A successful hunter, for whom a good outing is not only the process itself, but also the result, will certainly be faced with the task of cutting and skinning a carcass. The quality of the meat, as well as the skin as one of the trophies, depends on the manifestations of skills and knowledge at this stage. Previously, various improvised materials, such as flint, were used for these purposes, but now there are special knives whose task is to help the hunter quickly and effortlessly gut a carcass, ultimately obtaining excellent, fresh meat and neatly cut skin. This skin can later be used for various purposes, including being passed on by inheritance as a family heirloom in memory of past successes.

Features of the skinning process and when a skinning knife is useful

After the animal is caught and deprived of life, it is necessary to begin cutting up the carcass and gutting it. This should be started as soon as possible so that the quality and taste of the meat does not deteriorate.

Every hunter knows one indisputable fact: before starting all manipulations with the body of a killed animal, it must be bled. If you can wait with other stages of cutting, then you should release the blood immediately if you want to end up with good meat and not spoiled “rotten meat”. For this, an ordinary hunting knife is useful, which should be stuck into the chest, thereby damaging either the heart or the large arteries emanating from it. The process of bleeding out may take a certain amount of time, but you must wait until the blood stops flowing completely.

A bled carcass should not be left unprocessed. It should be remembered that under normal field conditions, the processes of decomposition in the uneviscerated body of a killed animal begin after a couple of hours, and after 3 - 5 hours this meat will already have a smell, and, therefore, it cannot be eaten.

Depending on the circumstances, the next step will be either skinning or gutting directly. You can delay cutting off the layer of solid fur in the following cases:

• if it is necessary to transport the product over a long distance. In this case, the animal’s fur will become a reliable coating that will maintain the optimal temperature. It should be noted that we are talking about a cooled or frozen carcass. If you transport meat with wool that has not cooled properly, then the only thing that can be achieved is a rotten result with an intoxicating corpse aroma upon arrival;
• meat from which the skin has not been cut does not lose its weight due to the fact that it does not evaporate;
• This product retains its original color and looks clean.

Consequently, wool on a killed animal can be left if it was killed specifically to obtain marketable meat. However, if the hunt was carried out in the warm season, and even more so in the heat, then the only correct solution would be to immediately remove the skin. After all, meat with wool cools very slowly, which means it will spoil at record speed.

The standard procedure involves starting the evisceration stage with skinning (skinning), which occurs in several stages:

• First, you should clean the skin from possible traces of blood and dirt using a damp cloth;
• Next, a special skinning knife will come in handy, which will preserve the integrity of the surface of the wool, which sometimes has no less value than the meat itself, and make the whole process quick and easy. The carcass is placed either on its side or on its back; it can be hung. There are two main methods of skinning: with a layer (if it is ungulate game), with a tube (if you are working with a hare or rabbit). To do this, a longitudinal incision is made from head to tail. The skin is also cut at the knee joints, from where it begins to be removed towards the central incision. First, the removed skin reaches the sacrum, after which the carcass is turned over and removed on the stomach towards the head;
• The process ends with the final touch in the form of removing the skin from the head, or separating it as a trophy.

When skinning, knives are used specifically to cut and separate the skin from the subcutaneous connective tissue. The rest of the time, it is advisable to do everything by hand, using improvised means such as a towel and a wooden spatula. In animals such as deer, removing the skin will not be difficult, because it comes off very easily. You will have to tinker with a wild boar and practically not let go of the knife from your hands, because its skin is firmly connected to the muscle tissue. In this case, you should use the tool with double caution also because you can damage the roots of the awns (deep wool) and then the resulting skin will turn out to be shabby.

Structure of a skinning knife

The main assistant during skinning even looks different from his other hunter brothers. It is also called a skinner, which translated from English only confirms its main purpose - removing skin.

This essential piece of hunting equipment is a small-sized tool for specialized agricultural needs. Attribute skinning knives to the category of edged weapons is fundamentally wrong, because they differ from them:

• a general design that does not allow direct stabbing wounds;
• such knives must have a strong fixation of the blade if they are equipped with some transforming mechanisms;
• the dagger blade in such knives is prohibited by law;
• When the blade length is over 9 cm, skinning knives are prohibited, the design of which allows lightning-fast removal of the blade.

On average, knives designed for skinning are equipped with a wide and sharp blade, sharpened on one side. These are small tools, because their area of ​​application implies the need to operate with a brush or elbow while working, which will be impossible if the size of the knife is too large.

The blade, as a rule, is small, 4–12 cm in size, structurally shorter than the length of the handle. It is distinguished by a convex cutting edge, the spine of the knife has a significant thickness, because while working with the tool, the blade should not spring back or slip. Most often, these knives have a fixed blade, but there are also folding models.

Types of skinning knives

There is a significant variety of this knife, which at first glance is not picky in terms of constitutional design.

First of all, the difference is in size. After all, for a fur-bearing animal, a small knife with a miniature blade is suitable, which will ensure clean and neatly cut skin. For working with large deer, a slightly larger sample size is suitable in order to remove the skin evenly, and not in short jerks.

Often, the blade of “skinners” has a slightly lowered blade so that when removing the skin, the knife does not break through it, and the applied force falls on the subcutaneous area. This is a softened blade option that is less aggressive given its sharpness. But there are also curved blades with the tip of the blade raised above the butt. In this case, the same softened effect is achieved, but using a different design.

Equally important in the operation of a knife is the convenience of using it. The presence of a guard to protect the hand, grooves, and notches for the fingers will ensure the correct grip of the tool and, as a result, it will be easy to work with it, which means the result will be cleaner.

In addition to the standard models, which represent a laconic relationship between the blade and the handle, there are variations with the addition of additional parts, which are most useful when skinning a carcass (insert for cutting skins), and will also contain tools for household purposes (corkscrew, awl) , special purpose (tool for cutting tendons). Sometimes additional modifications only interfere with a process where accuracy and calculation of movements are so necessary.

Skinning knives, which are equipped with a special hook, can boast of real practical use. This hook is located on top of the blade tip and points towards the handle. In practice, it is used to quickly cut the skin in one precise movement, as well as to open the peritoneal area.

Materials for making a skinner

Just by looking at skinning knives photo One obvious pattern can be noticed: almost all of them prefer wood as a material for making the handle. It can be Karelian birch, walnut, wenge, birch bark and many others. Wood is preferred for several important reasons:

• a handle made of wood is called “warm”, that is, it does not cause rejection, in work it feels like an extension of the human hand;
• Due to the low-weight handle, such a knife as a whole becomes light, which means it does not burden the hand during work and does not create additional stress. In addition, this is a durable material, therefore, you don’t have to worry about the condition of the handle;
• the main advantage is the anti-slip properties of the wooden handle. In conditions of working with such a viscous liquid as blood, when cutting animals, this characteristic is decisive. After all, it provides good grip on the hand, on which both personal safety and the quality of the work performed directly depend;
• such a handle will not freeze to the hand, which is also important, especially in winter types of hunting.

From this perspective, it is not recommended to use newfangled samples of handles made of plexiglass. Such a knife will slip out of the hand due to the slipperiness of the material upon contact with liquid; in the palm it will feel like something sharp and foreign. The same can be said about metal, as the basis for the handle. Its main drawback is its poor ergonomics. In the cold, such a knife can even damage your palm; you will have to handle this cold material with gloves, which from the point of view of skinning technology is not at all realistic.

According to GOST, the materials for blades of skinning knives can be used:

• metals and their alloys (from low-carbon to damask and Damascus steel);
• other materials (zircon-zirconia);
• compositions of materials of different composition (steel with a layer of titanium nitride).

Obviously, one of the main useful characteristics when working with such a blade will be its anti-corrosion properties. After all, the scope of application of skinning blades involves working in a damp, viscous environment, and, therefore, blades that are susceptible to corrosion will be difficult to care for. Therefore, of all types of steel, it is best to choose alloyed steel, which contains elements such as nickel and chromium.

The next necessary property is the hardness and strength of the blade. The skinning knife must provide an accurate cut, be reliable and durable in operation. In this regard, the hardness of the steel used is often adjusted to at least 55 HRC; ideally, the higher the better. Then the likelihood of damage to the blade during heavy or imprecise work will be minimal.

Sometimes such blades use various mechanical and thermal processing technologies (grinding, painting, bluing), which are designed to ensure longer service life of the blade and proper care of the surface.

