Is there an easier way to flesh hides?

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Shea

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I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I have tried scissors, a carpet knife, had the best luck with a butterknife and my knee. All on frozen then thawed hides. I just processed a batch I may have let get a little too old, so I decided to try fleshing a fresh hide and that is even worse then my previous ones. Granted it is from a 6 month old buck.

Is there something I'm missing? Or just not doing right?
 
i almost never flesh my hides other than removing the largest chunk of meat/fat until they've been pickled. it plumps up the skin and makes it so much easier to separate the membrane. and i pretty much just do it with my hands and a dishrag, with a scalpel and a skife to do around the face and thin out any thicker bits of skin on older bucks or other animals. i am usually able to pull off big chunk of membrane just this way, and it takes me maybe half an hour start to finish to do a full pelt, even faster for just a back pelt.
 
i remove the big chunks of meat/fat then salt mine. a bit messier, but once they're dry you can beat off the salt and they store fairly well. then rehydrate and pickle, then 'detail flesh' i guess is what you'd call it. if you can't salt them then i'm not sure what you could do. you could try a fleshing knife or a skife, but i personally still find them difficult to use on a completely raw hide.
 
I use scissors. Sharp mind, they need to be sharp. Laying the hide over something rounded like the middle bit of a double sink or a rolling pin, lay the scissors open a little bit on the hide, press slightly down as you close them. It should raise the connective tissue up enough to cut that little strip off.

Then repeat. Over and over and over and over and over and...........

It takes me about 40 min to do a hide but it is TOTALLY done, every single bit is off and only the hide is left.

I did a cow hide like this once, it took 3 days :lol: but nothing else did the job as well. I tried every knife in the house and every tool in the toolbox, nothing beat scissors.

And aaargh I HATE salted hides uuurgh tried it once and will never do that again, air dryed all the way for me.

Fresh hides or frozen and then fleshed seems to make no difference for me fleshing them, both work the same. Did I mention SHARP? Get a scissor sharpener as if they are not sharp, it will not work.
 

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