A Goldmine of Sinew:

[Comancheria]

So let's combine two facts:

First, yours truly, having read everything in sight, is highly sensitive to the recommendation that a first bow should be backed.  (I even suspect that, while I build up a little confidence, I will start with a red oak board backed with Sheetrock tape similar to the one in "Backyard Bowyer").  Then on to sinew.

Second, now that you mention sinew, where to get some?  Well, the State of Texas has a deer population larger than the human populations of half the states in the Union.  So a call to a guy about 40 miles down the road--a guy I don't even know--who runs a wild game processing plant.  I drive over, thinking this good old boy will try to have me committed, explain to him what body parts I want and what I will do with them--and come away with about 20 legs.  He tells me I can have "...thousands if I want them....".  I tell him I want to stay married, so all I will need is about a hundred for this year.  (I figure that should keep me warm, hammering and splitting fduring the cold, hard South Texas winter.). So he is sawing off and freezing 100 HIND legs from only big bucks.  That should hold me a while. 

Now if I can just get the wife to urinate on some Buckskin and chew it, I will be all set for a handle.

Best regards,

Russ

[osage outlaw]

Follow the tendon up through the knee to get the most length that you can.

[Drewster]

Hey Russ, good luck with the wife   

[Knoll]

Good thinking!

[Aaron H]

Plenty of people here would love to trade you for some of that sinew, myself included!  Get as much as you can, dry it out and store it away

[duke3192]

Me too, send info on how to contact this person.

[Comancheria]

I was thinking I will definitely cut out and dry as much as I can get (and handle) this year, dry the unprocessed tendons out completely, then try do even more next year--and share widely.  The good news is that our season, including archery, rifle, youth, and special
"Slaughter" (my term) permits, runs over three months.

Osage Outlaw: not sure what your an by going up through the knee--could you elaborate?

Best regards,

Russ

[osage outlaw]

You can follow the tendon through the knee and find where it attaches to the muscle.  It gets you a few extra inches.  I can take pictures on the next one we kill.  Processing all that sinew gets old quick.  I did around 200 legs last season.

[JackCrafty]

Sounds good there, Comancheria.  I did the same thing a few years ago.

A few things to keep in mind:

With all those legs, there's going to be some tendons that will smell pretty "ripe" when you try and dry them out.  I recommend that you toss those away and only keep the freshest smelling tendons.  The sinew will be stronger as well.

The front-of-the-bone tendons are easier to process than the rear-of-the-bone tendons when you get to the part when you are pounding the dry tendon to soften it enough to separate into strands.  If you can get hundreds of legs, you might want to keep only the easiest-to-process tendons.  Just something to think about that will save time later.

The skin is difficult to remove from the lower leg.  Be prepared for some work.

Good luck with the sinew!  I made a video a while back that may help you with the processing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZibFv1Si8&list=UU_Dj6JqOd5Naz6Nguw3c0aQ

 

[osage outlaw]

Get some hook blade utility knife blades.  They unzip a deer leg better than anything else I have found.

[PatM]

The hock is the first large joint in the hind leg. The " knee" in animals is actually up almost in their groin.
 I doubt you're going to get a game processor to do much more than cut through the hock. They need to leave the tendon above that to hang the carcass from.
 Their is no need to remove any skin when getting tendons out. You just need to slit through it in one cut.

[Comancheria]

Great video--my thanks.  I am having a bit of a struggle though, with the anatomy.  I have butchered a number of deer but may be confusing "hock" and "knee".  If you start at the ankle, down by the hoof, I think of that as the hock.  Then the next joint up (about ten to fourteen inches), I call the knee.  This processor is cutting the leg off just above that.  Am I losing anything?

[DC]

What you are calling the knee is actually the heel. Like Pat said the actual knee is right up by the body. The deer is actually standing on tip toes

[PatM]

The tendons extend up past the hock for several inches where they blend into the muscles. You are missing some but it's not worth worrying about. The processor is not going to do surgery for you.
 Take a close look at a deer leg and you will clearly be able to see the corresponding structures in your own feet.
 What we use as sinew is actually what you have between your heel and the ball of your foot. It'd just all condensed into a rounder group of tendons.
 In the front leg it's the palm of your hand that corresponds.
 The front "knee" is the wrist of a person.

[Comancheria]

Got it.  Thanks for the lesson!