Author Topic: Pronghorn rawhide?  (Read 3681 times)

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Offline WhistlingBadger

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Pronghorn rawhide?
« on: November 30, 2019, 06:41:59 pm »
Evening, everybody.  Anybody ever back a board bow (or other bow) with pronghorn skin?  Just thinking about future possibilities...

Thomas
Thomas
Lander, Wyoming
"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."
~Louis L'Amour

Offline Weylin

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2019, 08:39:05 pm »
I've never used it but I bet it's great. Thin, tough rawhide is the ticket. deer, goat and kangaroo all work great for bows. seems like pronghorn would fit in. Curious to hear from someone who's actually used it.

Offline WhistlingBadger

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2019, 08:11:37 pm »
Thomas
Lander, Wyoming
"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."
~Louis L'Amour

Offline Pat B

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2019, 09:06:26 pm »
What Weylin said. I've never seen an antelope but I would guess it would be good rawhide. If you don't want it, I'll take it.  ;)
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline TimBo

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2019, 09:08:26 pm »
According to my tanning book, pronghorn buckskin is thin and surprisingly strong, and similar to goat at Weylin mentioned.  I imagine the rawhide would be the same.  Sorry I don't have any personal experience with it...I would love to do some pronghorn hunting, but it won't be in the cards for a while.

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2019, 09:44:52 pm »
If its like goat it should be fine

Offline WhistlingBadger

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2019, 09:50:55 pm »
Well, I'm thinking about putting up a waterhole blind at a buddy's ranch next summer and trying to down the mighty speedgoat with the longbow.  It will have to be a very tall blind.

So it will be a while before I have any to work with.  But I'll keep you posted.

Cheers~
Thomas
Lander, Wyoming
"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."
~Louis L'Amour

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2019, 12:05:38 am »
I will have to check my cache of salted hides!  There should be a bunch of pronghorn (antelope, prairie goats, or whatever) still needing something done to them!  Rawhide is probably easier than tanning, anyway!
Hawkdancer
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry

Offline Pat B

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #8 on: December 11, 2019, 07:33:20 am »
Jerry, rawhide is one of the first steps in tanning so it would be easier.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline JonW

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2019, 11:12:37 am »
I used it once years ago. Great stuff and wish I had more.

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2019, 12:41:29 pm »
Jerry, rawhide is one of the first steps in tanning so it would be easier.
pat, I'm at the age where even thinking about work makes me tired!  Either that, or I got bit by a "lazy bug", or lost my round tuit again! :BB :-K :KN )W( (f) >:D (lol) (lol). I'll get after it next week, maybe!
Jerry
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry

Offline Pat B

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2019, 01:33:05 pm »
Manana, Jerry!   :OK
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2019, 02:23:41 pm »
yes i thought I was tired today,, but realized I was lazy,, :)

Offline WhistlingBadger

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2019, 03:10:02 pm »
Remember:  Hard often pays off in the long run.  But laziness always pays off right now.   8)
Thomas
Lander, Wyoming
"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."
~Louis L'Amour

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Pronghorn rawhide?
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2019, 01:15:53 am »
Antelope rawhide is the premium choice for backing. I have backed a few dozen with it and have had nothing but the best of luck. I even backed some poor grade hickory with a lot of run outs and had them hold up!

I used to get them from a guy that advertised in P.A. but he has kinda gone dark in the last few years.

Years back I was laying out the rawhide on a hickory board bow when a friend dropped by with some rando nit-wit. Said nit-wit was full of advice on how I really should be doing this (having never made a bow in his life, he was incredibly confident of his unequaled genius). He was fingering a scrap of dry antelope rawhide that was even thinner than a playing card. He proceeded to tell me that I should back my bows with buffalo rawhide, that's what the Injuns did. I countered him by explaining that the rawhide would be too thick, would add far too much weight and ruin the cast of a good bow. He snorted in contempt and proceeded to tell me that antelope rawhide has no strength. I told him to break the quarter-inch wide strip in his hands and he proceeded to tug on the foot-long strip. When it did not tear like tissue paper he wrapped it tightly around his fingers and before I could stop him he proceeded to give a manly grunt and JERKED hands apart.  It bit deep into both pinkies. On one hand, it cut through the skin and meat to the bone, and on the other hand it sawed deep into the first joint. Numbskull proceeds to start shouting and bleeding all over my shop. My buddy refuses to allow him in his new pickup and get blood all over the seats, so I HAD TO DRIVE THE UNINVITED AND UNWELCOME IDIOT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM! Needless to say, I left him at the door and went home to scrape off the incorrectly set and now half-dried rawhide backing on the limb I was working on.

So, is it tough? I dunno, maybe.
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.