Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: ---GUTSHOT---> on November 10, 2016, 08:34:45 pm
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Just a few of my critters I've tanned. Let's see what kinda critters you fellas got tanned.
(http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y506/psmith311/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-11/7F2FF20B-7762-4181-ABA4-00F1F918BD41_zpsbvhgemvr.jpg) (http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/psmith311/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-11/7F2FF20B-7762-4181-ABA4-00F1F918BD41_zpsbvhgemvr.jpg.html)
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Nice little collection! I tanned one deer, and half way done on a bison. Looking forward to getting home to finishing him.
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Nice bunch of Skins Paul.....otter, beaver, coyote, bobcat......real cool
do you trap? how do you get all of these skins?
DBar
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Nice batch of critters Gutshot :)
Zuma
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Nice bunch of Skins Paul.....otter, beaver, coyote, bobcat......real cool
do you trap? how do you get all of these skins?
DBar
Otter and beaver where trapped
Yote was a rifle kill
Bobcat was a shotgun kill
Grey fox was a bow kill
Mink was a road kill
I'm not a trapper would love to be but my job requirements are to many hrs and days worked. We have abundance of critters just got to get out there and get them. I just take them only to help out the quail and rabbit and fish populations
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So many possibilities with all those skins. Every time I get a furry creature, they wife wants it for decoration. I try to make my critters into something. I bark tanned my elk hide and made a quiver, and ugly one, but a quiver none the less. The beaver pelt is trim on the top. The Muskrats pelts are fur silencers. Deer hide is going to be my wife's quiver. I can't get out an trap
Enough to get enough hides for all the projects I have planned.
What do you all do with your hides?
Eric
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This is my only tanning experience. A fawn hide and 2 chipmunks. I was happy with how they turned out. I've got a bobcat and my first selfbow deer hide in the freezer. I want to tan them this winter.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/bows%202015/20150311_193619.jpg)
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So many possibilities with all those skins. Every time I get a furry creature, they wife wants it for decoration. I try to make my critters into something. I bark tanned my elk hide and made a quiver, and ugly one, but a quiver none the less. The beaver pelt is trim on the top. The Muskrats pelts are fur silencers. Deer hide is going to be my wife's quiver. I can't get out an trap
Enough to get enough hides for all the projects I have planned.
What do you all do with your hides?
Eric
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I like to scare kids and adults with them when there at my house😆 Trade them and make stuff too
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I haven't tanned anything yet.but going to this winter. I do trap a little bit and have a big coon hide and some deer hides in the freezer so far . with fur prices are very low I thought I could try to make some things this year.
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I fleshed out a grey fox many years ago. I tacked it to a board and put 20 mule team borax on it to dry it out and keep the bugs away. I shot it in 2005 and it still looks good. I will post a pic today, if I remember. I don't know what you call that but that is what I did to it.
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Cool fellas....Like the pics and hobby.
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Clint, are you gonna make a new Speedo for yourself with the chipmunk hides? ;D
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Clint....I did a slunk fawn hide once from a rode killed doe.It's fur was like mole hair.Smooth as silk.I was very proud of it.Took it to rendezvous and they called me fawn killer....ha ha ha.
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Clint, are you gonna make a new Speedo for yourself with the chipmunk hides? ;D
No Pat, I'm using a possum hide for that project. I was wanting to use them on a handle wrap but they aren't big enough. I might stitch them together and see if that works.
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Clint....I did a slunk fawn hide once from a rode killed doe.It's fur was like mole hair.Smooth as silk.I was very proud of it.Took it to rendezvous and they called me fawn killer....ha ha ha.
That fawn was killed by a jerk kid with a modern bow. He gave me the hide in a 1 gallon zip loc bag. There was room for 2 more hides. I made a few hip quivers out of it. I will be watching the roads for dead fawns this spring.
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Here is my fox. Pretty poor but good for a kids project.
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Looks good
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ND road kill. egg dressed.
I did a borax nutria and Prim Tim made a quiver with it.
Can't find a pic?
Zuma
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I did a little trappin last winter and seeing as the bottom dropped out of the market I sent some cherry picked fur to Moyles, took 7 months to get back but man it is really nice, see if I can get ya pic later today.
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Commercially tanned not sure if they go here. Here are some that I caught last winter. nice prime northern fur . Pictures sure don't show how soft and nice these hides really are, Skunk is super pretty and needs to be used for some project. Thanks for lookin Bob
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Those are some nice hides Bob
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Those hides are very nice. I've seen a few commercial tanned hides before the are super soft and flawless.
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Those are some nice hides.
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Nice looking critters Bob.
