Preparing a moosehide - there's a first time for everything.

[RonW]

Warning: this post contains images that might be considered graphic or shocking to some. That's usually the kind that believes meat is manufactured by grocerystores.

Note to experienced hunters, skinworkers and the like; stop laughing and give me some tips on how to do it better next time!

Last sundaynight I received a FB-message (yes, I do that too *hangsheadinshame*) from one of my wife's former workmates. They had a mooseskin for me! With head! If I still wanted one? Well, yes! Of course! We could come and get it on monday. Work on monday prevented me getting it, so we went this morning. I was just hoping the hide was still reasonably fresh. Turns out the moose had been shot on sunday and the hide and head had been outside in constant below freezing temperatures. This presented us with a bit of a problem; a frozen hide.
After we took it home I made a makeshift rack by putting a log on top of my trestle in order to drape the hide over that, hoping to defrost it in the sun. Today and tomorrow should be the only days with non-freezingtemperatures during the afternoon.







After having studied the hide and head and having marvelled at its beauty, I took my knife and cut the head from the hide. Both were surprisingly "light". I had expected them to be much heavier.



It was a young bull, only a singlepointer, whích I kind of regret, since it did not get the chance to life a full life. Pitty really, as it was a beautiful animal. The ears would make some very fine pouches in themselves, if I only knew how to preserve them. The antlers will make some very fine buttons for my naturally dyed wooljacket!



Putting the hide over the trestle and spreading it took quite an effort. Unfortunately the hide showed several holes in it, but should still give a substantial amount of hide to prepare and tan.



The underside of the head; the tongue has been removed and I tried to cut loose the rest of the skin and flesh in order to expose the jaws. I might be able to use them and the teeth for some boneworkingprojects at a later state. Unfortunately were the jaws frozen shut... Note the structure of the inside of the cheek!



After that we had to leave the mooseremains for a while in order to visit my inlaws around lunch and by the time we returned the sun had started to set already. It is dark between 15:30 en 16:00. I had to see my father in law and ask what was the best way to extract the brains and with what tool. He has a little more knowledge about this than I do, due to his forensic policeworkyears prior to retirement. He suggested sawing the skull in a circulair way, but me being me I did it my own way and cut open the skull at the back of the head, right in front of the connecting backbone. I could see the brain through the hole in the backbone.



Good thing I did! These animals have thick skulls! Once I had made the cut, a bit more than a half circle, I pried it open and scooped out the brain with a spoon. It was surprisingly little for so large an animal! I check the skullcavaity twice, thinking I missed some!




Here's the cavity and thickness of the skull;


We could not help but admire this wonderfull thick fur. I so wish I could/can keep that! This is the part of the hide that runs along the backbone by the way. The hair was at least 10cm long.


We never got the hide to defrost actually. So I just rolled and folded the best that I could and, together with the brain, put it in the freezer untill spring will give at least a week of nonfreezing temperatures, so I can thaw, scrape, soak, smoke and work the hide. This should buy me the time in order to get or make myself some hideworkingtools, like scrapers.

Thanks to my wife for taking the pictures. We have more actually, but these are the least "gruesome" ones. In between taking pictures and cutting flesh or bone, we took plenty of time to study the head, the skull, the tissue, veins and what not. It's not everyday you can do your own anatomylesson on an animal under the open sky!
I have to admit that it felt weird and a little unrespectfull, sawing around on the skulls and antlers like I did, but inexperience offered me no alternative. I left the remaining head at the far end of our premises, so that maybe some animals can feed on it, during the cold times ahead. That way it will not be wasted. And in spring, when it has thawed and maybe is eaten clean mostly, I will collect at least the jaw and teeth and maybe other useable parts. As I left the skull I thanked the animal for the hide, antlers and other parts, but also for the lessons it provided and will provide me and us with in the future.

