Main Discussion Area > Cave Men only "Oooga Booga"
The Adventures of Stinky Rawhide: Deerskin Soup, Part 1
JackCrafty:
Well, I got my hands on 5 deer hides (and many feet) last night from the local processor. They are mule deer.....and dang, they have lots of thick hair! :o They make whitetail hides look anorexic.
I passed on a hog skin but it was interesting.....it was HUGE with lots of course fur and the skin was VERY thick and heavy.
Anyway, I put the skins in buckets for now (flesh and all) and removed the sinew from the feet last night.
Question: You guys got any pictures of stuff you've made with deer toes (or foot parts)? I was reading the post "Hog Toes" and it got me wondering. This is my first experience processing deer feet. I did a search but there aren't many pics....
Minuteman:
Well, Jack the leg bones make good knife handles. Had a guy tell me last week that the indians uses to use a fresh leg bone to flesh their hides. The little channel that has the big tendon bundle in it on their back leg has a sharp edge to it.
I've also read you can boil off the hoof part and make strike plates for bows or whatever. Hang a bunch together and ya got a tipi doorbell.
Another buddy case skins the legs, tans them and uses them for no sew bow handles. You can also make bags from em. There are some interesting little bones in a whitetail foot that are flat and kinda shaped like a comma, about 2" long that I've always wanted to do something with. They almost look like flat bear teeth. Mule deer probably have the same thing. They sit below where you cut the bottom part of the tendon free from the leg.
Have fun.
JackCrafty:
Thanks Minuteman. ;D
Minuteman:
>:( Monday to Thursday that skin soaked in water. I took a bucket of water out each evening and put in fresh to try and keep the smell down . I went down this morning and it was funkadelic down there. :oI am quite certain that I am teetering on a train wreck of a run in with the lil lady. I just hope she doesn't need to go down to the freezer any time soon. Its kinda lingerin down there like a dead mouse in a wall. :-[ Got a scented candle burnin'....
I couldn't leave it down there so I took it outside. Now, its below freezing outside and I don't know if it will damage the hide to freeze or not. I did put it in a ash/water solution to try and get the hair to slip .After four days in the water all I got was a nasty ,( yes the hide was well fleshed) decaying flesh smell. I couldn't hardly pull any hair out and it definitely hadn't gotten any easier to remove than when I put it in the water.The two I threw over the hill seemed no worse for wear when I went and retrieved them this afternoon. I couldn't see not using them for at least rawhide after all the work I put in 'em.I dehaired them and they are soaking in an old cooler in the yard. If you leave em go that long with the lye on em, the hair comes off like paste .
I'm gonna bark tan these things if it kills me. >:(
JackCrafty:
Hmmm....well Minuteman that's good to know. My skins are still in covered buckets (2 soaking in water) and I hope to flesh them tonight or tomorrow. Dry scraping is looking pretty good at this point....
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version