Hide Tanning Season

[dreadi]

Probably somewhere in the Cascades when it cools off.

[NWGunner]

What's OM stand for?

YL = Young Lady

OM = Old Man



Much luv to Sir Dreadly

[dreadi]

What's OM stand for?

YL = Young Lady

OM = Old Man



Much luv to Sir Dreadly

Lol.

After a six hour salt bath the hide is laid out to drain. Once it dries I will take a wire wheel to it.

[NWGunner]

Hey Dread-

Interesting question....well, at least to me....

Is there anything different that you have to do here that you wouldn't have to do in a colder climate?

I mean, I get that you had it on ice & stuff, but once you start curing/tanning, is there something extra you have to do, or not do, when in a cold climate vs hot climate, and vice versa?

[3584ELK]

Good man, Dreadi. It looks like you are on your way to a nice result.

[dreadi]

Hey Dread-

Interesting question....well, at least to me....

Is there anything different that you have to do here that you wouldn't have to do in a colder climate?

I mean, I get that you had it on ice & stuff, but once you start curing/tanning, is there something extra you have to do, or not do, when in a cold climate vs hot climate, and vice versa?

I don't know. I've only tanned here and this is my second hide. What I do know is that I've consistently read that in modern times, people wait for nice weather if they primarily work outside. The trappers that I've watched on Netflix or YouTube don't have that luxury. They skin, flesh, and stretch etc etc quite soon after the kill.

I almost can't believe it's still wet after laying out for over nine hours outdoors.

[NWGunner]

Hey Dread-

Interesting question....well, at least to me....

Is there anything different that you have to do here that you wouldn't have to do in a colder climate?

I mean, I get that you had it on ice & stuff, but once you start curing/tanning, is there something extra you have to do, or not do, when in a cold climate vs hot climate, and vice versa?

I don't know. I've only tanned here and this is my second hide. What I do know is that I've consistently read that in modern times, people wait for nice weather if they primarily work outside. The trappers that I've watched on Netflix or YouTube don't have that luxury. They skin, flesh, and stretch etc etc quite soon after the kill.

I almost can't believe it's still wet after laying out for over nine hours outdoors.

Thanks....I just wondered if, like in the Northern Yukon territories, or something, there might be less deterioration, so perhaps a step could be skipped, whereas, with the current heat levels here, an additional step may need to be added (like something that deals with your still wet issue....

I read something about Titanium dioxide coatings on some kind of hide that dealt with heat transfer, and something else about using a vaccum for short term storage....

It's all muddled in my pea brain and led to my odd question

Thanks for listening

[dreadi]

Not much to post since there wasn't much light and I was working against the sun. I took a wire wheel to the hide and thinned out the areas that looked like they needed t and gave a scouring to the rest of the hide. I've never used this method/tool.


This is pre-thinning and it was mostly dry. After that it was a warm soapy bath to remove salts and grease. I submerged and rinsed it a number of times and the water was still brown. Eventually I just stuck with submerging in clean water and rinsing until all the soap came out.
A few people have asked how big the elk was. Tomorrow I'll show you hide on a rail and you'll see.

[usrifle]

As far as Elk goes, all i know is they taste good.
Nice job dreadi.

[dreadi]

As far as Elk goes, all i know is they taste good.
Nice job dreadi.

Thank you. We agree. This week we've been eating elk burritos and elk roast.

[dreadi]

Hmmm. Still wet this morning and I wasn't impressed with my work. More scraping, this time with the fleshing beam and knife. Not much came off but, I got some hair off the flesh side and a little bit of this and that. The flies were still interested in the but hole and I found three ticks in the hide. I think they were new ticks.



Now it's time to add the tanning formula and massage in.



The hide gets folded flesh to flesh for while the formula does its thing. While folding I took the time to inspect a couple wounds. The first is the entry and exit of my first shot.






These are the last shots I made from the rifle, opposite side. Or they may be the passthrough from the initial shot. They are in a very similar spot and I can't recall which side was broad when I took my last shot. None of the rifle rounds were recovered.






Also, as promised, a pic of the hide length.

[Pablo]

How does it smell now?

[dreadi]

I don't smell sage anymore. I smell elk, soap, salt, and citrus. Mostly still elk.

[dreadi]

I broke off from the instructions of letting sit for 12-16 hours and left it for nearly 24 hours. It doesn't seem to have hurt anything.



Over the next 2-3 days I'm supposed to be pulling it and stretching it as it dries until it's soft.

[dreadi]

After seven hours in the shade it was starting to dry and we went out to stretch it. Boy, is that some work.
This year I'm not making a frame due to not having an area large enough that stays shaded. We will be pulling and stretching all by hand.
Here it is for now.


The areas that more brighter than other have been stretched well. I believe it's partially due to how dry those areas are. No matter how much pulling and pushing we did, some areas would not show a stretch.