What can I make with deer?

[rwc1969]

Well the hide has been soaking for a week now and the light spots are darkening up nicely now. I found a bit more pigment/ epidermis on the grain side and scraped that off with my thumbnail.

YCC, at what point do you sew the holes up?

[your_comforting_company]

Anytime. It can be done before the tan, during, or after. sometime during the tan will be better for keeping it flatter. gives it a little time to tighten before sewing, and then as it continues to tighten, it will help it lay.
If sewing with sinew, a little lazy stitch will hold, but if using sewing thread you better double or triple each stitch. Cotton thread is laughably weak compared to sinew.
With a minimal amount of practice, you can make holes virtually disappear. The trick here is in using the staker to stretch the skin.. Be careful around those holes when softening or you could have an incident like this!
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I didn't sew this hole up and when softening I made it a little (ehem.. a lot) bigger. OOPS!

[your_comforting_company]

This reminded me to put the same info in the braintan thread. Thanks RWC!

[rwc1969]

Cool, thanks. Looks like i have plenty of time to decide when to stitch then.

The hide is darkening up nicely, even in the spots where I removed more pigment from the grain side.

Yesterday I put the fleshed and scraped hockskins into a 50/50 mix of the third pour and water. Prior to adding the hockskins I stirred up what remained of the third pour and it turned a milky red color. Before it looked like black coffee, now it looks like red tea with milk in it. Is it normal?? It doesn't smell funky.

[your_comforting_company]

If I ever get around to doing the neck check, I'll take a picture of my old liquor. it's rather milky too, and I think it's part of the fermenting process. As long as it doesn't smell rotten it's good to go.
I think it's like the stuff you filter out when making wine. It might be a bit more pungent now that it's had time to sit, but not rancid. If you think it's okay, I'm sure it is. You've picked up on this really well. I'm sure your judgment is fine.

[Rick]

Oh, snap. Brain tanning gnarlies and wine dregs. I'll be off food for a week.

[your_comforting_company]

No, that's not a hide in there.. It's the mold that grows on top. This liquor is about 2 years old, +/- a month.
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The stick is about 4" deep and you can only see about 2" of it.
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See how milky it looks? It's natural.
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[your_comforting_company]

This is the check I just did. It lacks about 1/8" in the very center to be struck through, notice it's dark on the outside of the cross section, but only slightly mis-colored in the center. While it has taken some color, I wan't to be extra sure so I'm leaving it for at least another 2 weeks.
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My liquor is getting pretty weak and runny now too, so I'll pour a little more over in there tonight.

[rwc1969]

That's pretty much how my liqour looks minus the big growth. LOL! That cow hide's gonna be something when it's done.

[rwc1969]

well today I added the first of three jugs of my scond pouring to the cooler. The liquor has been looking a tad weak for two days now, can see down over an inch or two, so I figured it was time. The cooler is over half full now, which means about 6 gallons I suppose. I think before adding the next two gallons of second pour I'll drain off half the diluted stuff so it increases the strength a bit more??

There's plenty of room in the cooler, but I'm thinking it will be hard to get the strength up with all that spent liquor in there.

Not much change in the skin, seems to have a slightly different feel and looks only a tad bit darker than before.

The second pouring I added today had a multi-color array of mold growing on it, pink, green, black. I dipped out the mold and pitched it. Also, I'm now wearing the nitrile gloves when stirring and adjusting the hide in the liquor. It still smells like bark, but I'm just not too keen on sticking my hands in there after it's been soaking so long and after seeing that mold. I always seem to have a hangnail or small cut on my hands and don't want to take any chances.

If I rub the deer skin the darkness of the tannins seems to rub off somewhat, not asure if that's normal, grain side only. The flesh side is much lighter than the grain side btw, but is slowly darkening.

[your_comforting_company]

Yep. Pour out about half of your current bath, but save it. It'll be a good start-out liquor for the next skin. I keep two buckets of bathwater, one is weak for starting hides, and the other is super strong with big chunks ofbark in it. Once the bulk tannins are out of the first bath, it seems to tan the next skin more quickly, making the second big bath (really strong) take up more quickly, too.

If you have cuts on your hands I strongly recommend wearing the gloves. The bark liquor is antimicrobial, but it will leave a terrible scent on your hands, and after the thumb incident, I just ain't taking no chances.
My black walnut liquor is getting that pungent fermented smell as of yesterday. Had to change clothes when it splashed up on me. (I dropped the skin as I was stirring) and the wife said I wasn't going nowhere with her smelling like that!
Glad I was wearing my work britches!

I agree, it's time to make a new bath for it. It will likely start taking more color again, or it could be as colored as it's gonna get and now you just wait for the strike-through.

None of this stuff is really exact. Gotta go with your gut, and so far, your gut has been right. Do that thang!