How to make a skinning knife with your own hands

A similar model of a hunting knife can be bought at a specialized store, or you can design it yourself.

To do this, it is not at all necessary to have an equipped workshop at home with a whole set of appropriate tools. The task is simplified by the fact that you can always purchase a blank for a knife. This is possible, given the design of hunting knives, which prefer mounted mounting of the handle, which involves mounting it on the shank of the handle and its subsequent fastening.

It is advisable to purchase the workpiece from stainless steel. You can stop at “raw” hardening and then independently bring the product to strength, form the slopes, or you can buy a ready-made sample with the basic characteristics of the slopes, sharpening and even polishing the blade. In the latter case, all that remains is to make a handle, attach it to the shank and go to skin the carcass.

If there is nowhere to purchase the blank, then you can start the manufacturing process from scratch. Having the necessary knowledge and skills, you should begin shaping the blade for the future knife using the same mounting method, as the most acceptable for skinning knives in view of the possibility of repairs and the ease of the resulting design.

To make DIY skinning knives“from scratch” you should first make a sketch of the future product. If you don’t have enough imagination for this, then you can use ready-made models, on which the required ratio of the blade to the handle is drawn, the shape of the blade, the necessary slopes and the method of fastening are indicated.

In order to form a future knife you need to make:

• the blade itself;
• bolster (which is a pad in the front part of the handle that serves to protect the end from redistributing loads);
• handle.

First you should start making the blade. To do this, you can use any available source material that boasts good properties and quality. It could be a file, a saw, springs, or even a cable. After all, sometimes in order to make a knife with your own hands there is not much to choose from, since melting metal at home is unrealistic.

The first stage is to give the selected material the required shape, in this case, the skinner blade. For this purpose, annealing technology is used. When the product is heated to low temperatures (250°), which is realistic in a conventional oven, followed by slow cooling. Thus, the part will lose its hardness and it can be given any shape using an electric or mechanical tool (grinder) and a drawing of the desired shape.

But with hardening the source material, the situation is even simpler. You just need to know what the original sample is made of, because hardening methods for alloy and carbon steels differ in temperature and time exposure. Hardening followed by tempering is a necessary step to give the blade the necessary hardness and strength. At home, for this stage you can use either a muffle furnace, which is easier to maintain and bring to the required temperature (700°), or a homemade forge from a tin can.

The main thing is to maintain the correct balance, because if the part overheats, it will be hopelessly damaged (it will become irreversibly brittle), but if the future blade is not hardened, the product will be very soft, but in this case the situation can be corrected by repeated, correct hardening.

There are methods for checking the readiness of a product. This is, first of all, an indicator of color. If the part has acquired a cherry-red and scarlet color, then this indicates that the hardening temperature has been reached at 730 - 800 ° C - the most optimal temperature. This means that the product must be removed to carry out the tempering procedure, which should give the overly hard blade the strength it needs.

Tempering is carried out by reheating the sample to a certain (not critical) temperature, followed by slow cooling. To do this, the part can be dipped in quenching oil, water with added salt, or left to cool in the open air (natural tempering).

After the product has acquired the necessary technical characteristics and shape, you can begin to form the knife by attaching the handle to the shank and finishing the blade.

The blade must be cleaned, polished, and sharpened. Particular attention should be paid to the sharpness of the cutting edge, because the skinning knife must cut well and evenly. To do this, you should have several types of sharpening stones (coarse and fine-grained) in your arsenal. In this process, it is important to maintain sharpening angles. For a skinner, the ideal indicator would be to form a blade of 25-30°, which is intended specifically for hunting knife models due to the fact that such a blade does not dull for a long time. If it is difficult to maintain the required degrees by eye, then you can stock up on special clamps for corners that will prevent you from bevelling the desired indicator.

A knife is a mandatory attribute of a hunter. There are universal hunting knives, with the help of which they perform such operations as finishing game, skinning, cutting carcasses, and household work.

However, multifunctional tools are always inferior to specialized ones. For example, to quickly and efficiently remove skin from an animal, it is recommended to use a skinning knife specially designed for such purposes.

Types of skinning knives

There are several types of knives used for skinning - skinners, drop-point blades and clip-point blades.

Translated from English Skin - skin, leather. Accordingly, one of the varieties of knives is called Skinner. This is a highly specialized tool used for skinning and ripping open the belly of an animal. The design of the skinner is such that it is not suitable for cutting game. The blade of such a knife cannot be used to finish off animals while hunting.

The standard blade length is from 10 to 13 cm. The blade is made rounded, sometimes without a cutting part. The blade is wide, reminiscent of sharpening. The upper part of the blade is straight, not directed towards the tip. This shape allows you to cut the skin smoothly, avoiding uneven lines.

The skinner handle is small in size. It should fit comfortably in your hand. Some models have a butt with a hook.

Drop point

The drop-point blade is wide and thick. The blade has a straight spine, and the tip is located on the middle part of the blade. Thanks to this, the drop point can also be used for finishing game, cutting hides, and separating fat. Some models are equipped with an additional blade with one-and-a-half sharpening, which makes cutting the skin easier.

Clip point

Professional Clip-point knives have a blade that is narrower and more centered than Drop-point. High piercing ability makes it easy to make punctures in the skin with such a knife, no matter how thick it is.

The notch on the blade is directed towards the tip. There is a bevel on the butt. There may or may not be sharpening on the bevel - it depends on the model. Thanks to the rounded rise of the blade, the cutting edge area is increased, which makes skin removal convenient and quick.

Criterias of choice

Skinning knives must meet the following requirements:

1. Ease of cutting the skin.
2. Sufficient blade hardness. The optimal metal hardness is 55 HRC or more.
3. Blade wear resistance.
4. Ability to resist corrosion. The process of skinning prey involves the presence of a moist, viscous environment.
5. No need for frequent sharpening.
6. Ergonomic handle. The ideal skinner handle should be straight and have no bends or grooves. The best material for the handle is wood. The types of wood used are Karelian birch, walnut, wenge and some others. When making handles for good knives, plexiglass is not used, since it is a slippery and uncomfortable material.
7. There should be no engravings or patterns on the handle or blade. Decorations are suitable for collectible knives, but they only get in the way when doing work.

GOST requirements allow the use of the following metals for the production of skinning blades:

• steel and its alloys (low-carbon, alloy or Damascus steel, damask steel);
• composite compositions (for example, steel with the addition of titanium nitride);
• other materials (including zirconium).

Some types of steel undergo additional processing, including grinding, heat treatment or burnishing.

This gives the material additional performance characteristics.

From the point of view of working features, Damascus steel is best suited for making a skinner. However, this metal is not resistant to moisture and must be thoroughly wiped dry after use.

DIY skinner

The stores have a large selection of knives for skinning prey. However, if desired, you can make a skinner yourself.

The easiest way is to purchase a blank for a knife for skins. Recommended blade material is stainless steel. Some craftsmen purchase material with “raw” hardening, and then themselves bring the steel to the required condition, forming a descent. Others buy blanks with bevels, sharpening and even a polished finish. In this case, all that remains is to make a handle, attach it to the tail section and begin skinning.

If there is no workpiece, you will have to make the skinner yourself. First, a drawing of the future knife is created. Real existing models are usually used as a model. Sometimes they decide to develop their own design. Then they adhere to the correct ratio of the length of the handle to the blade, corresponding to the tasks of the shape of the blade, and provide descents and fasteners.

• You will have to independently make the following parts of a knife for cutting skins:
• blade;
• handle.

bolster (protective cover for the handle);

Manufacturing process

The first step is to give the material the correct shape using annealing technology. The process involves heating the metal to a high temperature. This can be achieved using, for example, an oven. The purpose of heating is to reduce the hardness of the metal to give it the desired shape using a tool. The type of material affects the hardening methods. Different types of steel require different approaches: hardening times and temperature conditions differ.

At home, a muffle furnace is best suited for hardening and tempering. This device is heated to a temperature of about 700 degrees. It is also possible to use a homemade forge, for example, from a tin can. It is important to maintain a reasonable balance. Due to overheating, the part will become excessively brittle, and if the temperature is insufficient, it will become too soft. Although in the latter case the situation can be corrected by new hardening.

There are a number of markers to check the readiness of the blade. Look at the color of the heated product. If the surface has turned cherry or scarlet, the temperature has reached 730–800 degrees. The part should be removed and the tempering process should begin.

