Deer hides/skin

[bashabuddy]

Forgive me if this is in wrong place - mods please feel free to move as required.

A paramedic friend of mine had recently told me he destroys over 120 deer hides every year! - As he doesn't know what else to do with them. I have spoken to him, and hes willing to let me have them for a small fee.

The usually are large Reds or Roes and hes an excellent shot (Head shots every time), question is this - how much would a full hide fetch on open market? - and would anyone be interested in this??????????

Just a small enquiry now as he's winding down til the summer? o and if im quick i could have access to a hide or 2 this weekend???

 

[Toddy]

Raw, untanned, undefleshed hides are worth nothing financially. They are only of value if you know someone who wants to do the work themselves, or have a tannery lined up with tanks ready to treat them.
Most hides are dumped in black bags and disposed of.

Fresh hide is just inedible dead meat really.
If you do take a couple and actually go through the work to make them into either rawhide or tanned, skin, you'll appreciate the amount of work that goes into making them sound.

Sorry to sound so negative, but there are 60,000 too many deer on the hills, most folks won't eat the meat and not many folks want the skins.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[jdlenton]

most folks won't eat the meat and not many folks want the skins.

I'll do both (apologies for the thread hijack )

 

[John Fenna]

I'll do both (apologies for the thread hijack )

Me too!

 

[Toddy]

Can you do 120 a year ?
From the handful of deer hunters I know, not one of them uses the hide. I think I'm the only person who has ever asked any of them to keep one for me.
The one that's soaking in a black bin in the garden just now came from a Sika I helped butcher just before Christmas. It was the first time my friend had ever taken the hide off specifically minimising damage because I wanted to tan the skin; and he's been shooting deer for over thirty years. He said to his friend who shot it to keep it clean because, "She wants it's jaikit ! "

If you want hides, they are available, but it's a lot of work and very few people are prepared to do it. Financially unless you are set up to do a dozen or so at a time, it's not worth it, and that's based on getting the skins for nothing.

As I said, sorry to sound so negative. They go to stink very quickly so either they'd need to be frozen and carefully packaged for postage or bagged and handed over asap after being shot.

cheers,
M

 

[Toadflax]

From my limited experience, you tan a hide (e.g. to buckskin) once to see how it is done and to know that you can do it but, with the effort involved, it just isn't worth the work to do it many more times, unless you are in a situation where you REALLY want to or REALLY need the hide tanned.

I'm glad I did the one that I did, but probably wouldn't do it again.


Geoff

 

[jdlenton]

Can you do 120 a year ?

err no ad
n your not being negative just a realist the logisitcs of it are unreasonable and as you both say the effort is a good thing to do the once.

 

[Toddy]

Do you want this one that's in the bucket to finish James ?
It's scraped, and the ice is nearly melted so I can get it out in a day or so and slip the last of the hair off it ?
It needs stretched, loads of handcream (or brains, or egg) worked into it. Dried out and then smoked. It's a nice hide though I can always get another if I want to have another go at it. I had only planned to do this one to show that the washing machine method worked, but the skin had been around too long to keep the pelt and then the snow came and froze the whole thing to a standstill.

cheers,
M

 

[jdlenton]

i would say yes but with ofstead looming and the new one I've not got the time ATM thankyou though what a great offer :You_Rock_

 

[Toddy]

No worries
If you find you want one later on, let me know and we'll find a good one for you.

cheers,
M

 

[forestwalker]

But if you braintan enought of them you can have some true bushcraft clothing! Ok, I only have a shirt so far, but I have two moose calves waiting for spring to be braintanned (probably w. eggs). And I'm going to braintan at least part of a an adult moose hide as well; what else to use when making winter moccasins like the ones RM wore in NW? And a fox, I like having predators around -- blanced ecosystem and all that -- but a nice, prime fox, braintanned and made into a fur ruff for my anorak...

 

[bashabuddy]

Excellent thanks Toddy and everyone else!

Thats the kind of answer I wanted. It was an offer from my mate on station, who knew i did the 'mad bushy Ray Mears thing' and wondered if i could put use to them. 'm more tempted with the meat tho. Its a very comical site on base when he does the meat hand over of a nearly full Red skinned ready for preparation coming out of the ambulance station!

Many people passing station at the wrong time have had to take second looks of a body being dragged into a van from the station!!!!!!! :yikes:

Thanks again for the honesty. Its what i have grown to love about this site!!!!!

:You_Rock_

 

[forestwalker]

Quick add to my previous post.

I agree with Toddy that there is a lot of work in a hide, and virtually no value before the work (the tanneries around here pay SEK 80 -- say UKP 6 or so -- for an adult moose hide). The resulting product has some advanages: windproof, extremely durable, campfire spark proof, etc), but is also not as good as wool in the wet. The relative amount of work is one reason the eastern First Nations tribes very quickly adopted fabrics.

The reason I want a full set of paleolithic clothes is to be able to test them under field conditions (say on a one week survival trek). I've tested viking age[1], so now I need to test paleolithical before I test "transitional" (i.e. a mix of wool and braintan moose and deer).

But if the meat is going to waste that is horrid. No way to have it passed by a vet and given to a local school?


[1] The true high points were the loose hood (very nice for sleeping and mosquito avoidance, since it could be conbined with the linnen tunic as well as with the wool one), and the "foot-wraps" as opposed to socks (better drying time). And the long tunic was also quite nice for both day wear and sleeping (when crossing boggy regions one could take off the pants and shoes and have dry clothes at the end of the day, at the price of a few mosquite bites).

 

[dogwood]

The reason I want a full set of paleolithic clothes is to be able to test them under field conditions (say on a one week survival trek). I've tested viking age[1], so now I need to test paleolithical before I test "transitional" (i.e. a mix of wool and braintan moose and deer).

You're right -- brain tan isn't nearly as good as wool for outdoor clothing (then again, NOTHING is as good as wool for outdoor clothing

However, you do have to try it for the paleolithic experience! I did too, a number of years ago. It's unforgettable to spend a few days in full-on paleo woods running. I can't wait to hear your account of it.

Have you read "Dance of the Tiger?" -- that's the English name for a Finnish novel about Paleolithic Scandinavia. It's quite a good read.

Good luck with you moose.

What you will find, I'm sure, is that the moose moccasins are great -- moose is the best moccasin material of all. Braintanning moose is a helluva lot of work -- but I seem to recall that you've done it before. Personally, I have to work up to it mentally when I do moose because I know how much work is involved.. (Just finishing bark tanning a very troublesome elk hide for moccasins myself...)

Someday, I really want to do a hair-on bison brain tan...

 

[forestwalker]

However, you do have to try it for the paleolithic experience! I did too, a number of years ago. It's unforgettable to spend a few days in full-on paleo woods running. I can't wait to hear your account of it.

If the two calves turn out ok I should be set for this summer.

Have you read "Dance of the Tiger?" -- that's the English name for a Finnish novel about Paleolithic Scandinavia. It's quite a good read.

No, but there was a bunch written back in the first quarter of the 20th century (educational boys adventure stories, a pretty much stone dead niche these days), and I recall reading the ones I could find with great fascination <mumble> decades ago, and trying to figure out techniques based on the books (see, I was strange even as a child). These days I know too much to enjoy them.