Skinning & Tanning

[Tiberius Claudius]

Utah has a wonderful coyote reduction program about to kick off in September whereby it will be open season and folks will be paid $50 to bring in both ears and a lower jaw.

I'm planning to acquire hides for some garb items and I'd like to chat with anyone who has experience and knowledge on the best ways to skin and preserve a hide. I've skinned deer before and the internet has given me some good pointers, but I really am lost in the sauce regarding the preservation so it can be used as clothes.

Appreciate any help, thanks.

[Taxfrog]

I'm totally going to post here, even though I have never personally done it.

Try this link.

Again, I have NO experience, so sorry if I wasted your time.

Also, if you're going to get 50 bones for the kill, you may want to see how much it would cost a tannery to do it for you. From everything I've heard ever, tanning is disgusting, stinking work. You may also spend more money on getting tubs, scrapers, etc than you would paying the pros.

Best of luck.

[Thrush Svartehjertet]

I'm totally going to post here, even though I have never personally done it.

Try this link.

Again, I have NO experience, so sorry if I wasted your time.

Also, if you're going to get 50 bones for the kill, you may want to see how much it would cost a tannery to do it for you. From everything I've heard ever, tanning is disgusting, stinking work. You may also spend more money on getting tubs, scrapers, etc than you would paying the pros.

Best of luck.

It is **** nasty... I'd never try it again, and I gut deer and stuff regularly... Just not worth it. I have a grown up job so I don't have to do nasty things. lol

Thrush
berserk

[Tiberius Claudius]

Thanks gents, I had seen that posted link earlier and it got me doing more searching. I ended up with these lovely docs:

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/L-101.pdf
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/l-103.pdf

The number one issue I was seeing in my studies was all the body fluids leaking out of the hides as they were salted. I can leave the carcass in the field, but dealing with the rest of the juices in my backyard was the real question in my mind - attracting flies, stink, neighbors complaining, wife complaining, etc. I suppose double bagging the grossness might help alleviate it rather than just letting it spill onto the ground, but

Also, if you're going to get 50 bones for the kill, you may want to see how much it would cost a tannery to do it for you.

I have a grown up job so I don't have to do nasty things. lol

seem to be golden words of wisdom.

[Sluj]

ive done it once before with my grandfather, and it really didnt stink as bad as you would think. and there werent really any flies around it at all. the only thing is that the hide is really stiff, which would make me think that i wouldnt be very comfortable garb. thats just using the salt tanning method.

[Thrush Svartehjertet]

You scrape them while they are stiff, but the final product gets more treatment to make it supple again.

Yeah man, it's just a lot of work... It's only worth it if you need to prove something to yourself or can make money doing it large scale... also, we wound up with ticks crawling everywhere in the basement we were working in. Yes, the ticks were STILL ALIVE after the salting process. It wa liek a **** horror move. We each did one hide, and after scraping them and dropping ticks in a candle between the 4 of us... we quit and said if we needed furs so bad, we'd buy them.

Shoot your deer, gut your deer, pay for butchering and buy the fur! lol

Thrush
berserk

[Ravn The Skinner]

The New Mexico State University doc you posted is the one that I use. Go with the alum tanning method. Nuts.com has alum for a good price. Most big grocery stores have washing soda and borax. build yourself a quick fleshing post by putting a t-post in the ground at an angle that would put the top of it at your navel. Then throw a 4" diameter pvc pipe over that, make it comfortable to lean on by capping the pvc with an elbow joint. When you start fleshing, keep a small bucket with a trash bag in it for the meaty bits. I use an apron that I made out of a plastic table cloth so I don't get juices on me. tada, now you can start fleshing. lay skin on pvc flesh up, get scrapin. Use something not too dull but not too sharp either. I use an old hoe, sharpened on a grinding wheel a bit. Its easy to tell the dif between skin and meat, and you wont hurt the skin by being rough on it as long as you don't accidentally slip the knife/scraper sideways and slice the skin. That's not good. That process shouldn't take long for a coyote at all, two hours tops. Make your salt/alum solution as per nmsu instructions in a PLASTIC container, metal will react with the tanins in the skin and turn it ugly bruisy colors. (same process as in my vinagaroon tutorial only not controlled.) Stir twice a day if you can, but once is enough.You cant really over do this step, I would leave a pelt that size in for four days to a week. Also, make sure it is completely submerged in the solution or rot can set in and ruin it. It should be looking kinda like wet leather by the end of this, which it is. Rinse it in water. Make a frame, doesn't matter how, but its best to make it out of wood and just a bit bigger than the hide. Nail hide to frame and use a stick that has been rounded on top (shovel handle at hardware store=perfect) to stretch it out while you poor your oil on it to finish it. Let it dry and stretch it some more and take a sanding block to it before you take it down and rinse it one last time and there you go, soft suede leather pelt.

Some tips
You can stop after the fleshing process by dumping a * load of salt onto the flesh side, letting it dry out and keeping it somewhere dry until your ready to continue working if you want.

Don't do this in your basement, that's gross and not very smart. Its really not that messy but still, that's like serial killer * right there. You really want this in the open air, just like you would do your dapping outside during weapon/shield construction. Garage if nothing else.

Do this in the fall or winter if you can, best time for it. Late september or october would be good to start. Or at least take a hard learned lesson from me and don't do this when its one hundred and eight f'n degrees outside. That was terrible.

Get ALL of the things you will need beforehand, make a list. You don't want to be standing there with your thumb up your butt with a missing ingredient for you solution or whatever. I put everything in a little kit that is easy to carry around
Scrapper
Salt
Rubber gloves (disposable)
Alum, Borax, Washing Soda.
Really sharp knife or long razor.

Don't be a wiener, its no different than dealing with raw meat that your going to bbq. yeah, your civilized mind is going to say "dear goodness, this is unclean" but really, Its just meat. And as for the juices, do this in your yard and keep a bucket under it while you flesh it, its not half as messy as some people might make it sound.

Don't let other peoples attempts gone awry stop you. Just like foam fighting or any other skill, you don't start out awesome, your first hide may not come out perfect, but you learn so much from it and your next one will be better. Your lucky, tagging the coyote and cashing in the parts (wow that is grizzly, especially getting that lower jaw off...) will pay for pretty much everything you need right off the bat. Literally you will pretty much be getting paid to try tanning. That is cool. And this is a really fun hobby, you learn a lot, and at least in my case, a surprising number of friends will want to help you.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

[Tiberius Claudius]

Thanks Ravn.

I'm still in the decision phase, but your post gives me confidence. I'll update as/when I even get to bag my first yote.

[Thrush Svartehjertet]

Yeah, doing it in a basement is stupid. We had a tarp and plastic, it was still nasty, definitely an open air activity! lol And eff ticks! Good luck.

Thrush
berserk