| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
The Easiest Way To Preserve And Tan Hides
Image source: pixabay.com
I will admit I have never been much of a trapper. But every hunter, farmer, homesteader and so on should know how to handle hides.
When we butcher a deer, elk, bear, cow or any large mammal, we don’t just harvest it for the meat. There also is the hide available for use. Hides can provide clothing, blankets, tools, shoes, wall decorations and scores of other items. Hides can make a hunter a fine jacket, or buckskin pants that would make Tecumseh jealous. Fine pelts can be sold to fur buyers and give a trapper cash on the side. The farmer can preserve cattle hides for all sorts of uses from boots and jackets, to selling to leather buyers.
Preparing the Hide
After an animal is skinned, be careful not to damage the hide and remove as much of the flesh and fat as possible. The method I use – which I found online in a trapper’s forum years ago – is a simple method used in the US for a very long time. I soak the hide or hides in several gallons of water with 1/2 to 3/4 of a box of baking soda and 1 ½-pounds of unslaked lime.
Source: http://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to-2/the-easiest-way-to-preserve-and-tan-hides/
