12/25/2023 0 Comments Soft tanning hides![]() ![]() Redampen it and repeat, applying additional fat liquor sparingly. Remove the tacks, dampen the hide with a wet cloth, stretch it, then rub it back and forth over a sawhorse. Read Next: A Step By Step Guide To Butchering Your Own Deer 5. ![]() Work in half of this mixture, allow it to stand for an hour, then repeat. Partially dry it in a sunless place, then rub in a coat of fat liquor oil (3 ½ ounces of neat’s-foot oil combined with 3 ½ ounces of warm water and 1 ounce of ammonia). Tack the deer hide, hair side down, to a piece of plywood. ![]() Soak the deer hide for four days, occasionally stirring to make sure it’s well coated. Slowly pour the alum solution into the garbage can, mixing thoroughly. In a plastic bucket, dissolve 1 pound of ammonia alum in a gallon of water. Soak the Hide in Hide-Tanning Solutionĭissolve 2 ½ pounds of salt in 4 gallons of water in the garbage can. Sign up for Field & Stream’s newsletter to receive the latest and greatest gear reviews and expert hunting and fishing advice. Do not expose the hair roots if you want to tan a deer hide with the hair on. Scrape it with the back edge of a knife or an old hacksaw blade with dull teeth. Drain, then pull the skin back and forth across the edge of a board. Soak the skin in water in a plastic garbage can until it softens, changing the water often. Salted hides can be air-dried until the onset of warm weather, or frozen. Begin the tanning process or preserve it with a generous layer of non-iodized salt. Scrape every particle of fat and flesh from the hide with a knife. The reward is a memento that serves a dual purpose as a beautiful wall hanging or a comforter for a winter night. Using an alum solution (you can find ammonia alum at pharmacies) departs from the traditional method of tanning hides-ancestral hunters used brains instead-but it will render your deer hide soft and supple. Learning how to tan a deer hide is a rite of passage, cementing blood ties to our hunting forebearers who depended upon skins for warmth and who respected slain animals by never letting any part go to waste. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |