To hide or not to hide, that's the question

[Catalpa_Joe 0]

A buddy I work with is an avid deer hunter who also likes to fish. He's proposing next year after he gets his deer to give me the hide in exchange for some deer hair flies. Is the entire hide useable for tying or are there only certain areas worth going after? :dunno:

[Green Acres 0]

If I were you, I would give him the flies and let him keep the hide.

 

Don't get me wrong it's a ton of usefull hair, but the preperation is a pain

 

you have two options for preparing the hide

 

1. send it to a tanners. Pro: clean and easy, Con: usually costs more than 100 bucks and is gone for a long time

 

2. tan it yourself. Pro: cheaper(tanning chemical kits can be gotten for as little as 15 bucks). Cons: you will need space to work, a large metal tub for the tanning, a flat table for the repeated scrapings and thinnings, and even if you follow the directions to the letter there is still a fair chance all of the hair will slip and fall off anyway.

 

I have tried about 5 hides personally, results 2 useable, i mostly usable, 2 ruined

 

the repeated scraping and rinsing and salting and scraping are a real time consumer and everything has to be done in a certain time frame over about two weeks so if you have lets say "a job" that might require you to be away from the house when the hide is ready to come out you run the risk of burning it.

 

 

If you do decide to try it yourself look to the folks at Van Dykes taxidermy for help. Call them in advance and make sure your friend knows how to handle the hide in transport from the field to you. As soon as that animal falls steps must be taken to keep thehair from slipping.

 

also remember every person uses different parts at diffrent rates, for me I can buy a lot of the specific hair I need for the 100+ dollars It would cost to have a hide professionally tanned.

 

 

[AlG 0]

I'd say so. I have a half hide my buddy sent me that he salted, dried, and mailed in about a month or so. The belly, neck, and the back get most use but for smaller muddler's i can get away with using the rest. While the salt (or even Borax) method isn't widely used, (i'm not looking for something to hang on my wall either), the hide is hard and not pliable as if you were to use other tanning methods. I've only been tying with this hide for a few months, with 95% (maybe more) still left. My buddy on the other hand has been for about 20 years and with the same treatment methods.