I was thinking for making a gun rack with the deer legs. currently they are salted, completely salted. Anyone have experience with them and if I can work with what I have.
There are kits you can buy to do gun racks
You can probably use what you have, but need to take it a little further....there are many, many ways that this can be done....like using the kits, etc. Here are some basics....
Done the proper way, the foot is skinned out, with everything removed inside, preserved, and put back on a foot form, which is available from a taxidermy supply. Some of these forms will use the existing hooves, and some will have the hooves cast in to the form so you are just using the skin. Both methods require skinning and preserving, the cast in hooves form does not require sewing, but glueing instead. You can use borax or a taxidermy dry preservative.
OR...you can buy freeze dried feet, drill out the bone marrow, epoxy in (where the marrow came out) some all thread, and mount to a board.....and use some clear gloss on the hooves....I can tell you where to get these freeze dried feet.
You can also use the exisiting feet in this manner, drill out the marrow, soak in water/borax mixture, dry, preserved, install all thread, and mount. All methods look best if you use a deer foot ferrule for a clean transition where the foot meets the board.
There are many variations of these methods, including leaving the feet in a freezer, unwrapped, and letting them dry out good, then drilling out the marrow, and so on, in any case, just salting them wont completely do it, as much of the marrow as possible needs to be out....really the best way is to remove everything but skin and hoof, or skin, bone and hoof, with all marrow, cartlidge, flesh, etc. removed, then preserved, then mounted. If you dont do these steps, you can expect stink and hair loss, seen it happen....anything that can rot, usually does and it smells.
If you need help, or have questions on how to proceed or where to get supplies....let me know, be glad to help.
Thanks for the thorough answer, I knew there was more that is needed. I salted them to hold them stable. Many ways to go. I want to keep the original hooves they are pretty, so I am looking at skinning, tanning, and adding a form or removing all I can of the things that will break down and smell (rot). For my first attempt on the feet from my first deer I should go with the skinning and form method. If you could direct me to the products you'd recommend that would be great.
Thanks for the thorough answer, I knew there was more that is needed. I salted them to hold them stable. Many ways to go. I want to keep the original hooves they are pretty, so I am looking at skinning, tanning, and adding a form or removing all I can of the things that will break down and smell (rot). For my first attempt on the feet from my first deer I should go with the skinning and form method. If you could direct me to the products you'd recommend that would be great.
I will post some info for you later tonite..
