Where can I get lots of cheap rawhide????

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

I want some rawhide for backing but dont like being robbed, wanted to shave and dry some from a deer my dad got this year but the dog had other plans for the few strips that I cut so I gave that idea up before I thought of finding a way of keeping the dog away. Where can I find some cheap&good rawhide

[Pat B]

The "Trading Post"!   
   You don't have to tan rawhide. It is just that RAW HIDE just dried and the hair remover.   It doesn't take long to make rawhide if you can find a fresh deer hide.
  You might check Moscow Hide and Fur or look through the Classified Ads in PA Magazine. Deer or goat rawhide are both thin but strong. Good candidates for backing material.

[TurtleCreek]

Not sure what you mean by "lots", but if you PM me your address, I will ship you a set of deer rawhide backing strips to get you started.

[Lone500]

do dogs make good rawhide? just jokin 

ive heard squirrels make decent rawhide? when you tan rawhide it becomes leather. rawhide is just hide that is raw.

[SA]

look up tandy leather factory thats were i get mine  ,you can get sheets with enough to to back several bows for about $30. i think they are called rawhide bends-6sq ft

[Pat B]

Shawn, what kind of rawhide does Tandy's sell? Cow is too thick unless you thin it.

[adb]

Tandy sells excellent deer rawhides. They don't often have them, so you have to be patient. If you purchase a whole hide and cut them yourself, you can get matched pairs for less than $10.

[Bevan R.]

I buy goat rawhide. The last I looked (just cut up my last one) they run approx $30-$40. The last bunch I got on sale for $20.

And yes, dog can make good rawhide. Just ask JW.

[country]

I bought some drum covers   (this was goat rawhide)  worked great on my last hickory/sinew bow.... $12 on ebay

[JW_Halverson]

The classic hide used for the Irish bodhran is dog, with goat running a close second.  I prefer goat because if I kill it for a hide I'm gonna eat it.  I'm still minding fences with my last neighbor over Rover. 

He was dog-gone good, though!   

Michael Foltmer advertises in PA in the classifieds.  He sells high quality antelope and deer rawhides.  He goes to the processor and hand picks the hides and only takes the largest hides.  If you have shorter limbs you can cut your strips from side to side from the antelope and probably back 6 or more bows for under $40 including shipping!  With his larger mule deer hides you could get as many as 8 bows from a single hide.

[SA]

patb , it is cow hide about 1/16'' thick i usually sand it down a tad seems to work ok.
what would be to thick ? just courious i've only backed a few bows with rawhide.
how thin can you get with rawhide ?

[Bevan R.]

I measured a piece of my goat rawhide. It is less them 1 mm thick.

[Knapper]

You can also look up springfield leather. I've been doing business with them for years and their great folks

[Pat B]

Sa, it is more a question of physical weight added to the bows limb. Any thickness rawhide will protect the back of the bow.