Your step-by-step guide from deer hide to buckskin is a masterful demonstration of traditional craftsmanship and skill. Sharing such a detailed and methodical process highlights your dedication to preserving and passing on valuable techniques. Your effort in showcasing each stage not only educates but also celebrates the art of transforming raw materials into beautifully finished products. And I am Floating Village Life.
What he is doing is honestly being a lost art form! I’ve been hunting and working with animal hides my whole life! It’s a very time consuming process but you learn so much more then you would thank possible! Great work my friend!
As the graduate of one buckskin making workshop, I’m no expert, however some things to note: Soaking the hide in a bucking solution to loosen the hair makes the initial hair removal a breeze. Don’t need to stretch/dry the hide, a sharp scraper, and don’t have to work very hard. Scraping the inner hide thoroughly when wet is important. Avoids the crunchy shit he was pulling off after drying. Smoking should only take about 20 minutes/side, not 8 hours? Things I’m going to try when I tan next (soon! I just brought home an elk and a whitetail) include using a pressure washer in the scraping process. Some vids online, and it looks promising. Last thing: I think there’s a better time to sew the holes closed. Can’t remember, but maybe before final working/drying?! Anyone know? Great video. Thanks very much for the content, Clay. Inspiring me to get tanning my hides! Do you have one on bark tanning, or making leather?
When I was younger and had lots of time I did a lot of brain tanning and this video brings back those memories. I can hardly wait to retire in a few more years and get back into it. The hardest part of this process is getting full penetration of the brain (or egg yolk) mixture. Definitely start out with something thin like whitetail deer hides and then advance to mule deer and elk. It's hard work but extremely rewarding.
I’m going on vacation after watching that! I’m exhausted! Good grief, had no idea that turning a hide into something usable took that much work. I’ve skinned deer and elk before but never used the hide. Amazing and thanks Clay!
Clay, can't tell you how much I appreciate your videos. I pray that in my retired life (a few years) I'll make the time to learn and do the craft time you share on your channel. Thanks for all you do.
Incredible. It's sad to realise that these skills, developed over thousands of years, have been bred out of us, but inspiring to know people like you exist to keep them alive.
All about the sound of those poles at the start Love a good pole noise, it's how you know you've got a good one. Which is also a promising stage in a bow build
Great Video! A couple of well placed pointy sticks inside the sack while smoking improve flow of smoke and prevent the hides from touching each other which would cause spots that are not well smoked.
Very few people in this life can say they have tanned a deer hide like that. Thank you Clay for teaching us all! I used to rub wood ash on the hide and bury it for a week when I dug it up the hair would fall right off. Never learned the last steps. Now I know. Thank you!
Awesome skill to possess! Thanks for sharing! That’s an unbelievable amount of effort for a pair of pants! It puts in perspective how spoiled we are today, but maybe not tomorrow.
This is almost certainly something I'll never do but fascinating to watch nonetheless. It's so wonderful people like yourself are making videos like these because otherwise this type of knowledge could be lost forever in the modern world. Visiting Idaho tomorrow for the first time!
This is one of the best videos I've seen. I have tried to tan leather before using "a" buckskin method (because there are many) and it hasn't turned out. Next time I am going to try it your way :)
This is awesome! I just did this with my daughter’s first deer with her bow. I made two sets of finger tabs with it. And plan on making a knife sheath.
It was so easy to immerse myself in what you were doing/teaching. Thank you for sharing you wealth of information and as another person mentioned, a great surprise ending showing off your workmanship like that. I have subscribed, your content is very appreciated.
Every video you post is just a real delight, thank you Clay ! Your feather sticks are looking better than ever, you can't say that you're bad at it anymore 😝 Keep up the great work and stay safe :)
Another great video Clay. I always have tanned hides in the winter. Start softening on the frame and end up by the wood stove over a stake cause we get about 5 minutes of sun 2 or 3 times a month here in northern ny in the winter. Think I'm gonna start fleshing them and throw em in the freezer till spring.
My family is moving from California to Arkansas, and plan on building a place big enough for all of us, and as self-sustaining as possible. Your videos are going to be a major cornerstone of learning. Thank you so much for the immense amount of effort. You rock.
Fantastic video man. I like the end a lot when you just flip the skin and end with pants. Great editing. The pants look really good. My paternal grandmother was a seamstress and I spent a lot of time as a kid watching her work. I know good pants when I see one. And I see the fast die last t-shirt from last video made an appearance again.