In hindsight I must say, that apart from the disrespectfull feeling, it felt weird doing all of this, but not unnatural. I think that is due to the fact that I am simply in no way used to it. This was only the second time I handled a dead animal or its remains in such a close way; the first time was the deerhide and -head, last winter. It was the first time I actually sawed bone, saw a brain (intact), felt, saw and smelled a (relatively) freshly killed animal inside and out.
Yet I also felt sorry in a way to see a specimen of the animal I personally hold dear lying there like that. All I can do is try and do my best to use the materials given to me as good as I can.

 

[Clouston98]

Very interesting read! I like that you respect the animal .

 

[British Red]

That's a great post - I have little to contribute as I know nothing about brain tanning - but its great to read a post about someone doing something for real and getting stuck in - good on yah!

 

[Chris the Cat]

I must echo what Red said, great post.
I have a red deer skin salted and curing in my garage, but like you I am taking it in smallish chunks.
Best of luck!

Chris.

 

[ozzy1977]

Great stuff, I think I will start on something smaller like a rabbit or squirrel

 

[raskusdrotti]

Thanks for this, very interesting!

 

[Gary Elson]

Hi
The fact you want to use the hide and have shown such an interest in the animal highlights the respect you feel towards it
A lack of respect would have been if it were not used and just thrown away
I use very small patches of deer hair for fly tying and am grateful for being able to use such beautiful materials
Just my opinion thanks for the post
Gaz

 

[HHazeldean]

That was a great post..a real interesting read.. How come you can't tan it with the hair on? Seems such a shame to lose that beautiful coat!

 

[RonW]

Thank you for your kind words!

@HHazeldean; as far as I understood it, the hide has its winterfur and that is loose and hollow. Therefor it will not remain attached to the skin. But I am hoping for comments that prove me wrong! It really is a fantastic fur!

 

[Niels]

Cool post dude. Most deer skins you buy on ebay are with winter fur still on, but they are chemically tanned rather than braintanned.
I've used moose leather in knife sheaths before and it works really well. Anyhow good luck with it!

 

[greensurfingbear]

Can only say I am in agreement with all the other compliments. Interesting stuff. Roll on spring eh


Orric

 

[VaughnT]

You can tan the hide with the hair on, but the hollow hairs will always break off, hence the "shedding" stories you hear about. If you don't use it roughly, it would take decades before the pelt was unsightly.

Of course, it's also significantly harder to tan a hide with the hair on rather than off.

The holes in the hide can be sewn closed just prior to stretching the hide soft. This will flatten out the seams and give you more workable skin. Using fine cotton or real sinew will make the seam almost invisible.

On a skin that big, I'd wet scrape the flesh side, then soak in a mix of lye and water to "buck" the skin. This loosens the hair and epidermis (grain) so it's easier to remove with a fleshing knife. Then it's a matter of braining the hide, stretching it soft and smoking it. Very easy for me to write all that out, but what a chore to actually do it on a skin that big!

I would also encourage you to think about other things you could make with the skin. An animal that big should have a nice, thick skin just perfect for a heavier rawhide that can be very handy for 'parfleche' products. If not all of it, at least some of it like the leg skins (makes a really neat sheath if you leave the hair on!).

I prefer wet scrape over dry scrape, though it might be easier to soften the skin in a frame. Thicker hides like that can be a bear to soften by yourself. Don't know if you can talk a friend into helping as it tends to be a stinky procedure and strongly resembles work. Still worth a try.

 

[RonW]

Thanks for the tips, Vaughn! That was what I was after!
So you think I could keep the winterfur? That would be fantastic and absolutely worth the extra work! On the other hand, the idea of some decent mooseskin mocassins.....
What is parfleche? The legpieces will be saved with the hair on. I have some knives lying around.

 

[Dreadhead]

nice one Ron! helped skin and butcher four moose a few weeks ago and then we salted all the skins and began the prep on another removing all the nasty bits and began some scraping. they are bloody hard work due to how big and tough they are. wish we had stayed around to continue working on them, but have had enough of those moose flys they are a nightmare done three sheepskins a fortnight ago too, what a difference!

