animals mounted. I would just hate to get them euro mounted and then always wish I would have went with a shoulder mount.

 

[outwestidaho]

Excuse me. I suppose my comments were meant for what I have experienced in Africa and Texas. For sure there is not too much humidity Where I come from. I certainly was not talking about some idiot putting it in plastic!
My lion sat salted and dried for 3 full years before it got here and was tanned by The Wildlife Gallery. It was perfect with no hair slipping that I could see. My leopard similarly sat in Bulawayo salted and dried for just short of three years and had no issues when tanned by The Wildlife Gallery.
So sorry for my blanket statement from my many years of hunting the world.
Philip

Skins stored in most places in Africa will do better than most places here in the states. Your lion sitting in a crate here in this part of Idaho would have come out mush In 3 years . Skins In a pros warehouse will stay for years. But it's climate controlled. 90 percent of all skins coming in from Namibia are sealed in plastic bags. Some hunters take them home and store them that way. Well they did come that way right ? If left for a long time they will be a slipping problem. More than half will have a problem of some sort. Than your tanner must go to extra lengths to make it all work out . For you it's all good. But not for the tanner. Some don't survive. I lost 2 kudu capes taken in Namibia at the wildlife gallery from my first trip to Namibia that were sealed in plastic.They were only 6 months from kill to tan. My other skins from another ranch we hunted were over a year and were just fine. They werent sealed in plastic..
All were saying is that some work out some others not so much. So play it SAFE
and don't leave your skins laying around for years and years . Your huge investment may end up in a dumpster out behind the wildlife gallery .