Deer hockskins

[MWirwicki]

Wow Paulette!  Those are really cool!  So are you saying that you clean (flesh) the hides with a pressure washer?  If so, do you have to scrap afterwards?

[HoBow]

Very nice job.  I have about 30 of them that I wanted to make a bag with or something.  They are just rawhide now and I was planning on leaving them that way so they will be a little stiff. 

[primitivepaulette]

I like your work!  I did not realize anything could be done with the skin from the legs until about a month ago when I seen a photo of a bag like the one in your last photo.  Last year I skinned out over 100 legs getting the sinew, and just threw the skin away.  I could kick myself now but I did know any better then.  Keep posting the cool work!

Thanks. Um.. feeling a little foolish here because I have been skinning LOTS of legs and pitching all the tendons away! Really I would like to learn something new some day and although I am not YET an archer.. there is possibly some hope! I had a pretty cool bow gifted to me by a fellow Hoodlum and one of my sons pulled it passed it's point. and so it's more of an ornament now than a useful tool .. I'm glad you enjoy the pics of my work.

[primitivepaulette]

Wow Paulette!  Those are really cool!  So are you saying that you clean (flesh) the hides with a pressure washer?  If so, do you have to scrap afterwards?

thank you. : - )  exactly! I use a pressure washer to flesh every skin I work on, now! kind of addicted to it!  I didn't start out that way though.. certain things led me to using them!  Bear and raccoons! it wasn't long at all before I was using them on absolutely EVERYTHING! and let me tell you.. it is really messy.. but  I like the fact that I don't have to scrape by hand the flesh sides.. and they're pretty gentle on the fur sides by both using it on the flesh sides and then the fur sides.. I'm a Piscean though and I've been playing in water puddles and I grew up on a large river downstate MI.. lol.. so I these are a couple of the things I think about when I'm getting myself WET in the process of handling the skins.. hahaha.. I grossed out these ladies at the middle school office today.. just talking about skinning and fleshing dead coyotes.. the principle recognized me as a 'tanner' guess he hunts with the local coyote tanners and so he just HAD to come out of his office and ASK ME if I'm getting lots of coyotes to do yet.. So I told him to google Coyote Drape hat and so he went back in his office and got on the net.. ha.. So I got to point out my coyote hats and found a bunch that I did on the top row.. so he had so the secretaries at the school.. I was so proud.. my poor daughter though! she has to have these ladies looking at her funny.. like your mom is DISGUSTING!.. I told the ladies that I didn't have to handle these nasty things because I just use the pressure washer.. which is true! and then I went on to say that they're so beautiful when they're done. I think they are anyway.. hahaha.. I have been known to toss them in my front loading washer to spin the water out of them and well I guess I'm kind of the rare woman.. My husband doesn't mind providing I wash my clothes before he washes his own first..  sigh.. 

sorry for the long ramble! rant kinda!  no.. I don't have to scrape them afterwards as the washer just removes all of the membrane.. Might result in a denser product.. I kinda like the fluff BUT.. if you keep most of the membrane say on a deerhide that stuff can follow you everywhere!

[primitivepaulette]

Wow Paulette!  Those are really cool!  So are you saying that you clean (flesh) the hides with a pressure washer?  If so, do you have to scrap afterwards?

Matt.. ps.. look me up if you come up north MI! I'm 35 mi north of Bay City.

[primitivepaulette]

Very nice job.  I have about 30 of them that I wanted to make a bag with or something.  They are just rawhide now and I was planning on leaving them that way so they will be a little stiff.

HoBow.. yes you can definitely just leave them as rawhide.. just dampen and stitch with a cape needle that the taxidermists use and you can stitch them up to leather skin pretty quickly. I just have to go the whole nine yards just because I can or it's a challenge or because it's more bug resistant tanned or something.. I don't know!  I like to experiment with all these leather stuff and I certainly am just back a novice myself.. just scratching the surface. I guess this is what fascinates me so much about the animal skins is because you realize that you can create so much with this and there ARE so many ways to use the skins raw and even the tanning. Like the deerskin with the grainy surface..well like any leathery skin like it.. one an tan it mushy or tan it to where it has some heft or 'handle' I like to call it.. so I'm really just barely learning how to get JUST the exact leather I want. I think that too is why I don't brain tan all the fur skins. some of the skins I'm tanning with fur on I certainly don't want them to feel like hair on leather! I  look forward to seeing others hockskin bags.. gives me ideas!

[YosemiteBen]

a friend of mone just got a four hock skin bag made from caribou. She calls it the "udder" bag. it has a soft leather top with a draw string.

[primitivepaulette]

That's cute.. udder kind of a bag!  I really should dig out that buffalo leg skin and try and get it soft.. no time like the present.. so cold here.. all there is to do is hug the woodstove! Plenty of hot coals to use to presmoke and smoke and all. Just need to add some motivation is all!!

[blackhawk]

Those are unique n cool....

Got a silly question for ya.....about 12-13 years ago when I was living in mt pleasant I knew a gal named Paulette who attended cmu and,and went to "his house"(christain fellowship at the school)...and it wouldn't surprise me if she was into this kind of thing..and I have only met one gal in my life named Paulette....jus curious..you wouldn't be the same person....jus asking on a whim.

[primitivepaulette]

Thanks blackhawk.

No sorry, it wasn't me.. I live a little ways north of Sterling. I've only heard of a few by my name.. only ran across one other.. lol. It is a rare name. My dad's name was Paul 

[Dan K]

This looks like a lot of work!  How long does it take you to convert a leg into a pouch?  You're really good at working leather, do you have more things to share?  Love your work.

[primitivepaulette]

All the animal skin items take many hours Dan. I really don't know how long it takes to make a hockskin bag! Hope they last in the freezer for a good long while! I"ll probably did them out when it gets warm again to work on those. I"ve been marathoning on graining the deer hides lately.. I have several now all ready for the brains and a bag full of brains where my milk should be in the refridgerator.. every time.. I open the door it's staring me and the kids in the face!! Better use them or refreeze like ASAP! I try to do a little bit each day on the skins regardless but easy for me to LOSE focus for sure! I have a little rawhide bag I'd like to share.. I'll start yet another thread! Thank you for your kind remarks!
Ran across this old picture. These hockskins are really smelly to skin but it quickly dissapates after a powerwash.. that's messy too!

[n8tr boy]

paulette, i've skinned out 4 deer legs and how do you get the cartilage out of the dew claws. I hope my little bags come out as good as yours. I plan on donating them to our local bow club for fundraiser in spring.

[primitivepaulette]

I leave the very end in there and remove the last little moveable piece! It is a bit difficult to cut out and it's also a bit dangerous and all I can say is that after so many you seem to stop cutting the heck out of yourself.. I never really thought of myself as masochistic but POSSIBLY??? Sometimes I'll leave the longer bones attached too and use a pair of needle nose pliers just to twist and turn them if I can.. sometimes they can be pulled and pried out a bit too! Just leaves a little indent is all.. the last little toe bone seems to dry up in there without any smells or anything but yeah.. they are indeed a booger to remove sometimes.

[JW_Halverson]

Are those hocks or did you massacre a huge colony of meerkats?!?!?!