Stinky hides

[deadwoodbuck]

Ok so I go on a great hunt with my son and best hunting partner. We eached bagged a beautiful animal that has fed us for a couple years. Under the recommendations of the guide I had the head mounted, the skull cleaned and the hide tanned by an established and repudiable taxidermist.  I received the head and skull back...that is another story. When I got the hide back...beautiful but stinky.  What would they use that would give the hide a musty odor?  So this summer I took it outside...beat it and took a weed blower to it.  A whole lot of very fine white powder was noted as I was working on it. Think that’s the source of smell?  What is that really any idea?  Still it is to smelly to display in the house. So I have it in the man cave with 3 fans blowing on it beating it whenever I walk by. All my other hides were just fine...no stink on hides or heads. The head is in the same place banished to the cave...while all the other heads and hides enjoy full interior accommodations. What am I missing?

[pianoman9701]

Who fleshed it, you or the taxi? Elkboy has done a lot of tanning hides. He may be able to shed some light on this. @elkboy.

[deadwoodbuck]

Taxidermist

[fowl smacker]

Is it possible the white substance is salt?  It could also be borax but that wouldn't cause the stink.  Was it wet tanned or dry tanned?  If the stink is coming from the hair and not the actual hide, you can mix up a spray bottle with water and hair conditioner (like the kind women use), spray it down lightly and comb it out.

[deadwoodbuck]

Ok...febreze and 2 box’s fans and light beating while hanging from the floor rafters in the cave...

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Deadwood,
Sounds like whomever you had tanning it didn't shave the hide well enough from what your describing if I had to make an educated guess. Without getting into some serious details of tanning it kind of goes like this.... Leather, from any animal, is kind of like coral. Its porous with pockets containing fats and oils, ESPECIALLY bears! The process of tanning starts with fleshing of the hide but that only gets the surface junk off. The process of 'shaving' is actually the act of removing skin layers in 1/16th to 1/8 inch deep swaths at a time which exposes and opens the porous pockets which then allows the grease and fats to be removed during the 'pickling' process. Pickling is a very acidic bath which both disintegrates and removes fats and bacteria, and softens the leather for either more shaving and then onto tanning. I've shaved moose capes up to 3 times and removed as much as 18 pounds of JUST leather. I get a kick out of these 'tanning kits' that places like Cabela's sell with the expectation they are going to provide a 'soft tan' with no lasting smell or oil levels...unless the hide is being shaved super thin and properly it just wont work.
The moral of this description is that if whomever you had tan the hide doesn't sound like he shaved the hide well enough as it has now trapped the souring greases within the hide, which unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to get it out. The only way to get that smell gone is to possibly have it go through the tanning/shaving process all over again. Depending on what type of tan he used as well, it may not work. Also, he may not have degreased the bear hide as well, but if you've been brushing the hell out of it with no results, then I'm leaning towards the latter...its all hard to say without inspecting the hide.
The white powder you have seen may be part of the tanning product, such as aluminum sulfate, which was, and still is for some, a common tanning agent, which is notorious for leaving a white powdering residue if not thoroughly brushed out.  There are much better agents to use these days tho by way of better synthetic tans, but that's getting into too much info.
Hope this helped ya....Joel/BRT

[deadwoodbuck]

Black River...finally something that makes sense. It is a buffalo hide...and I was not a regular customer so anything goes.  His standards may be different for different customers...but if what you say holds true that explains why so stinky.  Maybe over time the oils will fade??? The hide is hanging in the cave hopefully air drying the lingering odor.  Anyway thanks mucho for some insight.  Overtime will the hair slip or the hide become unbearable? Or will it always be the cave buffalo hide that hangs down there only?

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Black River...finally something that makes sense. It is a buffalo hide...and I was not a regular customer so anything goes.  His standards may be different for different customers...but if what you say holds true that explains why so stinky.  Maybe over time the oils will fade??? The hide is hanging in the cave hopefully air drying the lingering odor.  Anyway thanks mucho for some insight.  Overtime will the hair slip or the hide become unbearable? Or will it always be the cave buffalo hide that hangs down there only?

Hate to tell ya, but unless that skin gets opened up by means of shaving you kinda stuck with a 'cave buffalo' some of he smell MAY come out over time, but chances are, especially if its bad now, that its not going to go away. Hides of animals is the best raingear that's every been created/evolved, however you want to look at it. Its meant to never leak so you may be stuck my friend. The hair shouldn't slip, if that was going to happen it should have already....however the real problem is that if he tanned it improperly or didn't shave it well enough it is possible acidic, which can disintegrate over a long time, OR he only surfaced tanned both sides of the hide and the inside is just cured. Either way there is a chance hair could come out over time, but not in clumps as it already should have done that if it was going to.
Again.....this is just my opinion based on what you are telling me and what knowledge and experience I have without seeing the actual hide. Just keep that thing away from direct sunlight, smoke, bugs (mites), and moisture....they are a hides/mounts worst enemies!

Joel- BRT