Glad to hear you are on the mend Rodney. As for the pheasant I dry the skin by removing as much of the fat and meat as possible and then salting it. Change the salt regularly and keep in a warm room. Eventually the skin dries out really well. It does however become VERY thin so be careful when stretching it out. I use a piece of plywood and either panel pins or drawing pins to keep the skins shape. I did a melanistic cock pheasant skin last shooting season and its fine. To help dry it out a little more I rub talcum powder into the skin too. As the skin dries the remaining fat turns yellow and can be picked off or cut away.
Then when it's done give it all a good wash in pure soap powder or flakes. Rinse well and then wash again in hair shampoo and rinse again. Then I put hair conditioner on it, rinse again and dry it. Dry it by sandwiching between newspaper initially to get as much water out as possible. Then get the hairdryer out and finish the job with a gentle heat. Nice soft skin and feathers that shine. If you intend dying it I do that between thefinal wash and conditioner part. Cheers KP _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rodney Sent: 15 November 2006 15:31 To: [email protected] Subject: [VFB] Feeling better... Hello everyone... I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful prayers and wishes... I'm feeling MUCH better and I've even returned to work, just have to keep the stress level down... (yeah right... lol...)... watch my diet and take my meds... Thank you all... I do have a question for the group... My dad, who lives in Phoenix, went to Kansas and did some pheasant hunting... On his way back through New Mexico he dropped me off a couple pheasants and 4 beautiful FULL skins and tails... They're salted down but I would like to know what I need to do to finish the process of "tanning?" them... My plan, once the skins are "done", is to dye them in different colors... Anyone have any suggestions???? Thank you all again for your kind prayers and wishes... I've still got to take it easy, but I'll be here on and off... Rodney... NREMT - Paramedic Life is too short, go fishing...
