Bucktail prep

[papaloff]

A friend of mine just dropped off 3 frozen bucktails from this past deer season. I am looking for the best way to prepare them for use to tie streamers.

Thanks,
Marty

[Hans]

What worked best for me with a piece of boar.skin is the following procedure:
Clean the inside of the skin as good as possible, all remaiders of meat and fat should be gone, best is to scratch it off with a knife.
Rinse it with water untill you find all the dirt is gone from the hairs. Some detergent may help out.

Use borax to dry the skin. Repeat this every few days untill the skin is totally dry. Rinse it again to remove the borax from the tail.

Good luck,
happy tying,
Hans

[Buddy Sanders]

Marty,

First decide if you want to 'debone' the tails(if it's not already done).

Up to you. They will take longer to 'dry' if you don't bone them, but it's messy to do. In any event, take off all the flesh that you can from where the tails joined the bodies.

Wash them well. I like shampoo, and I always add some conditioner after. Rinse well, then rinse again...and again.

I know guys who used to just tack the tails up someplace out of the weather and let them dry. Better to 'help' it along with some borax on the fleshy part. I place mine between old towels, and place them someplace dry and safe from bugs/animals. Turn them occasionally and reapply the borax if it looks like it's needed.

Let them dry until they don't smell like they are rotting. Once 'dry' the skin should be hard.

Wash them again, add some conditioner, and rinse several times. Use VERY hot water. Let them dry, and they should be good to go. Check carefully for any bugs, and store in a sealed container with some mothballs for several weeks to be sure they are safe.

Buddy