DaveS

If you're wanting to raise quality deer, contact TWRA. I seem to remember they have some wildlife programs/help available.

Nice video!

Sorry I haven't got back to you before now. I had to get me some treestand time. To dehair a deer hide, mix 1 lb of Hydrated Lime with 10 gallons of room temperature water. Mix well to desolve the lime. Submerge deer hide and stir it around for a minute or two then sink it by placing a heavy rock or brick on the hide. Stir daily. After 3 days, give the hair a gentle tug. It should be getting loose. Continue stirring and checking daily, until the hair "slips" from the hide with little effort. Remove the hide and lay it over a piece of fire log and use a blunt object (a 6 inch piece of 2x4 works well) and scrape the hair off. If you find any stubborn spots, just re-soak it another day. Continue until all hair is gone. When de-haired, wash several times in running water until clean. Then proceed with tanning. There are several commercial de-hairing products on the market that you may wish to try. Hope the helps. Dave

I'll post instruction here in a bit. De-hairing is not hard to do at all.

Folks that shoot from the road need caught. Wonder how fake turkey taste? Can't be very good! LOL

Yea...whens dinner. I will say that, that is an awesome jesture to give away an extra deer. I salute you!

There are several good companies out there. Like anything else, we all have our favorites. I use Van Dykes Taxidermy

I'll be hitting the woods in the morning. Off for 6 days from the Fire department. Plan on hitting the woods every morning until Monday!

I have a Summit Viper, and my Son has a Summit Titan. We wouldn't trade them for nothing!

Nice deer....I guess you got that one for your Dad!

Your hide will be fine as long as it's been frozen. If you will thaw it, and rough flesh it, you can put it in the pickle bath and skip the salting step.

Rob...I'm in on the hog trip too! Deer carts are awesome. I love mine. I'll figure up a way to hook to a mountain bike....really be in business then!

A Marlin 336 in .35 Remington is very hard to beat!

A new Summit stand, deer cart, gloves, little odds and ends.

You would be much better off buying cow leather. Tandy leather has all the right grades and weights of leather for holster making, plus all kinds of patterns. If you are into blackpowder shooting, tan your deer hide for shooting pouches, bullet bags and knife sheaths. They make awesome mocs too. A larger buck may have thick enough hide across the neck and part of the back to make a holster. Most will not. Hope this helps you out.

I came up with a doe yesterday morning. At work today.

You should be OK with your hide. As long as it stayed cool, treat it just like a fresh hide. Flesh it, and rub salt in well.

Really good article!

Nice! The ASP area is full of monster bucks. That is where they used to hold the youth hunts. You can tell in the picture she's happy!

AWESOME whiskey....but why would your buddy have it for safe keeping?

Don't want to know....

Gosh....I hate roaches! (and spiders)....

Ants are a little hard to come by in the winter! Put the scull in a large pot. Add water to cover the skull. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda. Boil for about 30 minutes. Remove from pot. Scrape away any remaining flesh (remove any remaining brain matter through the base of the skull) and return it to your pot for another 15 minute boil. Some animals will lose their lower jaw. But when it's all dried, it can be epoxied back in place. To whiten "bleach" the skull, soak in hydrogen peroxide, rinse well and allow to dry.

Seen first signs of the rut today. Had a decent buck trailing a doe. He stayed about 40 yards behind her, and had his nose on the ground like a beagle the whole time I could see them.

Good job to all the kids that got deer on this weekend's hunt!