 

[THOaken]

This was a very fascinating read, RonW. I admire your reverence of the animal. I'm sure its body won't go to waste.

 

[VaughnT]

Ron, you can definitely tan it with the hair on, just be ready for hairs everywhere. On a critter like that, there's a lot of hair and it will be constantly shedding even if you just drape it over the back of the couch for a showpiece.

The real problem would be getting the hair to remain firm throughout the tanning process. I would go with lacing the hide in a frame and removing all the meat, fat and membrane. Doing it over a beam with the wet scrape technique will work to damage the hair side of the skin, which isn't normally a problem because the hair's coming off anyway.

After fleshing really good, and while the skin's still pliable, I would smoke the hide. The "pre smoke" session will help prevent bug problems and give you a leg up on the brain penetration. A lot of tanners like to pre smoke a hide and report very positive results.

Keep the brains to a minimum, stretching with a paddle while in the frame, but don't expect the hide to be buttery soft like a lot of brain tan will. With the epidermis still intact, the hide will want to be rather stiff and this is normal. I've not tanned a moose, but generally speaking, the larger hides are tougher hides and don't want to stretch like small skins will. Hair-on hides are even stiffer because the epidermis resists stretching.

It can be tanned with the hair on, just know what you're getting in to. I might also recommend that you visit a taxidermist and have them do a chemical tan on it. Might be "expensive" at first glance, but figure in your time and labor and it gets real cheap real fast. They can also preserve the hair in place with almost 100% success. No worse feeling than to get 75% of the way through the tanning and then see bald spots start appearing because rot got into the hide.....

Parfleche? http://www.google.com/search?q=parf...LmkAePpIDIAg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1065&bih=888

 

[RonW]

Since I am not ready for hairs everywhere, I'll go for hairless. And it's a first one, so I want it to be as simple as possible.
And maybe keep some small pieces with hair for indeed knifesheaths or a pouch or something, since that is what I want to hide for; as a material to make things.

Thanks again!
I'll show my progress in due time.

 

[Two Socks]

Fantastic thread RonW. I know nothing about these things and I really enjoy learning along like this. Thanks.

 

[VaughnT]

If you want the hair off rather quick and easy, buck it!

I don't know how your weather is, but if you can keep a bucket of water from freezing, you can remove the hair really easy (even if just to make a smaller package for storage) by adding lye to a few gallons of water and soaking the skin in it for two days or so. The lye solution (bucking) loosen the hair to the point that you can wipe it off with your hand, though a garden hose is better. Then you need to neutralize the acid by a clean-water soak.

Bucking is an accepted thing in most wet-scrape circles because it loosens the epidermis as well. When you do go to remove the epidermis, a lye solution is your friend!!!

If you want some of the tag ends for hair-on rawhide, go ahead and process them now. It's a lot easier to work a skin that's rather rectangular, so removing the odd bits like the legs will only make things easier for you. They don't have a lot of meat and fat on them, so all you need to do is give them a good scraping with you knife (I do this over my knee) and then tack the thing to a board so it can dry flat. Make sure you use a big nail that you can get a good grab on so you can stretch the skin a bit as you tack it in place. I go with a light stretch at first, and then work nails wider once I get the whole thing down. The skin will want to stretch more in one direction than the other and you want to stick with that. Don't try to force it or it will "rebound" to it's natural shape if it ever gets wet enough.

Tubular drying, if you want to keep the leg skin whole instead of flat, is easy to do if you use a pipe as the "bone" and pack sand tightly between the bone and skin. It's a bit awkward to do, but I like to be able to blow hot air down the pipe for a faster drying.

 

[The Cumbrian]

Hey Ron.

If you decide to get rid of the hair, don't forget that moose hide is the preferred material for moccasins.

Cheers, Michael.