How much salt?

[weekender7]

You are in the back country. You killed an average size wolf and it will be days before you are back to town. Temps are warm. You have the skills to flesh the hide. How much salt do you need to preserve the hide?

 

[FLAK]

Good ???

 

[Olsolitaire1]

I do/done a lot of brain tanning of hides. So if you can flesh out a hide get all the fat off it, that's good. You can Fold it on itself keep it cool & dry, or you can stretch it out and let it dry as well. Either way a hide will keep for ever. Just get ALL the fat off. Much better than salt, that will have you draining off melted fats and can burn the hide if not kept moist. Fleshing out is the BEST way

 

[Chesapeake]

5# would probably set the hair fine if fleshed well.
You’ll need to rub it into the hide and go heavy in the ears, face, and toes. Use 1/3 to 1/2 the salt, fold/roll and place to drain. Then after a day clean off wet salt and do again. Once out of salt hang hide up to air dry.

You’d probably be well served to ask the taxidermist you plan to use.

 

[weekender7]

Thanks olsolitaire & Chesapeake. I fleshed and salted my brown bear, grizzly bear and goat hides but because the outfitters supplied unlimited salt, I really didn't have a clue to how much we actually used on those.

 

[ndbuck09]

We shot caribou in AK this year on Day 2. We caped our heads and fleshed them by Day 3. We then salted each hide with 2 pounds (due to fly in weight restrictions we could only afford 2# each). We kept the hides under tarps and it varied from the high 20s to 70s. We didn't get flown out for 9 days and our capes did not slip the fur. So I would say 3-4# for a whole wolf hide would do it for you at a minimum.