As a result of tempering, the metal will acquire the required strength. The procedure is performed by reheating to the desired (not critical) temperature with further slow cooling. For this purpose, the metal is dipped into quenching oil, salted water, or left to cool in the open air. In the latter case, the technology is called “natural release”.

As soon as the required technological characteristics of the metal and the shape of the product are achieved, it is fixed to the shank of the handle. Then they begin finishing the blade. The blade is cleaned, polished and sharpened. The main attention is paid to the sharpness of the cutting part. For sharpening, sharpening stones (with small and large grains) are used. During the sharpening process, the sharpening angles are observed: for a skinner, the optimal angle is 25–30 degrees. It is recommended to use special corner clamps; they will allow you to maintain the desired angle, rather than working by eye.

The formed blade is ground using a stone with a fine-grained surface. The sharpness of the blade is checked as follows: if a falling sheet of newspaper is cut, the knife is sharpened well. It is suitable for working with skins.

Features of skinning different animals

There are specific features of skinning work depending on the type of animal. For a bear, the option of skinning “flat” is better. However, if the task is to create a stuffed animal standing on its hind legs, it is better to use the “from the back” method.

In relation to medium-sized predators (wolf, lynx), the “flat”, “from the back” and “stocking” methods are used. If you need to create a carpet from skin, use only the “layer” method.

The skin of small predators and rodents is removed with a “stocking”. But for working with porcupine skin, the only method suitable is “with a layer”.

For ungulates, four options are used:

1. Removing the skin to make a trophy head.
2. Removing the skin from the back to create a complete effigy.
3. The “layer-by-layer” method for making a fake wild boar.
4. Combined skinning. Used when it comes to large ungulates.

Methods for skinning game

You will need a well-sharpened skinner and a prepared workplace. You need to start skinning as soon as possible after shooting the animal. After just a few hours, the irreversible process of deterioration of the skin begins. Degradation occurs especially quickly in the armpits and groin. Fermentation processes in the gastrointestinal tract lead to bloating. As a result, the skin in this area becomes greenish and unsuitable for further use.

The skin should not be left in direct sunlight. You should not cover the animal with plastic wrap unless it is for transport to a taxidermist. Polyethylene does not allow air to pass through. Deprived of oxygen, the skin quickly begins to rot.

The carcass should be stored in a dry, clean and cool place. It is advisable to ventilate it well.

It is recommended to place the carcass on dry ground, grass, hay or boards. However, pine boards should be avoided as the resin will ruin the hide. Cotton or other natural fabrics are also used as lining.

To prevent the skin from deteriorating in the most sensitive areas - the armpits and groin - it is recommended to secure the paws of the prey at some distance from the carcass. Ropes are used for this.

The head and limbs should not be pressed to the body. Otherwise, rigor mortis will greatly complicate manipulation of the animal carcass.

Removing the skin "in a layer"

The “layer” or “carpet” method is used in relation to the skins of bears, beavers, moles, badgers, gophers, water rats, and pinnipeds. Skins from ungulates are removed in the same way.

The main incision is made from the middle of the lower lip to the tail. The cut line runs along the middle part of the ventral side of the carcass. Moles, water rats and beavers are skinned with one cut, cutting off their paws and tails. In the case of marine animals, the paws and tails are left behind.

Incisions are possible along the back sides of the front paws through the middle part of the chest - from the sole or hand of one of the paws to a similar area of ​​the other paw. An incision is also made between the feet and the hocks of the hind legs. The incision is made along the back of the joints through the rump.

Having made the main cuts, they begin to gradually separate the skin from the carcass. First, remove it from the paws, moving towards the spine. The skin is completely removed from the head. It is removed from the paws along with the claws only on bears. In badgers and marmots, the skin from the paws is completely removed, but the claws are left. Beavers and ground squirrels are skinned at the level of the hands and heels.

The tail, divided by a longitudinal section, is left in all animals except the beaver. His skin is cut along the fur line.

Removing the skin “in a layer” is carried out with a sharp knife. As a result of careless actions, it is easy to pierce the animal’s belly, contaminating the skin with intestinal contents. This situation can be avoided by using small blades with a concave blade and a sharpening that does not reach the tip by about a centimeter. The end of their blade is thickened and the edges are rounded.

A knife with a sharp end is used to create a short cut in the skin in the lower jaw area. A knife blade with a blunt end is inserted into the resulting cut and continue cutting further - right up to the tail. The blunt end of the knife goes between the skin and the carcass, without spoiling them, and the blade directed towards the skin makes a cut.

Skinning "from the back"

This option is more complicated than the previous one. However, this has virtually no effect on the quality of the manufactured dummy.

Work order:

1. We make the main incision on the dorsal part - from the base of the tail. The incision is indented from the center of the back in any direction. We try to cut as evenly as possible, moving along the line of the spine to the head. We complete the incision near the occipital region of the animal.
2. Next, we return to the beginning of the cut and cut the skin from the side of the tail towards the belly. We finish the incision 6–7 cm from the anus.
3. We make cuts along the hind legs, as when removing the skin “in a layer”. We go around the paw pads along the back side - a centimeter from them.
4. On the front legs, we cut the skin just above the elbow joints - along the inner part of the shoulder. Then we move along the inner side of the forearm.
5. We remove the skin. We take special care in the armpit and groin areas. It is easy to damage the skin here due to the abundance of fat and skin folds.
6. We remove the skin from the shoulder girdle using the “stocking” method.

If the carcass has begun the process of rigor mortis or the animal is too large, skinning with a “stocking” often becomes impracticable. In this case, we increase the cuts along the front legs: we go from the elbow joints along the lower part of the shoulder blade to the cut in the center of the back. Thus, we implement the “layer” method, but from the back.

Skinning with a stocking

We make the main cut from foot to foot, from the outer edge between the pads of the toes. Going around the inside of the paw pad, we go to the center of the heel, to the popliteal cavity. Next, we move to the second paw between the tail and the anus and repeat the steps described above in reverse order.

On the front limbs we cut, as when removing the skin “from the back” - from the elbow joints to the hands.

The next step is to remove the skin from the feet and toes of the animal's hind paws. After this, we hang the carcass by the hind limbs. To do this, we pass the rope through the hole between the ankle and the Achilles tendon.

After freeing the hind legs and tail, the skin can be removed from the carcass without any problems. It is pulled together by grasping the edges and pulling downwards. However, if there are difficulties, there is no need to be too zealous so as not to damage the skin. In this case, remove it little by little - in a circle, while helping with a knife.

Trophy heads

Some hunters take on the task of making not only full-fledged stuffed animals, but also trophy heads for interior decoration. The trophy head refers to the head and the area from the tip of the nose to the shoulder girdle.

The cutting pattern behind the forelimbs is applied to all types of hunted animals, regardless of size.

In the case of large ungulates, a cut is used along the back side of the skin with further bifurcation towards the horns.

From small ungulates, such as roe deer, skinning is carried out using the “stocking” method. The head is separated from the carcass along with the skin. In this case, only a small section of the skin in the area of ​​the shoulder blades is cut off. You can also leave the heads of wild boars and elk in this form.

Note! For the operation of making a trophy head to be successful, the temperature regime (cool air) and the efficiency of transferring the working material into the hands of the taxidermist are important.

Birds

After harvesting, the birds inspect the carcass for serious damage. If there are none, a piece of cotton wool is placed in the beak. Next, the beak, head and neck are wrapped with toilet paper. The already wrapped neck and head are tucked under the wing. Several sheets of paper are placed under the second wing. The wings and tail are pressed to the body. The bird is wrapped in paper, being extremely careful not to crush the plumage.

The packaged carcass is lowered, tail up, into a large plastic bag. Several fir branches are also placed there. Due to the presence of antibacterial phytoncides in fir, rotting is slowed down.

Note! If there are bleeding wounds on the carcass, they are covered with a piece of cotton wool or toilet paper.

Store the bird in a cool place. At 15 degrees above zero, a black grouse carcass remains suitable for further processing by a taxidermist for up to a day. Game with a damaged belly is preserved for much less time - several hours.

Fish

The fish are made into whole stuffed animals and trophy heads. To create a stuffed fish, it is recommended to give the whole fish to a taxidermist. The body, including the fins, must not be damaged. To deliver the fish intact, the fins are pressed against the body. Along one of them - the tail - place a piece of cardboard or fiberboard. Next, the fish is wrapped in one or two layers of cling film. It can be replaced with a plastic bag, and the previously described lining with a flat stick.

