Big fella into buckskin/Smoking/Lots of pics./Items made

[BowEd]

Thanks fellas appreciate the encouragement.It was very pleasant here today so I took the hide out of the frig that was inside a plastic bag out to rope a while.I used to use a hay mow hemp rope 1.25" thick.Wore that through a few times so I now just use a nylon tow rope maybe an inch thick.Used lariats before too that worked fine.Anyway on this big hide I would rope & stretch 15 to 20 minutes.Put it back in the bag 15 to 20 minutes etc. through out the day.If it was out of the bag I was roping and stretching it.It is nearly dry I would say but will leave it overnight in the bag in the frig and rope on it some tomorrow morning a while to finish it up.It's  coming along nicely overall.On these yearling hides I used to just rope it clean through in one session but am over 60 now so will take it a little easy with this beasty.
The idea in roping is to get the center portion of the hide/the neck/and the hip areas which are thickest stretched to the max.Grabbing larger handfuls of hide from the edges to stretch a shorter portion of hide in the center accomplishes this for me.The thinner edges are'nt much to stretch.
Next will be smoking it.I like to sew the hide with my singer the edges lengthwise to a tube from neck to hind legs.Sew a skirt onto the bottom or the rear of the hide.Set up a tripod and suspend it over a cut off 30 gallon barrel where my smudge fire will be inside.I use hickory bark for this.It'll force the smoke right through the leather which is what I want.I will take pics of that too.For now here's pics of the roping.
A person really has to rip into it.

[Pappy]

Looking good.
Pappy
 

[BowEd]

Thanks Pappy.I'll have to wait a while for the temp to get up there later in the day to rope it completely dry.Kinda cool here this morning.I don't think that'll dry it much yet.Hopefully show the final outcome of it this evening.The hardest part to me is done anyway.
Back in the 80's there were no seminars or work shops to show a person how to do this brain tanning except from a book so a person had to rely on their persistence to get it done.A number of disappointing attempts in the beginning.
Makes a person appreciate the effort Indians went through to get it done,but I'm sure they knew better from repitition the more efficient ways to get success.

[bjrogg]

Yes one can see why they looked to their elders. No you tube, e-net, or even books. If they didn't pass it down it was lost until some one else rediscovered it. Thanks for posting and being our elder. I'm pretty sure they would have made use of even their failed attempts.

[BowEd]

Yes just because the leather does'nt turn out soft as flannel does'nt mean it's useless.

[BowEd]

Well the leather got dry by noon here.Maybe 20 more minutes of roping was what it took.Once the leather starts springing back when you stretch it,it is dry for sure then.So for 7.50 worth of brains and about 9 hours or so of work there is close to 14 square foot of nice robust brain tan worth on the open market around $250.00 as is.If used to make into something 4 to 5 times that.Ironic that from all the deer I shot with a muzzleloader/the road kills tanned too from the rendering plant that this is the biggest and thickest whitetail deer hide I've done to date.Shot with a winged elm self bow and a dogwood arrow.Feel as though I got my isometric excersize for the week that's for sure.....lol.Good place to show it on this forum.

The hole came out great too.Hair side shown.

[bjrogg]

That is a sweet looking hide  Beadman . I wonder how many calories that took. Gets your heart rate up there to

[Aaron H]

Super nice results Ed, thanks for taking the time to share this with us.  Can't wait to see the color you get from the hickory bark.

[Stringman]

Do your edges end up a little dry and stuff?

I always struggle to get it flannel soft all the way out to the edge. Usually have about an inch all the way around that is stiff and rough to feel.

[BowEd]

Yes Scott at times a narrow band can get stiff on the outer edges.More some places than others.It's just the way it is.Most times I sew on that to get it into a tube for smoking.
bjrogg...A couple bowls of cherrios into this hide for sure....lol.
Finished smoking it later in the day yesterday.About an hour on each side.Making a small bed of hardwood coals to start with...say an 8" circle.Then I just use shagbark hickory bark on it to smoke it.I sit with it the whole time with a squirt water bottle to be safe.Fire and leather don't mix.Usually I don't have any flare ups but I make sure.A person does'nt want too big a bed of coals for my way here to start with.It'll get too hot.A good rule of thumb is if I can't leave my hand inside it it's too hot.Many ways to smoke hides this is just mine and seems to take the least amount of time.Sewn tightly not much smoke ever escapes.It mostly drives right through the leather.Here's some pics.
The set up

A glimpse of the smoke it makes.Pretty intense.

One side done & color I like.

Picture of hole repaired.

Doing it where it is calm and no wind will do the best job.Too windy might cause flare ups and really the smoking can get streaky then too.I try to get as nice and even a smoke job on both sides the best I can.

[BowEd]

Looking at the hide after smoking will totally reveal every scar on it.This deer had been shot a couple of times with a three way broadhead.But lived.Since I figured he was at least a 5 to 6 year old animal he had been in many fights and the scars along his neck and shoulders reveal that.His neck is over 18" wide.The final tally of square footage is right at 14 square foot finished.About right what I figured it would be.

[BowEd]

I wanted to mention that if a person does'nt fix the holes before smoking a small wad of toilet paper stuffed into it will smoke it nice and evenly right up to the edges of the hole.Otherwise leaving the smoke come out of that hole will produce a very dark area around the hole from the smoke when finished.

[DC]

How long did you smoke this one Ed? Equal time both sides?

[BowEd]

Yes just shy of an hour each side.I let it smoke for a half hour then check the color of it and go from there.Hotter the smoke the darker the smoke job generally.I try to find a happy medium.
The cut off 30 gallon barrel's edge on the ground gives you the option of poking a hole along the edge for draft to coals but normally that is not needed.I keep it sealed up tight usually.
Getting the hide suspended with no folds etc. so smoke gets to every square inch can be challenging but doable.More poles can be laid into the tripod to help this.I made some leather strings with alligator clips on each end to hold the hide more openly.Needle and thread works good for me too.That's why this set up in the wind creates streaks on your hide.
This smoking is what I call curing the hide.Before[white brain tan] it's susceptible to bugs/dogs/water and whatever else likes to eat meat....lol.Smoking actually does'nt waterproof it.Water does not repel off it.Water will still actually run right through it but when it's dry again just a little scuffing or light roping will make it soft again.Animals will leave it alone.Misquitos will stay off it when wearing it.
I'm lucky Robin does'nt mind the smell of a smoked hide in the house.It pretty much smells the whole place up like hickory....lol.

[lebhuntfish]

Beautifull results Ed! I can tell you have had a lot of practice. You made it look easy and doable for a novice. You gave us plenty of information to get the job done. Thanks for carrying us along with you. And congrats on taking the nice buck this old hide was attached to.

Patrick