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I like that.
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Real nice collection there outback. Don't see any coyotes in there. Love that skunk it's a beauty looks like a big one to. Always wanted to get a few blanket beaver but never got one yet. I'll have to get some pictures of my collection posted to. Does raw fur count? Might have to get a end of the line post going.
Bjrogg
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PS nice color on that coon with the silver gar hairs to bad they aren't worth anything it's always nice to keep their numbers in check.
Bjrogg
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bjrogg, just got in from checking my huge muskrat line, 6 sets for a nuisance deal that I take care of every year. Caught 3 rats this morning, I hate to even take them with the prices and our population being low. Gotta keep some farms happy if I want access to there ground. 6 sets was plenty for the weather today, snowin and a blowin pretty good out there. Bob ps sold the yotes earlier.
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I trap mostly water lines too. It's never fun looking for traps when ditches blow full of snow. I haven't set a trap yet going to wait for nice prime fur and hopefully get some good trapping weather yet. I'm probably gonna just keep everything I catch this year. Wish I hadn't give it all to the fur buyers last year would have rather give it to someone on PA
Bjrogg
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Me me me >:D
Zuma
I plan to trap some fox for a week or two.
I may pm you Brian for some tips
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Zuma actually I have never trapped a fox. When I use to land trap it was mostly raccoons. I actually really enjoy hunting them. They are my very favorite animal and I very much enjoy watching them and respect them a great deal. The coyotes where really hard on them when they 1st showed up but they seem to have figured out how to avoid the coyotes and numbers are really good here again.
Bjrogg
Feel free to PM me though I might be able to help you out a bit.
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Zuma a stove pipe buried at a 45 degree angle into a bank around a creek with some bait at the bottom will get a fox 90% of the time. Worse thing is there alive in there they can't back out so you have to be creative on putting them down.
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Thanks BJ
Thanks Gutshot
That's a method I never heard of. Interesting.
No leg hold or snare? The pipe is the trap?
What diameter pipe?
Zuma
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8" if you can find it
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I skinned a coyote this morning. I'm not very good at detailed skinning. I think I did OK on it. I put it in the freezer for now. I plan on doing some hide tanning this winter sometime. That road dog was an old one. His canines were all worn down and one was missing. He had tumors growing on him also. He was still healthy looking and a good layer of fat going into the winter. I hope I can do a good job tanning him. It's a big hide.
(http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv22/Outlawstaves/20161127_113655_zpsqy7qqzfp.jpg) (http://s666.photobucket.com/user/Outlawstaves/media/20161127_113655_zpsqy7qqzfp.jpg.html)
(http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv22/Outlawstaves/20161127_113721_zpsqvvw2kad.jpg) (http://s666.photobucket.com/user/Outlawstaves/media/20161127_113721_zpsqvvw2kad.jpg.html)
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Can't wait to see what u make with him. They make nice quivers
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OO, here's a little tip put ya some borax powder in an around the base of the ears. Will keep the hair from slipping and will dry them out . Looks like ya did a real good job on skinning ole stink dog, I like the color. Bob
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Nice looking hide Clint.............
DBar
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Looks good Osage, don't see any big holes around the ears or eyes. I usually don't mind skinning almost anything but as outback said . The coyotes always smell like a wet dog, ours are all knife work. I've seen guys on you tube pull them off like I'd pull a fox off, but our coyotes don't want to give up their fur. and fur slips easy by ears. One big thing is always scrap all the fat off any skin before you dry or tan it. Another tip when you put in freezer put fur out, inside hide folded against inside hide helps stop freezer burn. I'm sure you'll figure it out it's mostly a lot of scraping and then rubbing to break the hide as it finishes tanning. Cant wait to see what new life it lives.
Bjrogg
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Thanks for the tips guys. I've got a freezer full of hides that need tanning. I need to either start tanning some of them or get another freezer ;D
That coyote didn't smell to bad at all. He had a slight bladder leakage problem once I started pulling on the hide. I pulled a bunch of big burrs out of the tail fur. There are more in the rest of the coat. I'll get those out when I work on tanning it. What kind of solution do you guys use? I used this on my fawn hide and it turned out OK. It was cheap and seemed to work so I'll probably use it again.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nDgAAOSwu4BV248m/s-l500.jpg)
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You bet that stuff will work fine to tan I'm sure but it's got to be fleshed and as much of the mambrane off too.Good score bud.Nice hide and job of skinning him.
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I'll scrape it clean before I start tanning it. I got a section of large diameter PVC pipe that I use as a fleshing board.
