Is there any special way to treat deer hide to get the hair for tying? I have friends who have volunteered to supply me with as much as I want.
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Is there any special way to treat deer hide to get the hair for tying? I have friends who have volunteered to supply me with as much as I want.
Makes sure you trim all the fat, meat and conective tissue from the skin. Wash the hair it in some dawn, stretch it and let it dry throughly. When it is dry, you can work it a bit to soften it up but it isn't necessary. Cut it up into workable pieces and you are good to go, one hide will last a lifetime but collect as many tails as you can. Treat them the same way. It is easiest to peel the tail skin off while the bone is still on the animal, but still possible if the tail is cut off. Good luck.
Chri Helms http:www.globalflyfisher.com/staff/helm/selecting air dries all of his hides after cleaning, indoors in the warmer months and outdoors when it is colder and the bugs are gone. No two hides are alike and some are different at times of the year. Read his article. BILL
The best hides is from the Taxidermest. Winter is better than fall the hair is longer.
Jeff
I can't agree with this at all. Taxidermist hair is brittle and dry.Quote:
Originally Posted by jcntheriver
Processing your own deer hide will give you hair that is clean and pliable. There is an oil that is secreted that keeps the hair water proof. Some of this oil remains after washing and makes the hair a joy to work with.
The very best deer hair comes from a fall bow season deer. Winter hair has oxidised tips that are not hollow. The winter hair is dark because of the oxidised tips and catches warmth from the sun for the animal in the winter. A fall killed deer is light color and hollow all the way to the tip of the hair.
Deer hide is easy to care for. Scrape all membrane and fat from the flesh side of the hide. Work from the neck down. Wash in a mild detergant and rinse well. Use warm water, not hot. Streatch the hide and let dry. If the weather is warm you can rub on some borax to help cure the hide and to keep flies off the hide. Do not use salt. If scraped well, flies won't bother the hide.
Good luck with your deer hide project.
fishbum
Fishbum, why do you say not to use salt on the deer hide? I did some sections of deer with salt last year and they seem to be fine to use, although this is the first I have tried so I have nothing to compare it to.
Garic:
Salt is not necessary if you have cleaned and dried the hide properly. Salt will draw moisture out of the air for a long time. This can make your skin sorta clamy at times. If you must put something on a hide then use borax. The borax won't draw moisture from the air . Like I said, if the hide is scraped and cleaned properly you won't need anything on it to preserve it.
It will be stiff but that just makes it easy to work with. I have even glued tanned deer hide (premo strips) to cardboard to get the hide stiff enough to be easy to work with. I don't like tanned hides for a number of reasons but sometimes it is expediant to use them.
fishbum