A question about tanning

[Ranger of Halt]

Greatings All! I was asked by a friend of mine how to tan a fox hide. And even though I know a little bit about it, I could not give her a good answer for I have never done it, and dont know all the steps. If anyone could give advice or the proper steps you would use, both she and I would be greatful.

[Peter Remling]

There are a couple of people here doing some tanning, until they post here, Here's an old thread on the subject:

http://ranger.budgetauthenticity.org/fo ... deer#p3373

[Ranger of Halt]

Okay, thats good to hear. Thanks Peter!

[R.D.Metcalf]

If your looking for a simple way to tan a fur there are solutions available from Cabelas, Leather Unlimted, and tandys. If you want to brain tan, your going to find everyone has a recipe. If you already have the skin make sure to keep it frozen I dont like salted hides, thaw your hide or if you did salt it wash that salt off, and thoroughly and carefully flesh the skin, takeyour time and watch for nicks, presumably you dont have the animals brain, so if not, use murphys oil soap mixed with a bit of water boiled ....Alot of people get anal about the mix, I do not....The oils in any animals brain is sufficient to braintan that animals hide...so it dont take much, but there is no need to sweat as you cannot use too much...In my own experience "overdoing it" made the hides easier to soften.

As this is a pelt tack the hide to a board and apply the warm/not hot solution to the flesh side, immersion can cause hair slippage and ruin the pelt. really work that solution in the skin. I like to let the hide dry under full sun and work it again the next day ....This is me talkin' do what you feel is best. when dried take abit of sand paper and rough up the flesh side and paint some solution on again really working it in with your hands, now your ready to smoke that skin, smoking dont require a whole lot to accomplish I simply dug a pit for my wood chips and built a little tee-pee over it and covered that with an old blue tarp...Just keep an eye on your fire for blazes, you just want it to smolder. Alot of tanners use cedar, I use whatever is handy, it all works. Just hang the hide till the flesh side can catch a majority of the smoke and let it smoke for about three hours or so. When its done you can wrap the hide in a plastic bag to "let the smoke set" or do what I do and go straight to softening I use a dull axehead in a vise and work head to tail and side to side until the hide drapes good, and then polish the hairs with warm saw dust, shake out any bits of saw dust and your pelt is finished.

One note: last winter I had a briar nick on my finger and went ahead and butchered a deer and started tanning the hide... well my pointin' finger swole up awful bad, and if I hadnt took a shot of pennicillin I keep for my horses I could've got the blood poisonin'. Rubber gloves for butchering and handlin' raw skins are my cardinal rule now.

Any animal in contact with domestic livestock like deer and foxes can carry any number of maladies that'll kill you or make you wish you was dead so take every precaution you can when butchering and tanning. We all try to emulate the old timers in some ways, but take it from me, in alot of ways they had it easy. game wasnt near as skittish and didnt carry so many diseases and parasites....So be careful.

[Ranger of Halt]

Thank you D.R. That was very informitive.

[R.D.Metcalf]

This is a bobcat pelt I finished sunday, as a kid I run a trapline and would sell finished hides to tourist shops....who royally skinned me...but any money was big money to me at that time. I've currently got a deer hide in the buck * water and wood ashes IE lye*. I'll post pics of the finished hide which I plan to bark tan/ with the grain, for a boot project.

Just a word here: Predators are a nesecary part of any ecosystem this also includes people,however, taking any animal is not something to be done lightly. Respect your ground, be ethical, this cat was taking a neighbors chickens....Killin' something just for the hell of it aint my way...
When you see a pic of a hide from me the animal was taken cleanly, respectfully and with a traditional offering of thanks. Tanning is hard nasty work, but as hunters we owe it to the animals we take to use as much of them as we can to honor the breathe of life that we took...The breath we cannot give back....The power in your bow or gun is life and death....Be just, controlled, respectful and honorable in weilding that power.

[Ringulf]

You Are absolutely right R.D.!
A hunter can and should be the greatest of conservationists. It is only common sense to manage the resourse if you are deriving benefit from it, and the spiritual ramafications are even more intense as we get so much closer to nature.

When we hunt, we always eat what we shoot and don't shoot at anything we wouldn't eat (this has resulted in me finding out how bad coot tastes! though I have a few recepes that make it palitable!) But we find ways of using as much of our catch as humanly possible.

I have really wanted to do more tanning, I also ran a line for muskrat and rabbit when I was a kid, and by todays standards also got fleeced! I really enjoy using fur trims on much of my garb as well, so if anyone does come across pelt scraps long enough to work with I might be in the market!

This is one I did a few years back that I make part of my winter garb:

[R.D.Metcalf]

Ringulf, the more you post the better I like you You're alright,brother!

If I get to take another pelt its yours as soon as it comes out of the smoker.

[Ringulf]

Thank you R.D. !

I have an even better idea, if you do get one I will meet you halfway with some wares of my own for you, as well as a big pot of "Dirty Duck"* and possibly some homemade meade, or gator jerkey and we will have our own little traders feast!

*Dirty Duck - a mix of jumbalaya duck and dirty rice. Very tasty and an excellent way to cook up all the teal we bag since they are rather small.