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Clint all hides that you want to keep the hair on needs pickling this method really sets the hair/fur and keeps it from slipping. I've tanned a lot of critters and the first ones I done slipped the fur around the ears mostly. Once I started pickling no more fur slippage. Save that yote for when I come up and we will pickle it along with any other hides you got that you want to save the hair on.
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No pictures of anything I've got tanned at the moment. Though when I get data back on my phone I can get a few pictures of some stuff. Like my raccon quiver and a couple of others I have laying around. But I've got a few tanning projects I'm buildings towards. I finally got around to fleshing out a coyote hide I shot the first week of deer season. It's drying on a board at the moment to help the hair set and stay put better. I'm going to turn it into a quiver for my uncle. I also fleshed out a couple of deer hides that I currently have soaking in some wood ashes to make the hair and grain slip. I still haven't decided what I want to do with them yet. I would like some rawhide for backing, but I would also like to tannic acid tan a hide to see how the leather turns out, and I want to brain tan some leather. I might cut out the center strips on the backs and let those dry out for backing strips, while I soften the belly and leg pieces into different types of leather. But doe season is coming up so I should be able to ask around and get some more hides. In addition to having a couple of tags left myself.
I think i may do a little bit of trapping this winter once classes are finally over and see if I can get some materials built up.
Kyle
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Clint all hides that you want to keep the hair on needs pickling this method really sets the hair/fur and keeps it from slipping. I've tanned a lot of critters and the first ones I done slipped the fur around the ears mostly. Once I started pickling no more fur slippage. Save that yote for when I come up and we will pickle it along with any other hides you got that you want to save the hair on.
I've got a freezer full of hides I want to tan with the hair on. I'll order some tanning solution before you come up.
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Will charcoal ashes work for making raw hide?
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Will charcoal ashes work for making raw hide?
I don't think so. I use hard wood ash. It's the lye in it that releases the hair. But remember when doing this method your taking your hide to the edge of rotting it, to get the hair to slip. Warmer the weather the better this works. I'm going to dry scrape my next few hides to see how I like that process. It has to be cleaner. Good luck!
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Gutshot thanks for the pickling advice. My 1st two attempts at tanning Red Fox both slipped around the ears and tail. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. Last summer I was watching some YouTube videos from a taxidermy supply company and they talked about different products they had a what they where used for. If I remember right they basically had a strong degreaser for greasy hides to remove oils. They had a product to set the hair to stop slip and then product to put tanning oils back in the hide to preserve and soften hide. If I remember right they said if you dry you skins like I do on stretchers that this would also set the hair to prevent slipping. I have a few red fox, mink, coon and muskrat that I kept over from last season. One of my cousins stopped in last night and gave me 2 beavers. All these hides where put up really good with all the fat removed. I'm thinking even though they look really good the beaver and coon could probably use the degreaser. I still have that a bottle of that stuff osage showed. It's same product I used on 1st two Red Fox that I had fur slip on. Do I need to pickle these dry year old hides? Thanks
Bjrogg
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bjrogg, your red fox hair slippage around ears is caused by moisture around ears because of cartilage in the ears drys really slow put some borax powder in areas that tend to dry slow and the hair won't slip. Just my .02 worth. Bob
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Bob I know what your saying around the ears. I actually had split the ears and removed the cartilage on the second attempt. the instructions on the bottle said for green fresh hides to put salt on roll up and then remove any fat or membrane from hide then repeat that step then put in salt water bath for I think if I remember right maybe 24hours. Then remove and rinse. That is when fur slipped. My first attempt it just slipped everywhere I handled it the second time it started to do the same and then I just hung it to dry more then fur seemed to set. I'm not sure maybe I should have taken out of salt bath sooner, somewhere I saw that the thin hide of Red Fox doesn't need to be in bath as long. Appreciate any advice because I do have a bunch of stuff I want to tan this winter. If any one wants to PM me what supplies they use and where they get them I would appreciate it. Right now I'm thinking of getting them from this taxidermy supply place. Thanks again
Bjrogg
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bjrogg, the only tanning that I have done is braintanninng hair off, I have trapped a ton of fur and put up air dryed, I do know that if you want hair to slip just add water, When I do my deer hides I don't use ashes to remove hair and grain just throw in a barrel of water for a few days and it will start to slip, same think happens when water comes up in river and can't remove animals for some time. The warmer the water the quicker thinks seem to slip. Good luck with your tanning and keep us informed with your progress. Bob
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bjrogg, the only tanning that I have done is braintanninng hair off, I have trapped a ton of fur and put up air dryed, I do know that if you want hair to slip just add water, When I do my deer hides I don't use ashes to remove hair and grain just throw in a barrel of water for a few days and it will start to slip, same think happens when water comes up in river and can't remove animals for some time. The warmer the water the quicker thinks seem to slip. Good luck with your tanning and keep us informed with your progress. Bob
Bob,
Are you saying you can de-hair a deer hide in just a couple days in a barrel of water? If so would fleshing work better after the hair is gone?
