Tanning deer leg skins

[Dennis Daigger]

Montana friend Yote Robertson took a whitetail in Montana several weeks ago with the English sporting rifle that I built and he sent the leg skins to me to tan and use in a bag.

I read James Roger’s excellent and detailed 2011 post on bark tanning and have a fair idea how to go about it but am looking for advice from anyone that has specifically tanned deer leg skins. I used a mix of alder and willow bark to tan salmon skins this summer and think that might do for these.
Dennis

[Keith Zimmerman]

Yote used a rifle?  Interesting.  Figured he killed everything with his stickbows.

[Mike Lyons]

I’ve done quite a bit of taxidermy.  Borax laundry detergent and salt will will work fine if your looking for a rawhide consistency.  If your making a bag with the skin, make sure it drys flat by using a book or something.   I like using Lutan F from taxidermy supply stores but borax works fine for small stuff like birds, squirrels  and deer leg skins. 

Here’s a bag I made a few years ago using borax and salt.

[Dennis Daigger]

Thanks for the response, Mike. The moose leg skins that I used on the bag that I posted here some time ago were done with alum and it was so long ago that I don’t remember just how I did it. The skin was very thick and it took a lot of time and effort to break the fibers to soften enough to incorporate into the bag.

I assume your reference to rawhide means that the borax-salt method leaves the skins in a condition that cannot be worked to be pliable. Is that correct?
Dennis

[Mike Lyons]

Yes Sir,  They will be stiff as a board.  With fish, small pieces of hide and small game,  it really doesn't matter what the skin does after it is stretched over a form as long as it doesn't loose hair and/ or rot.   If you are looking for a nice soft tan,  the Lutan F product is good but requires a lot of work.     

[Dennis Daigger]

Mike,
Forgot to say, nice bag.
Dennis

[Tony N]

Beautiful bag sir!

Tony

[Mike Lyons]

Thanks, but it has a lot of armature mistakes and I can take credit only for the labor.  T.C. Alberts posted a bag a while back that I absolutely loved and I ask if I could attempt something very similar.  It’s my squirrel bag.  I can fit a 20 oz can of peanuts and a couple sandwiches and a still have room for a 40 oz.