To create a trophy head, it is cut off so as not to damage the fins. Need skin reserve behind the head. If there is no taxidermist nearby and there is nowhere to freeze the fish, remove the entrails from the cut area. The esophagus and gills are left in place. The head will be stored for 4–5 days if the space freed from the entrails is generously salted. Salt is placed not only at the incision site, but also in the mouth, as well as under the gills.

Making a skinner is a difficult task to perform. It requires an understanding of the characteristics of steel and skills in working with tools. However, if you have the knowledge and follow the instructions exactly, anyone can make a skinning knife.

A hunter's complete arsenal is never complete without a specially designed knife for skinning the trophy. Experts in their field will never go hunting without a high-quality and reliable assistant. This means that a tool such as a knife must be selected correctly and strictly in accordance with its intended purpose.
There are knives whose purpose is solely for skinning, cutting up carcasses or finishing off prey. And there are multi-purpose specimens. It is clear that a kitchen, combat or professional knife is not suitable for hunting.

Types of knives for skinning.
It should be noted that the primary difference is not in the general appearance or material of the knife, but in the blade. This is exactly what should glide smoothly and not spoil the skin of the resulting trophy.

The first and main type of knife, the purpose of which is skinning, is considered skinner. This shape of the knife blade ensures smooth, minimally traumatic skinning of prey. The skinner is intended for this purpose only, and any use other than separating fat from the hide may cause damage to the hunting tool. This knife is equipped with a relatively short blade, 10–13 cm. Despite the length, the skinner has a fairly wide blade. The upper edge of the knife is straight and does not decrease towards the tip. In some cases, the blade may be missing a point. The handle of the knife is also small; for convenience, it is made the size of a palm. However, some models are equipped with a full handle. This is a personal choice of the hunter and his individual convenience. The butt of the skinner is sometimes equipped with a skinning hook.

The second type of knife often used for skinning is considered drop point. Unlike a skinner, such a knife can be used both for skinning and for cutting a carcass or separating fat from the skin. This knife is characterized by a lowered butt line. The tip is on the axis, thanks to which, when pressed, the drop point cuts well and also stabs perfectly. In some models of knives, to facilitate easy entry into the material being cut, a “false blade” or a second full blade with one-and-a-half sharpening is made.

The third universal type of skinning knife is a tool with a blade like clip point. The butt of such a blade has a bevel, the blade is narrower, and the tip has an awl-like appearance. There may or may not be a sharpening on the bevel of the butt. The rounded rise of the blade allows you to increase the length of the cutting edge of the tool, which makes skinning easier. This knife will also be useful for cutting a carcass and other ordinary hunter manipulations.

What to look for when buying a skinning knife?
When choosing a skinning knife, pay attention to the following factors:
- a hunter’s knife must be wear-resistant;
- maintains sharpness well;
- the tool implies quality and practicality;
- the material of the blade is of great importance. The ideal option is Damascus steel (it should be protected from moisture and dampness, and wiped dry after finishing work);
- the handle should be straight, without bends or deep grooves. Preferably made of wood - the warmest and most natural material.
When choosing a skinning knife, you should remember that this particular tool is a kind of extension of the hunter’s hand. Often patterns and various engravings are carved on the handle, but such tools will not be ergonomic due to the numerous protrusions. These knives are best added to your collection. Inexperienced or novice hunters often directly compare the length of the blade with the practical skills of the owner. In fact, everything is absolutely wrong; on the contrary, it is the skill of using a short blade that is an indicator of the hunter’s level.

However, what to do, you need to get dirty and divide the meat. What a modern hunter usually does is to chop the carcass into pieces with an ax along with the skin, and that’s the cutting for you.

Nowadays, would-be hunters mostly butcher wild boar and elk, especially in winter. However, this is not all very good, and the skin is a very important trophy, since many hunters mainly hunt for it. And here, whether you want it or not, you have to become a skinner. If you like to ride, as they say, you’ll have to drag the carcass to the base without a sled, or, nevertheless, remove the skin and cut the carcass into pieces on the spot.

No, You can, of course, delegate this work to your family, motivating that I, supposedly, got the beast, and what you do with it is your concern. But transporting a whole carcass home is sometimes difficult for car owners, and in a city apartment you can’t especially bother with cutting up a carcass.

So you either have to do it in the garage or at the base. And then as it turns out - you just need meat, we remove the skin as necessary, and if you need the skin as well, then it doesn’t matter - either you married well, or you take off the skin yourself. And what is good and what is bad is different for everyone.

Those who are richer can entrust this matter to the rangers for a certain amount of money., and if you go hunting yourself, and you don’t want to spend extra money, then again you’re in a situation where you’ll have to work hard yourself.

The Internet is full of those who want to laugh at those who don’t know how to skin or are just learning how to do it, so there’s no need to know how to do it - there are plenty of photographs. All that remains is to find out how to do it correctly. “Country man must survey” is true if you are a country man. But it’s not worth skinning like this.

Removing and processing animal skins for making hunting trophies

There are quite a few options for shooting, depending on the type of animal and what you plan to do.

Predators and rodents

If, for example, you have caught a large predator (a bear) and do not know whether a carpet or stuffed animal will be made from it, then the option of filming the skin “in layers” is suitable. If you want to make a stuffed animal standing on its hind legs, then the option of shooting the skin “from the back” is more suitable. For other types of stuffed bear, both options are suitable.

If you have hunted a medium-sized predator (wolf, lynx), then to make a carpet you need to remove the skin “flat on”, and for making a stuffed animal, shooting “flat”, “from the back”, or “stocking” is suitable.

For skinning small predators (fox, raccoon, badger, wolverine, polecat, marten, etc.), as well as for shooting rodents (babybak, squirrel, beaver, hare), it is better to use the “stocking” shooting option, as it is the most universal . For skinning a porcupine, only the “flat” option is suitable.

The removal of skins for making a trophy head from predatory animals will be discussed separately.

Ungulates

For ungulates, there are four main options: shooting the skin to make a trophy head, shooting “from the back” - for making a whole stuffed animal from small and medium-sized ungulates, “flat” - for making a stuffed animal from a wild boar, and a combined shooting option - for a whole stuffed animal from large ungulates .

Shooting the skin "layer"

This method is used, as a rule, for skinning large predators, although it is also applicable for other animals, especially if you intend to make a “carpet” from your trophy.

To ensure that the shooting process does not take a lot of time and effort, you need to have a well-sharpened tool on hand and prepare a place to work.

The sooner you start removing the hide after harvesting, the better your chances of keeping the hide in perfect condition. Within a few hours after shooting, and in the summer or when shooting an animal during or immediately after feeding, the skin begins to deteriorate. In the armpit and groin areas, when the animal lies on its side, its body cools down very slowly, and the skin begins to rot. Due to the ongoing fermentation process, heat and gases are released in the animal's stomach and intestines, causing the belly to swell and the belly skin to turn green. In such places, the fur almost always comes out during the dressing of the skin, and in some cases even before dressing.

Of course, during hunting it is not always possible to skin an animal immediately after shooting. However, it is important to remember that your trophy will only look great if you try to process and preserve it at all stages of working with it, adhering to the tips outlined in this article.

If you do not have the opportunity to remove the skin immediately after harvesting the trophy, try to protect your prey as much as possible from exposure to heat and moisture.

Do not leave the animal lying in the sun. Do not place it on cellophane film - without access to oxygen, the skin will begin to rot, not to mention that this film will not allow the carcass to cool. You can place the trophy on any natural surface - on the ground (but not on wet or heated by the sun), dry grass, boards (except pine - the resin greatly stains the fur), hay or several layers of cotton fabric, matting or canvas.

The main thing is that the surface on which your trophy lies is as clean, dry and not heated as possible. It is better if the animal lies in a cool, well-ventilated, shaded place. During the hunt, most likely, it will not be possible to comply with these conditions, and then everything will depend on how quickly you can process the trophy.

To avoid damage to the skin in the armpit and groin areas, you need to secure the animal’s paws at a distance from the body and from each other, for example, by stretching them on ropes. It's even better if the entire animal is suspended in the air. It is also important to place the limbs and head of the captured trophy, not pressed against the body, for the reason that when rigor mortis sets in, it is quite problematic to move the limbs apart. The animal's muscles can become so stiff that often the bones of the limbs break - as a result, you can not only pierce the skin with the sharp edges of a broken bone, but also injure yourself.