What I have read is it takes months with ash in the water?
Thanks Zuma
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Don , It works better for me to flesh first prefably when fresh, if done after hair is removed it seems to bunch up on fleshing beam and end up with a cut, I have done hides in ashes and they were ready to go in 4 or5 days after a month would be pretty ripe :o :(, I know that for everyday ash or water is froze ya need to add a day. Basically you have a controlled rot going on, the higher the temp of water the quicker bacteria grow or rot. When I do my deer hides in just water I don't get that really slippery effect as with ash or lye. It is a little tuffer to scrape grain with just water but I prefer it to the swollen slipperiness. I know a lot of places try to get you to use salt to dry hides, IMO salt draws moisture out of the air also and keeps hides moist. I only use salt to store hides for future use with out using up freezer space. I flesh deer hide lay out flat and salt over nite pour of any pooling the next day roll up flesh to flesh and put in a 5 gal pail and seal with a airtight lid. Make sure and label for reuse. Lg. buck Sm. doe and I usually date and store behind garage, most of the hides that I remove as much as a yr. later are still fresh wet and pliable, once and a while a dry spot needs to re hydrated. I probably have 15 or so stored, sure saves on freezer space and works for me , more than one way to skin a cat :o :o ;D Bob
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Awesome Bob. You da man. :)
Our brothers did good in ND. :)
Thanks for the info. :)
Zuma
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Thanks for all the tips Bob, especially how you store your deer hides it's always nice to save freezer space. The only hair off rawhide I made was actually muskrat that I used to back my mini bow for Marshall. I used a little white ash ashes mixed in water put in fridge for about 5 days till hair just slipped right off. Then cleaned real good to stop the lye reaction. It really swells up the hide and loosens the hair great.
Bjrogg
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Here's a few I have hanging on my walls in my house. At first my wife didn't "want all those dead things hanging on the wall". I assured her it was better than live ones. lol. She always makes a fuss when I hang something on the wall but after a bit you wouldn't be able to take it down and she loves to show it to people when they come over.
Bjrogg
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1st picture a pair of big coyotes, it's really rare to get one as nice as the one on the left here it's really got nice fur no rub. 2nd a pair of Red Fox my favorite I love everything about Reds. 3rd a grey fox it's my wife's favorite. I also have some more Fox and 3 mink. I want to do a blanket beaver and some muskrat put up like beaver on a hoop
Bjrogg
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Very nice looking hides. Did you tan them your self.
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Thanks Joe, actually these where all tanned by a taxidermist buddy of mine. I skinned, scrapped split the lips and generally did everything but put them in the tanning solution. When he takes them out of bath I get them and work the areas I want soft then put them back on stretchers. I like to hang them on walls and like the head area a bit stiff.
Bjrogg
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bjrogg, the only tanning that I have done is braintanninng hair off, I have trapped a ton of fur and put up air dryed, I do know that if you want hair to slip just add water, When I do my deer hides I don't use ashes to remove hair and grain just throw in a barrel of water for a few days and it will start to slip, same think happens when water comes up in river and can't remove animals for some time. The warmer the water the quicker thinks seem to slip. Good luck with your tanning and keep us informed with your progress. Bob
Bob,
Are you saying you can de-hair a deer hide in just a couple days in a barrel of water? If so would fleshing work better after the hair is gone?
What I have read is it takes months with ash in the water?
Thanks Zuma
Zuma it only takes a few days in warm weather for a ash water mixture to start the hair slipping on a hide. I always flesh my hides first. Once the hair starts to slip your hide is on the edge of starting to rott. So be care full and not leave it in the mixture to long
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Gutshot thanks for the pickling advice. My 1st two attempts at tanning Red Fox both slipped around the ears and tail. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. Last summer I was watching some YouTube videos from a taxidermy supply company and they talked about different products they had a what they where used for. If I remember right they basically had a strong degreaser for greasy hides to remove oils. They had a product to set the hair to stop slip and then product to put tanning oils back in the hide to preserve and soften hide. If I remember right they said if you dry you skins like I do on stretchers that this would also set the hair to prevent slipping. I have a few red fox, mink, coon and muskrat that I kept over from last season. One of my cousins stopped in last night and gave me 2 beavers. All these hides where put up really good with all the fat removed. I'm thinking even though they look really good the beaver and coon could probably use the degreaser. I still have that a bottle of that stuff osage showed. It's same product I used on 1st two Red Fox that I had fur slip on. Do I need to pickle these dry year old hides? Thanks
Bjrogg
Bjrogg, Mckenzie Ultimate Acide and non iodized salt is what I pickle with. I also have a set of ear openers I use so the liquids can get up in there and set the hair good. A quart of this stuff has pickled 8 deer hides, 6 otters, 4 bobcats, 3 minks, and 3 foxes. Not for sure but probably 4-5 beavers. It's not expensive at all and is worth the money in the long run. Good luck with those hides. Post them when you get done!
