Tanning with road kill....

[Blood]

Hi all
I imagine its likely to have been covered so please excuse me

Been on the road a bit making deliveries lately and have seen a lot of road kill and after watching jerimiah Johnson again I somehow got to thinking could and would I collect road kill to try and learn how to tan and cure, tenuous link at best I know

So here are the thoughts I have,
has anyone tried to do this before? Most likely....
Would it be classed as quite frankly disgusting? Definitely!!
Would there be health implications for me? Possibly.
Would it be better to try and learn this from an animal that's already dead, not from my hand, to try and 'honour' it's uses whilst learning, than to purposely kill and most likely screw it all up and it be a waste?
Will the missus be insanely angry with me for do doing this in the garden, teaching the boys? Oooohhhhh yes!!

Any tips welcome

Many thanks

 

[Cromm]

It being roadkill there's a good chance it has bust it's guts, which isn't going to smell very nice when you cut it open, so you should be ready for that, depending on the animal there could be ticks on it as well if it is fresh so watch out for that. And remember to keep the brains as you can use them to tan the skin

 

[Jonbodthethird]

Tbh as a hunter my self being its road kill I wouldn't bother it takes as little as a few hours for the ruptured offal to tarnish the meat. Not only that do you know exactly how long it's been there? Did you see the creatures demise from a car infront? I've had pheasant from when it went in to my dads grill on his truck and it was nice. Mainly because I gutted it instantly and I knew how long it was dead (less than a minute).


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[John Fenna]

Tbh as a hunter my self being its road kill I wouldn't bother it takes as little as a few hours for the ruptured offal to tarnish the meat. Not only that do you know exactly how long it's been there? Did you see the creatures demise from a car infront? I've had pheasant from when it went in to my dads grill on his truck and it was nice. Mainly because I gutted it instantly and I knew how long it was dead (less than a minute).


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I would not imagine that the condition of the hide is as time sensitive as the meat....

 

[Blood]

Thanks for the comments

I know it's gonna hum ding if the guts are split, I have a place in mind where I can gralloch and wash the remains well away from home as the first prep.
Perhaps a day or two in the freezer wrapped in a sealed plastic bag to kill off any bugs, along with storing the brains... SWMBO will have to be out to sneak it in.....
Not interested in the meat, just the hide n brains to do the cure. Gonna have to do some more research for this I know. Cue the gruesome videos...

 

[Jonbodthethird]

I would not imagine that the condition of the hide is as time sensitive as the meat....

Haha! Silly me! I thought he wanted the meat! I always think with my stomach! Get it off now or the few days before rot settles in.


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[Quixoticgeek]

Thanks for the comments

I know it's gonna hum ding if the guts are split, I have a place in mind where I can gralloch and wash the remains well away from home as the first prep.
Perhaps a day or two in the freezer wrapped in a sealed plastic bag to kill off any bugs, along with storing the brains... SWMBO will have to be out to sneak it in.....
Not interested in the meat, just the hide n brains to do the cure. Gonna have to do some more research for this I know. Cue the gruesome videos...

Note, as an alternative to brain tanning of the hide, you could also consider tawing it with alum, there is a guide over at Downsizer that gives useful instructions.

J

 

[Jonbodthethird]

This is how I do it. put it in a bag cover it in salt first helps dry the moisture out. Leave it a couple of days to dry then start using the knife but carefully just run it over and pull the fat off. When it's all skin and no fat just do the old fashioned method of breaking the fibres. Once it feels pliable wash it and let it dry I ussually add in some conditioner for the fur. After That it's dried I egg wash the Hyde and then smoke it afterwards. You can tan something all day long some people even use hand cream but if you don't smoke it it will not last as long! Smoking penetrates the fibres and makes it last much longer. You can't just tan and leave it.


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[Jonbodthethird]

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[Blood]

Thanks john, that sounds good. Smoking is something I've read into before and seems quite traditional as apposed to the alum method. I remember seeing a post on here a long time ago on here were somebody used a large beans tin, a denim cloth 'insulator' sewn onto the fur once it was sewn into a tube... Digging me thinks