![]() It is one of those autochthonous skills that make me wonder how did early people all figure out this process of basically first letting it rot a little, scrap it, wash it then pound the brains of an animal in it and finally smoke it and it would make supple, beautiful, comfortable, pleasant smelling material for making clothing but they did and I am going to share with you how I teach my student to do the same thing, as well as making material suited for making drum heads, tools, containers, and more. First shipment of ammo for the new season - Winche.Tanning of animal skins or hides has been done by all people on all continents to make a clothing material that is supple and resistant to decay.Taking a knife from dull to razor sharp.The Shot Simulator software by Deer & Deer Hunting.Essential Gear - Rocky Insulated Shooter's Gloves.Book Review - Predator Calling with Gerry Blair.Essential Gear - Nikon Prostaff 550 Rangefnder.It’s About Time the Sunday Hunting Ban in Virginia.Essential Gear - Buck 284 Black Bantan BBW knife.Review - Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C Targets.Good Deal - Cabela's Extreme Outfitter Shooting Pods.Myth or Fact - Are Summer Rabbits Safe To Eat?.Hey! If you haven't already, head over to the knife giveaway and enter a win a Buck pocket knife! It doesn't cost a thing and there are not many entries, so the odds are pretty good! You can go from start to finish in 24 hours if you wanted, although I usually break it up into a few days. It is simpler than it sounds and lots of fun. Don't cook it! I have a smoker, which is great for small hides, but for larger hides you may have to use a fire pit. Smoke over very low heat with a hard wood for about 30 minutes. If you don't do this and the hide gets wet, you will have to rework it. Smoking the hide gives it a measure of waterproofing. Take a pair of scissors and trim the raged edges of the hide. I like to do this in the evening as I watch TV. If you do not do this it will dry hard as a board. While it is still damp, work the hide over a board, rope, or just about anything fairly smooth. ![]() It needs to be slightly damp for the next step. I usually have to change the water at least once. Get any salt, egg, or borax off the hide. This keeps the flies off, but doesn't really do much for the hide.ĭon't worry about the nail holes. The yellow makes it look like something out of a horror movieĩ. ![]() You should cover every bit of the skin, but it should not get on the hair side of the skin. I used one egg for the rabbit skin, it was barely enough. If you have an extra brain laying around you can substitute it for the egg yolk. I prefer it because I don't have to dig around for the critters brain. If you do not have time to finish, just re-salt and you can start back up later. Depending on your skinning skills, this can take a long time, or no time. Take a dull knife, spoon, file, or anything handy and start scraping all of the meat and fat off the skin. Remove all of the salt, brush off as much as possible. If you do not have the time to do it right away, salting will preserve your skin until you are ready. Put a 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of salt on the exposed hide. This is an optional step that I always do. Staples to a lot of damage and are hard to remove. Stretch the hide and nail it to a board, fur down. There was enough left over to practice on though. I totally botched the skinning, the hide was paper thin and ripped in several places. I'm not going to show you how to do this. My intention was to skin it and practice my tanning skills on it. ![]() If you read my blog you will know that I have recently come into the possession of a dead rabbit. It is not the only way, it may not be the best way. It's hide will not decompose and its fur will not slip. After a hide is tanned it can be used as clothing or in some other handleable (is that a word?) use. Tanning permanently changes the proteen structure of the skin. If it is often handled this will happen in a few years or less, if it is hanging on the wall it could last for decades. A preserved hide will slowly continue to decompose, eventually the hair will begin to slip and the hide will disintegrate. While this works fine for taxidermy or hanging a pelt on the wall, it is not tanning. You often hear of people "tanning" a hide by scraping off the fat and drying it with salt. Preserving is done by simply removing any meat and fat from the skin. One thing that is often confused is the difference between tanning and preserving. In reality, there are quite a few ways to do it. Most people think their way is the best (or only) way to do it properly. You will find hundreds of different ways. Ask a dozen hunters how to tan a hide and you will get a dozen answers.
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