But even if you take all of the above measures, it is best to start filming as early as possible.

When starting to remove the skin, try to position the animal's body so that it is convenient for you to work with it. The less tired you are when processing your trophy, the better quality your work will be. If you do not have an assistant, secure the animal's paws by stretching them to the sides and tying them with a rope (Fig. 1).

This way, you will ensure that when working with the skin you will have a minimum number of hard-to-reach places for shooting.

Start shooting by cutting the skin on the sternum (Fig. 2). To do this, push the fur to the sides until the skin appears. Make an incision that cuts through the skin, but not deeper, otherwise blood may flow, which will stain the fur and interfere with further work. Then insert the tip of the knife under the skin with the blade facing up and cut the skin towards the animal's head using a knife motion from the inside out, constantly straightening the fur to the sides so as not to cut it off. Try to make the cut as even as possible. The cut needs to be completed between the bases of the jaws, at ear level.

During filming, the animal's fur fluffs up at the edges of the cut and becomes stained with blood. As a result, a number of problems arise. Fur stuck to the meat makes it difficult to see the edges of the cuts clearly. If it is not moved to the side, there is a risk of continuing the cut in the wrong place where it is necessary. Or the fur gets under the knife and you cut it off, which affects the appearance of the trophy.

All this can be avoided by wetting the fur along the edges of the cut with salt water (100 g of table salt per 1 liter of water, preferably cooled boiled water). It is more convenient to do this with a plastic bottle with a spray, although a brush, a piece of cotton fabric or foam rubber may be suitable.

Next, lift the skin to the sides, pulling back the edges and inserting your hand under the skin (in many freshly hunted animals, the skin is easily separated from the meat almost without the help of a knife). Before continuing the cut from the sternum to the abdomen, try to separate the skin from the walls of the abdominal cavity with your hands so as not to accidentally cut the animal's belly. Having brought the incision almost to the anus, go around it to one side and continue the incision to the tip of the tail. Also, on one side, go around the genital organ and scrotum. Never leave fur covering the animal's genitals on the carcass.

Remove the tail using a knife. If the animal’s tail can be easily removed with a “stocking” (in animals such as fox, marten, etc.), then it is more convenient to remove it at the last moment, when the skin has been removed from the entire animal, but before removing the head, by pinching the skin with your fingers and pulling out the vertebrae . But after the tail is removed in this way, be sure to open it with a knife from the underside to the very tip. Try to ensure that the cut comes strictly from the bottom. This is necessary in order to subsequently thoroughly salt, degrease and flesh the tail. It is unlikely that you want to have a trophy with a mangy tail.

On the hind limbs, start the incision from a point located a few centimeters from the anus closer to the abdomen (between the anus and scrotum in males). Next, make the incision to the popliteal cavity along the inner side of the thigh.

If you are going to make a carpet from the skin, then make the cut to the center of the heel and further along the bottom of the foot to the skin pad on the animal’s paw. Cut the pillow in the middle almost to the toes and then make cuts to the sides towards the sides of the paw. In this case, the incisions should be made between the pads of the toes and the ball of the foot along the hairline (Fig. 3).

If you intend to make a stuffed animal out of this animal, then make the cut from the knee area not to the heel, but to a point located between the heel and ankle, on the inside of the paw, but not along the cavity, but closer to the heel. Do not cut the pad on the foot, but go around it along the inside of the paw, leaving a fur edging on the pad about 1 cm wide. And then between the pad of the foot and the pads of the toes along the hairline of the skin to the outside of the paw (Fig. 4).

On the forelimbs, start the incisions from the middle between the top of the shoulder and the armpit. Then make a cut along the inside of the paw, closer to the elbow, then to the middle of the hand pad.

The skin on the hand is cut according to the same principle as on the feet, depending on what you want to make from the animal skin (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).

After this, you need to remove the skin from the animal's paws. To do this, pull back the edge of the skin and use a knife to separate the skin from the meat, starting from where the longitudinal cut (from head to tail) meets the cuts on the limbs. Then remove the skin from the paws on both sides of the cut. Having separated one of the paws from the skin, bend the paw at the joint. Now, fixing the paw in the joint area and pulling back the skin, you get to the fingers.

Remove the fingers from the skin to the last joint, leaving in the skin only the last phalanx of the finger on which the claw is located (Fig. 5). The pads on the fingers are not cut.

By removing two paws, for example the left front and back, you remove the skin from the back of the animal. Now it will be easier to remove the remaining two limbs.

Lastly, remove the skin from the animal's head. This is one of the most difficult and responsible moments. The skin is removed from the head using a “stocking”. Having reached the base of the ears, separate the ear from the skull, cutting with a knife closer to the skull so that the entire ear cartilage remains on the skin. Next, continue to remove the skin with a “stocking”, cutting with a knife as close to the skull as possible, especially in the eye area, where the skin is closest to the bone. In order for the eyelids to remain intact, you need to pull the skin away from the skull and, as soon as the back of the eye socket is exposed, cut the skin not along the surface of the skull, but by pointing the tip of the knife inside the eye socket. When the eyeball appears, pull back the skin of the eyelid and trim it near the eyeball itself. If everything is done correctly, you will get a cut through which the inner surface of the eyelids will be visible. Insert your finger into the resulting hole and, pulling the skin away from the eye, cut close to the eyeball. Once the eyelids are separated from the skull, do not rush to remove quickly. The lacrimal gland is located in the corner of the eye. The skin in this place is very thin and is attached close to the bone, so you need to separate it, cutting almost along the bone. At the same time, you should not press hard on the knife, scratching the skull, if you later expect to make a trophy from the animal’s skull.

Having separated the skin down to the molars, cut it closer to the skull so that the teeth become visible in the cut.

Next, separate the lips, trimming them as close to the skull as possible. First, remove the lower lip, then, lifting the skin almost to the nostrils, separate the cartilage of the nose from the skull, leaving it on the skin of the animal. As a result, the entire soft part of the chin, lower and upper lips, as well as the nose, along with the nasal cartilage, must be separated from the skull. With a certain skill, you will be able to remove the skin from the skull in such a way that there will be a minimum of “cuts” of meat left on it. But this skill is acquired with extensive experience in high-quality processing of raw materials, as a result of which you will learn to visually and tactfully determine that thin boundary between the skin itself and the muscle or subcutaneous fat layers, along which (ideally) the cut should pass.

While the experience is not so great, it is easier when shooting to leave more cuts on the skin, which can later be removed by flaying, but at the same time avoid numerous cuts to the skin.

Shooting the skin from the back

This method of shooting is a little more labor-intensive than the previous one, but it ultimately has a very significant effect on the quality of the stuffed animal.

Make the main incision along the back, from the base of the tail, slightly stepping back from the center line of the back in any direction; Trying to make the cut as even as possible, move along the spine to the head, ending at the back of the animal's head.

Then return to the beginning of the incision and continue from the side of the tail and anus towards the abdomen, ending 5-7 cm after the anus.

Make the cuts on the hind legs in exactly the same way as when shooting “in a layer”, going around the pads of the paws along the inside, 1 cm from the border of the pad.

Start making cuts on the front legs just above the elbow along the inside of the shoulder and then along the inside of the forearm, similar to the previous shooting option.

After this, you can begin skinning, taking special care in the armpit and groin areas, where it is quite easy to mistake the folds of fat and skin and cut the skin.

Remove the skin from the shoulders with a “stocking”, otherwise the shooting is practically no different from the previous method.

If the animal has developed rigor mortis or you do not have an assistant, or the trophy is very large and removing the front paws with a “stocking” is difficult, then it is quite acceptable to continue making cuts on the front paws from the elbow along the lower edge of the shoulder blade to the central cut on the back, actually removing the skin “in a layer” ", but from the back.

Shooting the skin with a “stocking”

Make the main cut from one foot to the other, from the outer edge between the pads of the toes and the pad of the paw to the inner. Then, going around the inside of the paw pad, to the center of the heel, to the popliteal cavity and, moving to the second paw between the tail and the anus, repeat everything in the reverse order.

On the front legs, make the cuts in the same way as when shooting “from the back,” from the elbow to the hand.

Next, remove the skin from the feet and toes of the animal's hind legs. Now you can hang the carcass by the hind legs by threading the rope through the puncture between the ankle and the Achilles vein. This will greatly facilitate your further work on removing the skin.

With this option, after you free the hind legs and tail of the animal, the skin from the carcass is removed quite easily. In fact, you can simply pull it off the carcass by grasping the edges of the skin and pulling it down to the armpits. Try not to overdo it. If the skin is difficult to pull off, it is better not to risk it, but to gradually remove it from the carcass, lifting it in a circle with a knife.

A. Salov

***

Enduring the hardships and vagaries of nature, the hunter spends day after day achieving his goal - to catch the animal. And when the work of participants in a collective hunt, many kilometers of a forest road or endless hours of sitting in a storage shed are rewarded with success, the eternal question arises: “What to do?” The trophy has been obtained, but it needs to be properly processed and preserved. If the shot animal is not large, and you have the opportunity to transfer it to a specialist taxidermist in the next few hours, then this is exactly what you should do. When the size of the animal does not allow it to be transported freely, it is necessary to remove the skin. As a rule, during commercial hunts there is a special person - Skinner, whose responsibilities include processing and conservation of your trophy. However, such a service is only of high quality in hunting areas in regions where a large number of hunts are carried out with the participation of foreign hunters, for example in Kamchatka. In our country, the role of skinner is often performed by a “pro” of huntsmen or sympathizers. The result of their work is cut off eyelids, lips, torn ears, improperly salted and subsequently peeling areas, as well as other, sometimes irreparable, defects. Therefore, never use the services of people you are not confident in. Below we will try to explain how to deliver the trophy safely, and some of the basics of the initial processing of the trophy for making a taxidermy product.

1.Large mammals: Of course, we will talk about the bear, the largest predator in the Urals. The specificity is that the hunt for this animal begins quite early, in the summer, when the average daily temperature is quite high. In such conditions, proper preservation is especially important. First you need to decide what product you want to see from the animal you hunted. If it’s a stuffed animal, then first of all try to take measurements, at least two indicated in the figure (1. length of the body from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, 2. from the inner corner of the eye to the tip of the nose.). If the animal is not large, then you can remove the skin using the cut pattern for making a stuffed animal, with this method the main cut runs along the back, above the tail it is divided into two cuts running along the caudal (back) side of the hind legs. Two auxiliary incisions are also made on the forelimbs running from the elbow to the hand along the inside. If necessary, these incisions can be extended above the elbow. We recommend this method of shooting for subsequent production of a stuffed animal, but it is quite labor-intensive, especially when a large bear is caught. Therefore, you can remove the skin layer by layer. There is no need to cut the genitals of the animal, making the main incision along the midline of the abdomen, when the skin is removed obviously for a stuffed animal; for the subsequent making of a carpet, the integrity of the genitals does not matter.

If in the near future it is possible to deliver the removed skin to a taxidermist, then the head, hands of the front legs and feet of the hind legs can be left uncovered. In cold weather (<+5о) время безопасного хранения шкуры в таком виде около суток. В теплую (+18о) не более 3-5 часов. Не стоит солить такие шкуры, так как из оставшихся лап и головы будет излишний рассол, лучше обильно проложите шкуру пихтовым лапником. Ни в коем случае не укладывайте шкуру сразу в полиэтиленовый мешок, сначала в тканевый, а потом в полиэтиленовый. Ткань, впитывая влагу и кровь, предотвратит быстрое запревание эпидермиса, а полиэтилен сохранит салон вашего автомобиля.

When it is not possible to quickly deliver the skin to a taxidermist, it is necessary to remove the hands, feet and head, and salt the skin. Here you need to be especially careful, if your skinner has a Crocodile Dundee knife in his hands, then this does not bode well; you need a more modest tool. A lanceolate, sharp knife, with a comfortable handle, and a blade length of about 12 centimeters, can be easily purchased at a hunting store. Have one of your own, it will come in handy.

On the hands and feet, an incision is made along the border of the callus, the fingers are carefully turned one after the other and separated from the skin along the joint between the last and penultimate phalanx. Thus, the last phalanx along with the claw remains on the skin, and so on for all twenty fingers. You must be careful during this operation, as you can easily cut the skin in the sinuses between the fingers.

When skinning a head, you need to pay attention to the following aspects. Firstly, the ears - you need to separate the ear cartilage from the skull as close to the skull as possible, and secondly, you must try not to cut the eyelids, they should remain on the skin. Thirdly, the lips - they also need to be left on the skin. And lastly, the nose - the nasal cartilage of a bear is large enough to rot. The proposed figure shows the place where the “meat skull” is separated from the skin; when cutting the cartilage, be careful not to cut off the nose itself.

After the skull is separated, it is necessary to finish processing the head skin. It is necessary to turn out the ear cartilages by carefully separating them from the skin of the back of the ear; a correctly turned ear has one hole - in the cartilage, in the place where it was separated from the skull (see picture). Carefully cut and turn out the mucous membranes of the lips and eyelids.

Afterwards the skin must be salted. For salting, coarse salt that does not contain iodine is suitable; the amount of salt should be quite large. For example, an average bear with a body length of 160 cm requires at least seven kilograms of salt. The skin should be spread with the skin side up and salted over the entire surface, rubbing the salt into the skin. Fingers and hands are filled with salt, and salt is also poured into the ears that are turned back. Pay attention to the edges of the cut; they may turn under and the salt will not get there.

A properly removed, processed and salted skin gives you some guarantee of its safety. However, try to transfer the skin to a taxidermist as quickly as possible, shifting the worries and responsibility for further safety to him. Don’t wait until the skin reminds you of itself with an unpleasant smell in the garage or on the balcony.

2. Medium and small sized mammals: To make a carpet from a wolf, wild boar, or lynx, a cut pattern similar to the pattern for skinning a bear is suitable. The other requirements for processing and preservation described above also remain the same (the paws must be removed to the last phalanx, the ear cartilages must be turned out, the eyelids must be kept on the skin, the mucous membranes of the lips must be opened, etc.). The procedure for removing the skin from the back onto a stuffed animal is somewhat different. The main cut is not connected to the auxiliary cuts on the hind legs, and the cuts themselves on the hind legs are much smaller.

Hunting for wolves, wild boars and lynx is carried out in the cold season. Therefore, the head and lower parts of the limbs can be left in the skin, simply by freezing it. Such skins do not need to be salted. When there is a strong minus outside (<-20o), рысь или не крупного волка можно заморозить целиком, но учтите, не следует хранить добытый трофей в таком виде, заморозка лишь позволит не мараться в крови, и доставить зверя, в течение ближайших полутора - двух суток, таксидермисту.

It is also advisable to bring whole foxes, beavers, raccoon dogs and smaller animals to the taxidermist. If you do not have the opportunity to do this, or you yourself want to practice skinning, you can only note that to make a stuffed animal, the skin from a fox, raccoon dog is removed in the same way as from a wolf, and from beavers, martens, squirrels through one cut, running along the spine from the base of the tail to the middle of the back (see picture).

3.Trophy heads: In addition to carpets and stuffed animals, trophy heads are also made from animal skins, which decorate the walls of hunting interiors. In modern taxidermy, the concept of a trophy head means a full-fledged product in which the animal is exhibited from the tip of the nose to the shoulder girdle. Severed heads resting their ears against the wall are not an aesthetically pleasing sight. And to avoid this, you need to leave the right amount of skin behind your head. The cutting diagram shown in the figure (behind the forelimbs) is suitable for making a trophy head from any type of animal. These cuts (along the back side of the skin with subsequent bifurcation towards the base of the horns) are necessary only for removing the skin from the heads of horned animals. Roe deer are often skinned with a “stocking”; during such shooting, you can simply separate the head from the carcass, leaving it in the skin. Then you will not need to remove the skin from the head by making the indicated cut, but only cut off the required amount of skin behind the head (hereinafter referred to as the shoulder blades). You can leave the head uncovered, with a large supply of skin, on an elk or wild boar. The main thing is that it is cool, and the transfer of the material (skin) to the taxidermist is quick.

Birds: Birds, like small mammals, are best handed over to a taxidermist whole. One of the conservation features of birds is their feather cover. Feathers are very easy to damage. Therefore, if you decide to deliver a bird for making a taxidermy product, then you don’t need to throw it haphazardly into a bag, then into the trunk, and put a bunch of things on top. The result of such transportation will be a kind of lump of blood and feathers with broken and bent wings and tail.

