opinion on modern camo

[Fox]

braintan outfit ... unbelievable results while wearing it too... animals just can not figure out what you are .. truly remarkable... gut

This is the direction I'm headed gut

gotta shoot one more deer to get enough hide for my jacket thinking about ling it with beaver fur or coon

[gutpile]

will take about 4 skins for a jacket.. depending on size.. it took me about a month before I could get the courage to put the scissors to my hides..LOL.. my outfit took 6 skins total..  2 for leggings , 4 for shirt and moccasins, they took 4 rabbit skins to line.. but they are so comfortable and quiet .. wish I had made this outfit years ago.. special thanks to BowEd for all the advice and a dry scraper.. I got 7 finished hides still ready to be sewn into outfit #2... all in all I got about 60 hours in the outfit ... worth every minute .. as for lining your jacket.. that is going to take a lot of coon hides or beaver.. when you finish it step back and look at the heirloom you just completed that will be passed down in your family for many many years...first year in the stand wearing it I got a dandy 18" wide 8 point.. walked right under me along with 4 other bucks.. never knew I was there.. gut

[Fox]

Dang 4 hides... that will take a while

I’ve only got 1 just about done.... I have a pile of coon fur in the freezer, as well as a huge beaver

We still haven’t figured out fur on tanning though...

[gutpile]

 you can always go to a deer cooler and pick up as many skins as you want for free.. .. they usually just throw them away at least they do here... it will take 1 for front 1 for back 1 for each arm.. 4 skins.. arms take more skin than you would think... I thought I could get both arms out of a skin..its possible but you don't want to go diagonal on your skin cutting for your garment ..  I like working doe skins more than bucks too.. they tend to be thinner and seem to get more soft...  not that huge of a difference but there is... fresh road kill is an option also.. usually no holes to deal with either.. haha...no shame in using a resource not harvested by you. another mans junk is another mans treasure.. js .. gut

[gutpile]

fur on tanning isn't that hard.. beaver you have to thin some spots because it is too thick in areas.. I just flesh stretch in a rack and let dry then brain flesh side only, I was told not to get brains on fur side so I didn't..I rubbed as much brains as I could each time in hide and then saturated it well and put in the towel , I wrapped in a towel and let set over night .. I had to brain my beaver 3 times too, 2 full jobs, 3rd was just in spots that didn't get as soft as I wanted.. ... I pulled to dry each time.. not sure if that is necessary though..also worked it over a flattened stick in some spots to get it really soft..  first beaver. and it came out sweet. it is super soft now, hangs with no stiff spots and then I smoked it.. gonna make a hat out of that rascal.. coon.. I havent done yet.. gut

[BowEd]

gut......Try freezing the hair on hide after braining.Then thawing and roping.You might like the ease of how much and how soft it gets.
 Great job on that beaver.Nothing like brain tanned smoked leather.

[Digital Caveman]

What happens if the brains get on the hair?  How do you smoke a fur?

[BowEd]

A little brain solution on the edges of fur is'nt a big deal.Easily washed off with a wet rag.The hide is roped and stretched flesh side every direction against the rope or over a stake of some sort.Smoke a hair on hide flesh side in.

[gutpile]

the way I smoked my beaver and rabbit was I taped them in a 5 gallon buck then put my smoke sack to bucket and taped it.. was really quick to set up that way.. I then just tied a rope to handle and hung them over my metal fire bucket.. not sure if that is the way to do it but they worked great, it did dampen the fur side some but dried quickly after wards with no hair loss.. house smelled like smoked backstraps... I love the smell.. daughter not so much LOL.......I'll definitely try that next time ED.. your advice has been top notch every time... gut

[Fox]

gut don't you experience problems with lousy skinners from the meat lockers? I have access to lots of hides from Nabors that hunt, but they cut up the hides so bad when I ring them out they turn into shredded hides

[gutpile]

the processor down here is fabulous.. they dont skin the hides .. they pull the hides with a winch.. knife only touches around neck, legs and gut..I went and picked up 10 hides at once..lol.. gut

[Hawkdancer]

Fox,
You might volunteer to do the skinning for them, that way you can control the result.  Check with the local processor about skinning for them as well, but they are in business to make money, and time is money.  Using a winch is a good idea! 
Hawkdancer

[gutpile]

they get 7 bucks to skin a hide ..takes less than 5 minutes the way they do it.. I could of got as many as I could load... they just take them to the dump.. incredible.. I felt a tear rolling down my cheek.. gut

[Fox]

they get 7 bucks to skin a hide ..takes less than 5 minutes the way they do it.. I could of got as many as I could load... they just take them to the dump.. incredible.. I felt a tear rolling down my cheek.. gut

Its pretty messed up

yeah everyone around here sucks at skinning... they always cut the hides up sooo bad  pretty annoying.... well except for one guy which taught me to skin deer.... hed does it with a tractor (although i just pull them off now) I should ask him to save them for me