[Rick]

Look at this way. If you go in Wal-Mart wearing those drawers you'll clear out any section where you want to buy and you'll get the best selection! Great for sale day!

[rwc1969]

Well, in three days it has taken on a bit more color, although there are small areas on the grain side where it appears to not be taking color. I see nothing but grain in those spots, so I'm unsure why so light.

I could already see more than inch down into the liquor today so I removed about 2+ gallons of the old liquor and added the remaining two gallons of second pouring. I poured the stuff I removed in with the hockskins Im doing.

Interestingly, the smaller of two hockskins has sunk while the other larger rear leg is still floating somewhat. The flesh side of them has taken on a distinct red color, I've seen no change in the color of the hair yet. As thin as they are it's likely they are struck thru, paper thin almost.

When the skin liquor lightens again i will check for strike through.

[your_comforting_company]

You're getting real close. Remember there's still the first pouring which will be your strongest and it should finish coloring the hide. It's very much possible that some of the minerals from the creek are slowing the coloring, or perhaps reacting with the tannic acid differently. Just have to take it all in stride and let it be what it is. Even the black walnut cow I'm doing has a bit of marbling. I will do a neck check on it today if I get back from hunting at any decent hour... might even do a little vid

I would imagine that when you check the striking on the hocks, you'll find they move just about as slowly as a thick part of the skin because the fibers are so close together and tightly woven on the legs.
Winter deer skins seem to float more than summer skins because of the hollow hairs deer grow for their winter coat. The dead air space inside the hair acts like our winter jackets, creating space for warmth.
Glad to know the liquor isn't staining the hair.. I have 4 large hocks from an 8 point my dad killed last weekend and I'm thinking hard about putting them in my red oak tan to make him a small hunting bag. Not sure if I want to wait till sumac season or not.. It is a much lighter brown tan, almost greenish

[rwc1969]

After hearing about the sumac, I'd like to try it too. Yet another use for a multi-use plant.

[crimescene450]

IF you wanted to bark tan a fur, do you still soak the whole thing in bark liquor? fur and all? or is there a different method?

[your_comforting_company]

Bark tan furs are typically done with extracts, alum and salt in order to preserve the color of the furs. Our bark tan here has stains in it that will very likely discolor the fur. Quebracho extract is an option. It is a natural product that has been through a manufacturing process, but it won't stain the fur.
One other option that I have not tried yet, (but would like to this coming spring) is using sumac leaves, which make a very light brown.. almost green, and should not stain the fur the way red oak would.
To answer the question: yes and no. If I were to bark tan a fur, I would submerge the whole thing in the bark liquor and not worry about the fur discoloration. If you are worried about the fur color, We might have to explore more options.
I'll try to find some information on different vegetables for tanning, and post some sort of color / stain table.

I believe RWC said he has some hockskins in his bark liquor. We'll see how badly it stains the fur on those.
I typically brain tan furs so they'll be softish and not so stiff. Might be worth trying on a little squirrel skin tho..

[crimescene450]

Bark tan furs are typically done with extracts, alum and salt in order to preserve the color of the furs. Our bark tan here has stains in it that will very likely discolor the fur. Quebracho extract is an option. It is a natural product that has been through a manufacturing process, but it won't stain the fur.
One other option that I have not tried yet, (but would like to this coming spring) is using sumac leaves, which make a very light brown.. almost green, and should not stain the fur the way red oak would.
To answer the question: yes and no. If I were to bark tan a fur, I would submerge the whole thing in the bark liquor and not worry about the fur discoloration. If you are worried about the fur color, We might have to explore more options.
I'll try to find some information on different vegetables for tanning, and post some sort of color / stain table.

I believe RWC said he has some hockskins in his bark liquor. We'll see how badly it stains the fur on those.
I typically brain tan furs so they'll be softish and not so stiff. Might be worth trying on a little squirrel skin tho..

im not really worried about fur color that much. I was thinking of trying this with a squirrel, just to learn the process. and i read somewhere that squirrel skin is too thin to remove the hair. like if you removed the hair, the hide would just rip when graining(?).

[rwc1969]

My hockskins are coming along nicely, in fact I think they've struck through. It's hard to tell as they are so thin you can't really see an inner part of the skin, it's paper thin almost.

But, the hair hasn't disolored much if at all.

I'm going to be testing for strikethrough on my deer skin in a day or two and will post pics and/ or vids of all.

Currying the hockskins will be a test as they are so thin it doesn't take much to tear them at all, you can tear them like a sheet of thick construction paper.

[your_comforting_company]

I have not tried to remove the hair and grain from squirrels. I have heard the same thing about graining them, CS. Might be time for me (us) to do some more experimenting

@RWC, Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you're not getting any bad staining. I might have a go at it myself! It's not like if I mess it up I've lost anything lol. Can't wait to see the pics!