After you have caught the bird, inspect it for any major damage. If not, then the best way to transport it would be to put cotton wool or toilet paper in the beak and wrap the beak, head and neck with toilet paper. Tuck the wrapped neck and head under the wing, place several layers of paper under the second wing, press the wings to the body, fold the tail, wrap the entire bird in paper (for example, newspaper), being careful not to wrinkle the tail and ends of the wings. The wrapped bird can be placed in a fairly large plastic bag, with the tail facing up. For better preservation, it’s a good idea to add a few fir branches to the same bag; the phytoncides they contain inhibit bacteria that cause rotting. It is better to store poultry packaged in this way in a cool place. If it’s warm outside and your car is parked in the sun, you don’t need to keep the hunted game in a heated cabin. Duck, hazel grouse or grouse packed and arranged with fir can lie for a day in a shady place at an air temperature of +150C. It is also necessary to take into account the degree of damage to the bird; if there are bleeding injuries, they must be covered by inserting a piece of cotton wool into the wound or covering it with toilet paper. Game with a damaged belly is stored for a shorter period of time. During the cold season, hunted birds can be frozen by pre-packaging them. In any case, transfer the obtained trophy to the taxidermist as quickly as possible.

Often hunters, while on the hunting grounds, encounter birds of prey and owls and try to kill them. Remember - these are very small species, many of them are in the Red Book. During the cold season, owls and hawks gather near roads and populated areas in search of mice, rats, pigeons and jackdaws. This creates a misleading impression of their numbers. Every time you aim at an owl, remember that our children have a real chance in the near future to hear their voice only on CDs and see them on DVDs.

Fish: Both whole stuffed fish and trophy heads are made from fish; to make a stuffed fish, it is better to deliver the whole fish to the taxidermist, while trying not to damage the fins. To do this, press the dorsal, lateral, pectoral and anal fins to the body, and place a lining made of thick cardboard or fiberboard along the folded caudal fin. Wrap all fish in cling film. If it is not possible to do this, pack the fish in any other available way, just take care of the safety of the fins, for example, the fish can be wrapped in a regular bag, placing a straight stick of greater length along its body. If you intend to travel far for a trophy, from where delivery of a whole fish in a short time will be impossible, then consult with a taxidermist on how best to deliver the trophy. To make a fish head, you need a supply of skin behind the head. The head must be cut off along the indicated line without damaging the fins. If it is not possible to freeze the head or quickly give it to a taxidermist, you need to remove the insides and muscles from the cut side, leaving the esophagus and gills. To store the head for four to five days, carefully salt the part freed from the entrails and muscles, fill the mouth and the spaces under the gill covers with salt, then pour the salt into a bag and put the head there. The head preserved in this way should be stored in the coolest place available, and handed over to a taxidermist as soon as possible.

HOW TO STORE A HIDE - FROM HISTORICAL SOURCES

No matter how well the skin is removed, it can soon deteriorate when lying around if special measures are not taken to store it.

Freshly skinned skin is called steam room For a tanner, there is no better hide than a steaming one, especially if it is not stained with blood and dirt. But it is rarely possible to immediately send the skin to a factory or tan it yourself. And when lying, the steamed skin quickly deteriorates. At first it shrinks, wrinkles, and becomes horny. Then she starts to warm up. Her hair is falling off. In the end she completely rots. Therefore, something has to be done to ensure that the skin is preserved without damage.

The best thing is to salt the skin, and such wet-salty skins are considered the most expensive. Although you need to buy salt for salting, you will then earn more money for the skin and more than cover the money you paid for the salt.

Before salting the skin, you need to clean it thoroughly. Where the cattle are poorly looked after and kept in the mud, there is often a lot of manure on the skin that sticks to the wool, the so-called bulk. The pile spoils the hide and prevents the tanner from working. We must take care that it is not present on live cattle, and it is better to keep the cattle in the stable. If the peeled skin turns out to be in bulk, then before salting you should try to remove it. To do this, it is convenient to place the skin on a block, and where there is none, then on an inclined board. The pile is carefully upholstered with a wooden spatula or a blunt scraper, but certainly in such a way as not to scratch or tear the fresh skin. If the pile has stuck so tightly that it cannot be knocked off, then you need to sprinkle salt over the fur in those places on the skin where the pile remains.

Cleaned skin it should be salted like this.

The salt is taken fine, not buzun. For each skin, from 8 pounds per pound of skin weight is taken in winter and up to 12 pounds in summer. For thin skins, use less salt, and for thick skins, more salt, but it is unreasonable to take less than what is said here. You'll spare a penny's worth of salt, but you'll waste the skin worth rubles. Therefore, for a large bull hide, you will have to take from 14 to 16 pounds in winter, and from 20 to 25 pounds of salt in summer; a cow hide will cost 8-12 pounds in winter, and 12-15 pounds in summer.

The skin is placed in a clean place on a spread, with the wool on the ground or floor. It is good to put some kind of lining underneath the skin so that the phlegm can drain from it. The entire skin is evenly sprinkled with salt from the inside: it is useful to rub the salt with your hand so that it sticks well to the skin. If the skin is properly salted, then after three days solid salt will be visible on it. If all its salt has been absorbed, then you need to add fresh salt. When the entire skin is evenly salted, bend the head and part of the skin at the tail inward, as well as the floors at the edges. Then the head is sprinkled with salt and all the thick parts are also sprinkled with salt along the coat.

Now they put the entire skin into a bundle. It must be folded according to the rules. At first the fourth part of the skin is folded inwards, starting from the head, then the right and left flaps are folded towards the middle, then the entire skin is folded along the ridge, then rolled up, starting from the head, into a bundle and tied with a tail or twine.

After five days, the package is dismantled. The sputum is allowed to drain, lightly salted and rolled up again as the first time. If everything is done according to the rules, the skin will last a long time and will not dry out.

When, say, a collective collects a lot of skins, it can be salted in riots or piles.

The first skin is salted on the floor on a spread, as just described. Then the entire skin is folded around so that the head, paws and flanks lie inside, and the entire skin around becomes like a saucer. All bent parts are sprinkled with salt along the fur, the head is especially carefully salted. Then they place the second skin so that the head does not rest on the head of the first skin, but next to it. Everything is done as with the first skin. On the second one place the third, fourth, fifth and so on in the same way, salting everything well each time. The heads will lie in a circle, one after the other. Up to two hundred skins can be folded into such a riot. The brine in the riot should not flow to one side, which can happen if the skins are not distributed correctly.

If the skin was * poorly salted, then it will prohibit. When the skin begins to rot, the first thing that will begin to come off is hair. From time to time you need to tug your hair with your fingers. On a healthy skin, the hair sits tightly, but on a damaged skin it is easily torn out.

Damaged hide is not suitable for a tanner.

If the skin begins to grow hair, it can quickly rot. You can improve the situation if you take the skins apart and salt them again. You need to carefully monitor your hair so as not to be late with over-salting.

Wet-salted skins are the best, but sometimes it is difficult to get enough salt. Then you can store the skins by drying them.

Drying skins done in the warm season.

The skin removed from the animal is hung on a pole with the wool inward along the ridge.

The pole is hung somewhere under a canopy or in a barn, in the shade. You should never start drying a hide directly in the sun because sun drying will ruin the fresh raw hide. This makes it horny, and then easily cracks and breaks. Only an almost completely dried skin can be dried in the sun, and even then not in the summer, but when the sun is not so hot. Many skins are spoiled by improper drying in the villages.

You cannot dry the skins by spreading them on the ground; the only correct way is to dry them in the shade so that there is air on all sides. You can dry cow and horse hides. They almost always dry milk, sheepskin, goatskin and foals. They can be dried in the hut in winter.

However, it is much better to salt the corn, as the Germans and Americans do, because then much better leather can be made from it.

During drying, the skin on the paws and cheeks of the muzzle shrinks. To prevent this from happening, the paws and cheeks are straightened by inserting wood chips or splinters. Where the skin is adjacent to the pole, it is better to make linings so that air gets in there and the skin does not rest along the ridge.

It happens that the entire skin is already dry, but the head and thicker parts are not yet dry. Then you can expose the skin to the sun for a short time, covering it with matting, so that only the head dries openly in the sun.

