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know how u feel. My first hunt.
Invited and taken on the hunt. There I was given the rifle and taken out in a 4x4. The buck was chaosen and I was told 3rd one from the right. In front of me were at 30. Well I did shoot the right one (eventually after 4 attempts and a lot of shaking hands). The buck was loaded and taken back where the innards were removed. on leaving I was presented with the buck, skin and all. I asked what and how. "Its easy" say the experts "Loosen the skin in the stomach area and start pulling","Oh, if the skin sticks just cut the sinew with a sharp knife and carry on". 4 hours to skin and then cut the meat up for use,another 4 hours (our favourite use for game meat is biltong or what u call jerky). I had no holes and it didnt look that bad. Learnt the hardway and all this for a buck carcass that weighed 40kg.
Use a sharp knife with preferably a curved blade (skinner) this makes it much easier. After the skin is off sprinkle it with coarse salt (liberally) till ready to tan. Thats how we all do it, even when keeping a trophy while we hunting for preparation. They last longer and dont stink so quickly. Where we hunt in South Africa our tempretures reach up to 45 degrees celsius ( I think thats +100 Faranheit) and we have no problems keeping the skins and trophies for up to a week.
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