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When I did some water trapping we wold scrape the hides and allow them to dry without salting. Thats how the buyers wanted them... no fat and flesh, then they do not rot...
For tanning deer and I intend to tan with hair on then salting was no problem. Always told that salt will help to set the hair. If brain tanning or hair off I never salted but made certain hide was super clean of flesh and fat. Allow hide to air dry. Could keep for years if kept dry.
If brain tanning you can use a mix of agricultural lime and water to remove hair. The lime would also make the epidermis swell and take on a cheese look. Usually only takes a few days to a week depending on temps and strength of mix. Hair slippage will tell you when. The hair and epidermis layer is removed at the same time. Put in a lite vinegar and water mix to neutralize the lime and return hide to normal thickness and feel. May take a few washing and rinsing. I would always scrape the flesh side again after removing hair and epidermis. Always get some more flesh off even when it looked really clean. Once clean and well rinsed it is ready for brains and lots of work.
For hair on tanning you can do a paste or tanning bath. Pickling is recommended for hair on or off tanning except for brain tanning because the epidermis is left on. Pickling dissolves the proteins and fat inside the hides pores. This speeds the tanning process. You can use alum tan, chrome tan, oil tan or bark tan for hides. Each will give different finished results. I like quebracho tan from Van Dykes Taxidermy. It is a bark tan and will give the hide a brown finish. Most commercial tans are chrome tan and it gives a soft non leaching finish. Some alum tans will leach out if it gets wet after tanning.
Good luck
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Thanks Gut :)
Thanks to all you folks for sharing. 8)
You too Lyman >:D
Great thread
Zuma
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Thanks Gutshot got your PM, Thanks NC I've put many hide up air dried for fur buyers. Some fur out like my Fox and coyotes most leather out. Like you said very important have to get all fat off and even fur out has to be dried leather out until just dry enough you can turn without tearing. If these hides are put up correctly and stored in a good dry place they will keep fine for years. +1 what Zuma said very good thread thank all
Bjrogg
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For fur on stuff I've never had any trouble with hair slipping after I found a method that works for me. Just flesh and dry like I'm going to sell them. After they are dry I will thin the thick spots on hides like beaver and raccon with and angle grinder with a sanding disk. This thins the thick spot REAL quick and evenly if done correctly. Then I'll use some acetone and wipe down the hide to degrease a bit more. After that I remoisturize the hide by wrapping it with a damp towel for a few hours. This will allow the emulsified oils to more redily soak into the skin. Once the hide is fully damp again I will take my slurry of brains, egg yokes, emulsified veggy oil, or whatever emulsified oil I feel like using and slathe rot all over the skin and fold the skin in on itself and let it soak in over night. Come morning I scrape off the excess junk on the skin and start the breaking process. Even though working the hide over a board, rope, or cable doesn't do anything to soften the hide, it does help to dry the hair out by fluffing it up and giving some friction heat. It also does help to dry the leather a little faster. By the time the leather is dry and broke the hair will be dry and fluffy. Even with the hair being wet for about a day I don't have any trouble with the fur slipping and everything by muskrats usually end up as soft as I like after one oiling. Muskrats usually take me two oilings since the first go around usually just breaks down the saddle and it comes off. So I oil and break again to get it good and soft.
I hope that explains my fur on process well enough. Right now I've got a coyote for myself and a badger for a guy to do when I get some time freed up.
Kyle
Kyle
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Thanks Kyle that sounds like a good method for me. My hides are all put up air dried like they would be for a fur buyer.
Bjrogg
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A couple of my purchases :)
Zuma
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Nice yote
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Nice Coyote and otter
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Thanks guys :)
My X's have the coon jacket, skunks, mink, other yote, red and arctic fox,
along with the desert turtle shell and my best Phacops Rana. :'(
I just got the otter back from one. :)
Zuma
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Dang Zuma you need a better lawyer lol. Just kidding I sure hope they appreciate them. I think most women really like furs. Probably most men too.
Bjrogg