In winter it is difficult to dry skins, and there is nowhere to dry them. They are therefore often frozen, but this should only be done as a last resort, when salting cannot be established in any way. Very bad lumpy frozen skins, frozen right in the yard in the snow, because a lot of snow and dirt stick to them. Then, when the skin thaws, it is difficult to tan. Better hooped frozen skins, which are frozen on poles in a suspension, as in drying.

During transportation and disassembly, frozen skins easily crack and break. At the factory you have to tinker with them a lot to put them into production. When the skin freezes, it becomes weaker. In the event of a thaw, especially during long-distance transportation, frozen skins easily deteriorate and rot.

There is another type of preservation of skins, this is dry salting. The skins are first salted and then dried. You can use less salt than with wet salting.

Any prepared skin must be handled with care, do not trample it, do not throw it anywhere, but store it in a safe place. Dry skins are almost as easy to break as frozen skins. Therefore, you need to save the skins so that they lie in a cool, dry place, so that water does not drip on them through a thin roof, so that they do not get wet from below, so that moths do not appear on dry skins, and in general, so that they do not deteriorate. If the skins have to lie for a long time, then it is necessary to review them and rearrange them, if necessary, salt them or ventilate them.

Hunting a fur-bearing or large ungulate animal is considered a specific activity that requires certain skills and abilities. The main thing is not just to track and shoot the animal, you also need to know how to process the trophy so as not to spoil it. Any hunt includes procedures such as skinning the kill, skinning, gutting, and cutting up the carcass for transportation. At the same time, cartilage and meat are separated from the bones, and the skull, horns, fangs and other trophy parts are selected.

All these operations are impossible without the use of a knife. Since almost all the work is done by the hunter himself, questions regarding the convenience of the blade, its shape, size, are quite acute, since a good choice can significantly increase the speed, quality and efficiency of work.

Story

The classic one has proven its effectiveness in solving everyday problems that arise while staying in the forest. This tool is convenient for chopping branches for a fire, opening a tin can, or cutting something. They can easily perform rough work: remove the skin of a hunted animal, remove the entrails, or divide the carcass along the ridge. But for use in subsequent procedures related to skinning and requiring special subtlety, classic hunting knives are not suitable. For such work, it is necessary to use special average versions of weapons that combine all the advantages of hunting models.

In the process of searching and developing such blades, a new specific variant appeared - the Skinner knife. It was developed by white professional hunters in Africa. In their activities, they were forced to use all kinds of models: teardrop-shaped, with a false blade or hooks on part of the butt, with a tip that does not completely fall, etc.

Features for sanding and cutting

The presence of a “skinner arc” is considered to be a distinctive feature of this weapon. According to reviews, the Skinner is a knife that is very convenient for ripping and trimming skins, separating them from meat and cutting out tendons. The longer the “skinner arc” of the knife used, the more comfortable it is to work with such a tool. The Skinner knife has a sharply curved blade towards the tip, which significantly increases its cutting properties. Because of its special shape, it is called a “crooked hunting knife” among hunters and edged weapon connoisseurs.

It is usually sharpened using a “wedge”. This sharpening for such a knife is considered the most optimal, since it eliminates additional adjustment of the blade when cutting a deer or another large animal of equal size.

The skinning process can be considered ideal if the skin is easily separated from the entire game. The ease of this procedure is significantly influenced by both the method of sharpening and the successful choice of steel from which the knife is made. “Skinner” has a special rest on its handle for the index finger. This stop is located on the blade in the part where the blade acts as a guard - a limiter that prevents possible hand slipping and damage.

The butt of the knife for cutting carcasses also has a stop with notches for the thumb.

Such a knife, in addition to its upturned tip, can also be equipped with a special hook used for ripping.

Skinner knives come in a variety of sizes. It all depends on the task for which they are intended. Mostly medium-sized tools are used for skinning animals, and for poultry knives with smaller dimensions are convenient to use.

Many experienced hunters know that wide and long knives are completely unsuitable for working with fur-bearing animals, since one wrong movement can ruin valuable fur. The Skinner folding knife is considered ideal for this type of work.

Often, experienced hunters carry with them, despite their considerable weight, several knives, each of which is adapted for a particular operation.

Knife requirements

It is desirable that the knife contains as few metal parts as possible. This will prevent possible freezing of the skin to the handle when working in the cold.

1. The thickness of the blade must withstand lateral loads during the cutting process.
2. The design of the weapon must contain elements that increase its resistance to all loads acting perpendicular to the blade.
3. The curved shape of the blade will save energy during cutting.
4. The tip of the knife should be thin. This will ensure that delicate work can be carried out.

Skinner knife: classic

The classic knife for sanding among hunters is a knife whose narrow, elongated blade has an upturned tip. Particular attention should be paid to the balance of the knife: the degree of fatigue of the specialist during the process of cutting the skin depends on this factor. A well-balanced knife allows the hunter to work for a long time without feeling any fatigue.

According to the law, the classic Skinner knife is not a dangerous bladed weapon if its tip is raised up above the butt by 0.5 cm. This is due to the fact that blades of this shape lose their piercing properties and are effective only when sanding or cutting. The Skinner knife, a photo of which is given in the article, belongs precisely to such products.

How to make your own knife?

Many experienced hunters prefer to work for sanding. This can be partly explained by the desire to save money. But in most cases, preference is given to “Skinners” made by hand due to the possible consideration in their design of the individual characteristics of the specialists working with them. The authors of the reviews believe that this is especially important when sanding, since mostly hunters have to do this without outside help.

According to reviews, making a Skinner knife with your own hands will not be difficult.

To do this, you need to have an idea of ​​its design and parameters: determine the length of the handle and blade.

Materials used in production:

• A piece of steel strip. The best option is the X12MF brand. This steel is considered the most suitable for hunting knives.
• Brass or aluminum for a safety stop and the manufacture of a threaded pommel - if the knife is intended to have a stacked rather than riveted handle.
• Pieces of leather as inlaid elements for the handle.
• Epoxy adhesive. Used for bonding leather.
• Stain and varnish for processing wooden handles.

The design of a Skinner knife, made by hand, may differ slightly from generally accepted classical standards. The main thing in a homemade weapon is ease of use, taking into account all the features and preferences with the ability to correct possible shortcomings in the future.

What should you pay attention to during manufacturing?

One of the main requirements for sanding knives is the width of the blade. According to generally accepted standards, it should not be less than three fingers.

The thickness of a knife is of no small importance. With a significant thickness, the blade may become heavier, and it is also possible that the cutting properties of the weapon will decrease. This is not particularly noticeable for short knives, but for long ones it becomes a big problem. This can be dealt with by forging, gradually reducing the thickness of the knife towards the tip, which will ensure a reduction in the weight of the tool. You can also equip the blade with fullers in the part closer to the butt.

Ceramic knife

Blades made using ceramics are not uncommon these days. The advantage of such knives is their high hardness, which extends the service life of these products. The second advantage of such a weapon is its high corrosion resistance. The ceramic knife is lightweight and is not attracted by a magnet. The disadvantage of knives is their weak flexibility, which makes the product vulnerable to breakage.

"Survival knife"

As a tool for use in extreme conditions, the special knife “Aitor Country Skinner” is widely popular. Spain, his homeland, has long been famous for the production of bladed weapons. The cities of Toledo and Albacete are known as places where the largest centers in the world are concentrated, specializing in the manufacture of combat blades, decorative and souvenir items stylized as modern and medieval edged weapons.

The Aitor company is located relatively far from the famous weapons centers of Spain. This factor determined the peculiarities of the original style of the blade products produced.

In terms of their parameters, the models manufactured by the company comply with the state standards of the Russian Federation. Close business cooperation between the Spanish company Aitor and the Russian Federation allows us to supply Russian arms counters with a variety of products: tourist, sports, cutting and skinning products, which have passed state certification.

The small Skinner knife is an auxiliary knife and is sold complete with a large tool for survival in extreme conditions. It is located in a special sheath made of plastic, and, according to reviews, is an excellent addition that provides a certain comfort when performing the intended actions.

The blade is used as a skinning device. By connecting it to steel pins hinged from the bottom of the scabbard, the Skinner can also be used as a slingshot. In the production of the blade, two colors are used - black and gray.

The set includes a flint, a mirror, and sharpening stones located in special sections, the function of which is to send signals, light a fire, and use it as a slingshot during hunting. The handle of a large knife is equipped with voids for fishing hooks, needles, patches, tweezers and other things needed in camping conditions.

"Skinner" is one of the most popular among Russian consumers.