Pre-Tannery Hide Care
Follow these steps to help insure a quality finished product.

Step 1
Skin animal as soon as possible. Or bring animal to us to skin it. (Do not
freeze whole animal).

Step 2
Wrap hide in plastic garbage bag and place on ice. Do not place hide directly
on ice or get hide wet. Do not wash hide. Transport to tannery. If this is not
an option continue to Step 3.

Step 3
 Choose to freeze or salt your hide. Follow instructions below...

Freezing
Roll hide flesh side together with face and feet inside. Wrap hide well in 2
layers of plastic bags, squeeze out as much air as  possible and seal bag.
Freeze. Do not store more that 2 weeks before delivering to tannery to prevent
damage by freezer burn.

Salting
Do not salt in temperatures below 40 degrees F or above 80 degrees F, to
prevent your hide from freezing or rotting before the salt has a chance to
work. Remove all meat and fat from hide. On capes and life-sizes turn/split
ears, eyes, lips and feet.  Use fine hay/stock salt, non-iodized (available at
feed store), never coarse or rock salt. Pour thin layer of salt on floor and
lay hide hair side down on top of it. Pour some salt on flesh side of hide and
rub vigorously making sure to rub onto every square inch. Pack salt into ears,
eyes, nose, lips and feet. Then cover entire hide in 1-2 inches of salt.
You cannot salt too heavily! Do not skimp on salt!
Salt is cheap compared to replacing your trophy or hide.
Allow hide to sit for a minimum of 48 hours for thin hides (deer and thinner)
minimum of 3 days  for thicker hides (beef, buffalo) but no longer than 5 days
for any hide. Then shake salt off and hang hair side up on wooden rack  for 12-
24 hours to dry hair then flip hide so flesh side is up and allow hide to dry
almost completely.
Once hide no longer looks or feels wet but still bends fold hide with hair
sides together and roll with  feet/faces inside roll.  Allow your hide to dry
in roll at least 2 weeks before shipping. 

Shipping

All Orders-
Do not ship fresh, frozen or damp hides with out Calling First! Thoroughly Dried and Salted hides can be shipped without prior notification. Call and Request a Shipping form or Just include your name, address, phone, any applicable tag and license numbers for all wild game and furs.  Include Cites tags for all bear, bobcat, cougar, wolf, wolverine, etc, with order.  Ranch-raised items like buffalo, North American raised exotics,
etc, include copy of  game farm receipt in addition to entry on Wild Game Ledger. Domestics like beef, goats, horses, sheep (wool and hair) do not
require any additional information.  When shipping orders in multiple boxes include your name and contact information in each box (business card or
equivalent) and include only one shipping form per order, not per box! Be sure to clearly mark boxes with box number (1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3) when shipping orders in more than one box. Ship all hides via UPS only. Always insure your shipments as we are not liable for items/orders lost or damaged during shipping.

Packaging Hides-
When boxing hides do not pack hides with delicate hides and furs like antelope,
deer, etc, under heavier items like moose, elk and beef as they can be damaged.
Make sure all ears, feet and tails are folded inside the bundle and not exposed as they can be damaged or
broken off during shipment. Be sure to securely seal all boxes and tape all
openings as UPS can consider packages leaking salt as hazardous and destroy
them accordingly. Always use a box no larger than absolutely necessary as this
saves on shipping costs and reduces the risk that your box may be damaged or
open up during shipping.

Taxidermist Customers-
Be sure to permanently mark hides with your customer information with a
numbered punch. Do not use tags as these are sometimes lost or destroyed during the tanning process. We are not responsible for lost or damaged tags. Always include your Taxidermy License # on all shipping forms. We cannot process your order as wholesale without it. WA Wholesale must have a completed resale certificate on file to get the sales tax exemption.