elk hides

[pablodiablo]

Good morning...total noob question here, but as a whitetail hunter, sometimes we save the hides to tan for various purposes. Does anyone save the hides on an elk? Is it extremely heavy to pack it out? Just curious, and apologize if this is a silly question

 

[James Riley]

I always do. I get them tanned hair-on for robes. Have piles of them. Yes, they are heavy. I don't know how much they weigh when wet.
Maybe 20-30 pounds???

 

[Ben Long]

Elk hides are very useful and I save some of them. They are heavy, so I tend to donate them to the ecosystem if the pack is particularly tough. They can be expensive to tan. My friend Elaine Snyder http://buckskinclothier.com/ makes beautiful custom garments from elk hides. Honestly, I treasure some of them more than I do some of my trophy heads. They are expensive -- handmade art really -- but last a lifetime.

 

[hank4elk]

Last pack out is the head & hide after meat & camp. Usually a very heavy load.
I have 2 elk & deer hides in freezer now along with meat. I'll tan them in off season or when I can.
I like hair on for many reasons & use both for my furniture at times. I have a deer hide,hair on, on the back of this couch I'm pecking from.

 

[pablodiablo]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like something I'd like to pursue, if I'm fortunate enough to harvest an elk.

 

[Danvet]

Adding to Pablo's question, what do you do in the field to ensure quality of hair and hide? Salt? Immediate freezing?

 

[hank4elk]

Don't cut the hide up skinning it.
If I don't freeze right away,I salt it.
I flesh it out in camp as best I can too.
Gotten pretty good at clean hides & meat. I hate knicks in meat as much as hides.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I am inclined to be like Ben if I am far off the trail when it comes to the Hide. I always like to do the Gutless Method and throw the hide back on the bones......it makes Hunters who should be hunting go stare at a bag of bones with a hide thrown over them! LOL John

 

[Ben Long]

ON this topic, Lewis & Clark valued elk hides above all others. Bison hides were too hard to work, deer hides too small, light and easy to wear out. L&C used elk hides for clothes, moccasins, twisted them into ropes, even stretched them over a frame to try to build a boat of them. They picked the site of their 1805-06 winter camp in Oregon largely because there were plenty of elk nearby. You're welcome for the unsolicited history lesson.

 

[marksjeep]

I've used these folks to do elk and moose hair off for gloves. The gloves come out good. The shop is slow, but they do ok work. http://www.rockymountaintanners.com/

 

[Magnum Sherpa]

I've used these folks to do elk and moose hair off for gloves. The gloves come out good. The shop is slow, but they do ok work. http://www.rockymountaintanners.com/

I have an elk hide there now. It's been there a little over 8 months, so hopefully I will hear something soon. How long did yours take to come back? On a side note, my friend who went on the same hunt got his elk shoulder mount back already, so either his taxidermist is fast or RMT is really slow.

 

[coloelkman]

fyi, I've used the tanners noted and they lost my last hide. Offered a refund of my deposit or another hide. Not sure where you get another hide unless people don't come back for them?

 

[marksjeep]

RMT is always way slow.

 

[hank4elk]

I was told years ago from taxi buddy that there are only a few real Tanneries working here anymore.
One in UT & one in San Fransisco. 2007?
I had him send my trophy Tule elk cow hide to the one in SF & it came back in 6 mo's. Hair on and it was my hide.We had put my initials on inside ,sliced & inked.

 

[James Riley]

I was told years ago from taxi buddy that there are only a few real Tanneries working here anymore.
One in UT & one in San Fransisco. 2007?
I had him send my trophy Tule elk cow hide to the one in SF & it came back in 6 mo's. Hair on and it was my hide.We had put my initials on inside ,sliced & inked.

I heard the same thing back in the 1980s. Apparently the chemicals used are some of the most nasty, toxic things on the planet; Zoning, as well as EPA regs, RCRA requirements, disposal fees, and etc. make it cost-prohibitive in a lot of cases. There are cleaner methods but they don't turn out as quality a product. I'm not expert. It's just what I've heard. Lot's of leather is tanned over seas where they don't mind killing/deforming their people and ruining the Earth.

That said, I get mine with a "garment tan", as it's soft and supple. I've had others that were stiff or, at the very least, not soft and supple. I tried tanning myself when I was younger but lacked the patience. Nothing like a culture with no clock and a whole winter to sit around and chew the hide till you got no teeth.

 

[Caseknife]

If you live in a cold climate and want to sleep real warm, use an elk hide/hair on as your comforter.

 

[hank4elk]

The newer old tanning products work pretty good. Trappers supplies has them.
They have oils that get infused so they come out almost as good as the Tule elk hide job. It is very soft & supple and warm. Couch throws.
I saw one commercial done in Springerville recently thru taxi & they were nice. Very pricey now. $75 or 80 a ft.Long wait.

 

[huronmtns]

Here's another option. I have had some fur tanned by these people with good results.

http://www.usafoxx.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=62_111