Don't waste your deer hides!

[JODakota]

I would like to nominate this for dumbest thread of the year.  Comparing tossing a hide to wasting meat is idiotic.

If I'm not to late, I second this nomination, all in favor? Yeh

[JODakota]

Only hide I will ever pack out is a Bear ,Cougar or Bobcat. Capes are a different story if I plan on mounting. Coyotes I shoot I just leave them where they lay.

Coyotes are actually worth quite a bit in the right hands.

[highhunter]

Yeh! Hands down

[Duckslayer89]

What's the benefit of splitting a hide down the back instead of skinning it from the belly if you're going about with the gutless method? Ive never done it so I'm sure I'm missing something but it seems you could skin an animal from the belly?

Or is it an attempt to keep the internal organs contained as long as possible?

  has more to do with not wrestling legs around and extra effort.  I can split one down the back, skin it down, and remove meat without ever having to wrestle a quarter.

You still have to split it at some point to get the hide down past quarters

I never remove the leg bone.  Down the spine, down the back of the leg and lay it all over.  Remove meat and done.

Roger down the back of the leg gotta split. I don't remove leg bone either. Was just wondering how you would peal without cutting down back of leg. How about front quarter that way? I always go from belly doing the gutless but like your idea

[fish vacuum]

What's the benefit of splitting a hide down the back instead of skinning it from the belly if you're going about with the gutless method? Ive never done it so I'm sure I'm missing something but it seems you could skin an animal from the belly?

Or is it an attempt to keep the internal organs contained as long as possible?

  has more to do with not wrestling legs around and extra effort.  I can split one down the back, skin it down, and remove meat without ever having to wrestle a quarter.

You still have to split it at some point to get the hide down past quarters

I never remove the leg bone.  Down the spine, down the back of the leg and lay it all over.  Remove meat and done.

Roger down the back of the leg gotta split. I don't remove leg bone either. Was just wondering how you would peal without cutting down back of leg. How about front quarter that way? I always go from belly doing the gutless but like your idea

I do back leg, front leg, neck, then back straps. Roll animal over and repeat on other side.
And my hides get left in the field. I used to take them to quil ceda tanning and trade for gloves. But they stopped that deal and it's rare I take a deer out whole anymore.

[JDHasty]

There used to be "hide bins" around. Can't remember what the outfit that put them out was. Charity of some kind. I'm sure someone must remember those orange barrels with a sign that said something like "Hunters- Donate your Hides".

I never put any in the barrels, but I did trade a few in for gloves at the Western Glove Co. in T-Town. They'd give you a pair of cheap gloves in exchange for a hide.

I have about 6 salted deer/elk hides I need to do something with. Seems like a good idea to use them; can never find the time.

They were put out by the Elks Club and the program was Hides For Veterans. 

It was very popular around Lakewood/Pierce County when I was a kid and soldiers were coming home from South-east Asia with injuries. 

I mentioned on another site, now defunct, that it would be a good thing to get going again around the time that military service members were coming home from the middle east with injuries.   The tone of the response I got from hunters was stunning.  Quite similar to the tone of this thread, and at that time no one was suggesting that anyone had any obligation to use the hide themselves, only that if the program was revived that if it was convenient that I thought a lot of hunters would participate.   

Nobody suggested that anyone make a final trip to bring out a hide from the back country, all that was suggested was that if it was convenient that there is a demand for hides and that perhaps hunters would participate.   For making that suggestion I was more or less mocked. 

[dscubame]

Yeh

[dscubame]

What's the benefit of splitting a hide down the back instead of skinning it from the belly if you're going about with the gutless method? Ive never done it so I'm sure I'm missing something but it seems you could skin an animal from the belly?

Or is it an attempt to keep the internal organs contained as long as possible?

  has more to do with not wrestling legs around and extra effort.  I can split one down the back, skin it down, and remove meat without ever having to wrestle a quarter.

You still have to split it at some point to get the hide down past quarters

I never remove the leg bone.  Down the spine, down the back of the leg and lay it all over.  Remove meat and done.

Roger down the back of the leg gotta split. I don't remove leg bone either. Was just wondering how you would peal without cutting down back of leg. How about front quarter that way? I always go from belly doing the gutless but like your idea

I too tried that this year going from belly on gutless for the first time and I must say I liked it.  Going to do it a couple more times and it may be my new technique rather than going from spine.  I found it nicer to control the hide especially on a large animal like elk.  Deer it may be a wash but again going to go from belly a couple more times for sure.

[JDHasty]

Hides For Veterans

The Elks Leather Program was initiated in 1948 when the Elks of California
launched a hide-gathering program in their State during hunting season. The raw hides
were collected at central points, salted and shipped to a Los Angeles tannery for
processing. Finished leather, in brilliant colors, was made available to Veterans Medical
facilities throughout the State.
 To make this popular program available to all VA Medical Centers (VAMC), the
Elks National Veterans Service Commission arranged funding to pay for tanning and
shipping of the hides nationwide. Today, over nineteen States donate or are developing
plans to support this program. All States are invited to donate hides, make use of the
“Gloves for Wheelchair Veterans” program and participate in the tanned leather
distribution.
 Since the government does not budget money for leather for wheelchair gloves
for veterans, it falls upon the Elks to keep the supply line open.
 The Elks National Veterans Service Commission has pledged that: “While there is
a committee of Elks on the job, therapists will never experience a shortage of leather”.

http://www.elks.org/vets/VeteransLeatherProgram.pdf

[Jpmiller]

What's the benefit of splitting a hide down the back instead of skinning it from the belly if you're going about with the gutless method? Ive never done it so I'm sure I'm missing something but it seems you could skin an animal from the belly?

Or is it an attempt to keep the internal organs contained as long as possible?

  has more to do with not wrestling legs around and extra effort.  I can split one down the back, skin it down, and remove meat without ever having to wrestle a quarter.

You still have to split it at some point to get the hide down past quarters

I never remove the leg bone.  Down the spine, down the back of the leg and lay it all over.  Remove meat and done.

Roger down the back of the leg gotta split. I don't remove leg bone either. Was just wondering how you would peal without cutting down back of leg. How about front quarter that way? I always go from belly doing the gutless but like your idea

I too tried that this year going from belly on gutless for the first time and I must say I liked it.  Going to do it a couple more times and it may be my new technique rather than going from spine.  I found it nicer to control the hide especially on a large animal like elk.  Deer it may be a wash but again going to go from belly a couple more times for sure.

So you could skin it out to save the hide with the gutless then. I always throw around the idea of trying but I like keeping the hides.

[Buzz2401]

Off topic but when I do gutless I go from gut towards back skinning because you end up with less hair over your meat and it gives you a nice clean mat once you roll it down.  To each their own though.  There's more then one way to skin a deer lol

[dscubame]

Off topic but when I do gutless I go from gut towards back skinning because you end up with less hair over your meat and it gives you a nice clean mat once you roll it down.  To each their own though.  There's more then one way to skin a deer lol

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I have fully caped probably a dozen animals in my life for me and my hunting partners.  It is NOT very easy.  I don't give a crap how much a taxidermist is going to give me for it.  It is not worth it.

[Karl Blanchard]

Off topic but when I do gutless I go from gut towards back skinning because you end up with less hair over your meat and it gives you a nice clean mat once you roll it down.  To each their own though.  There's more then one way to skin a deer lol

In what way does it keep less hair off your meat?  Honest question?  I go back down because I don't ever have to lift a leg up to make a cut.  Only time I have to manhandle the carcass is to roll it over.

[JLS]

Off topic but when I do gutless I go from gut towards back skinning because you end up with less hair over your meat and it gives you a nice clean mat once you roll it down.  To each their own though.  There's more then one way to skin a deer lol

In what way does it keep less hair off your meat?  Honest question?  I go back down because I don't ever have to lift a leg up to make a cut.  Only time I have to manhandle the carcass is to roll it over.

I'm honestly not all that concerned about some hair on the meat, because when I butcher it I trim off the outer fascia anyway.