Love it! Done quite a few wet scrapes and still managed to learn something! Love the pants ive got to make a pair forsure i hear they are strongest fabric there is. Punky golden pine gives a gorgeous color but its cool to know you can use something as easy as straw.
I used my washer to clean my hides before tanning them, and, after tanning, double bagged them in garbage bags full of clean sawdust and put them in the dryer on air dry to keep them moving while drying. The drying technigue worked perfectly, and I recommend it. Cleaning hides with a washer cost me the washer and a wife. Too cheap to go to the laundry mat.
I know they are young and I’m sure you aren’t interested in having them on the internet but I’d be awesome if your sons had a channel on RU-vid kids for my children to watch. We limit what and when my kids can watch RU-vid but I’d be more than happy for them to see kids their age doing what they probably think is impossible for kids in the concrete jungle of the big city. Love your content man, hopefully one day my kids will enjoy your kids content and it’ll inspire them to get outside and learn. God bless.
I know his wife and son do have youtube channels! His son is Fen Hayes, haven't watched his videos personally, but looks like he is walking in his dads steps with the outdoors content!
@@BozhidarS Awesome. I figured his sons would follow in his steps. Kind of hard not to with a dad like that. The outdoor stuff is what I’d like to see my kids watch. If they’re going to melt their brains with RU-vid, I’d be happy to see them watch kids their age go out and get their hands dirty. I do my best to get them out in nature fishing and hunting but wife and I are city stuck with typical jobs. I hate RU-vid kids, Itd be a relief for his youngins to make content similar to his but to relate to the youth. The world and internet could use more of that. I’ll introduce my kids to their channel tonight. Thankyou
@@clayhayeshunter I hope your winnings on Alone made that possible, you deserve everything you have and more. I watched your bow videos and found out you were on Alone, we binge watched every season. How a skinny ultra-fit guy like you made it to the end is a testament to skill and perseverance. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you 🙏🏼 Clay, that was a phenomenal amount of work and the reward was equally impressive. I envy your knowledge and I wish I lived out west to live a similar lifestyle 💪🏼👊🏼
I've got last year's deer hide scrapped and salted. I also saved the brains. Thanks for the motivation to take the next step. My neighbors are going to wonder what the hell I'm smoking now, lol.
Dude this is simply amazing awesome skills man. This is art at its finest. Hats off to you man.. this is a lost art. I really want to try this. I know I will probably mess up some things but I really need to try this
This is/was enjoyable to watch, and a intensive labour of love to get a wonderful result. Yet, not like you would easily find fresh deer hide in the city, though there are a lot of fat does and bucks. 🤔Wait those are humans. 😮😅
Mesmerizing. I had to grin at the ending when you shook from hide to pants to wearing - great videography! Bet those pants will last you ages. And the hide looked beautiful, unique. What is the hide’s odor like? Thank you for this tutorial. Well done.
I made a tanned dear hide as a kid. I tacked it out on a piece of plywood, covered it with salt, then after a few days, i scraped the fat off if it. I did this twice. Then i soaked it in a hollowed out oak tree stump that was in our front yard. I filled the stump with water, oak leaves, and salt, then i keft it there all winter. I used a sharp Bowie knife and scraoed all the hair off of it. This made some pretty decent hide, but i didnt do much with it.
Oh wowwww ! Thank you for this amazing video. Let the fun begin - my first to try this out. Hunters left some amazing hides and I had no idea where to start. I have a Gold Wildebeest, a normal Wildebeest, and two black Impala hides. And 3 scrote totes 😅. I will improvise on tools as I go. I want to keep the hair though. Do I need to smoke it too ?
A realy realy good teaching video!!! I see many work steps that have to be done continuously. Are there areas of the steps where you can just leave the skin there for now without working on it any further and carry on later?
lol I sat quietly and intently watching the process unfold step by step then in a blink of an eye you're dancing around in buck skin britches and busting out laughing 😂 informative entertaining and fun, Keep up the great content 👊
that's masses of work fella... but as a smart chap once said "modern society seems to be preoccupied with making things easier, and i can't help but think that's a loss overall"... in total agreement... that deer was used to the max and will live on for ages in those trousers thanks to your work. Coupla questions from a noobs... would the same method work on a rabbit/hare skin? Because i'd like to practice on that before making mistakes on a deer... and also, your wedding ring, i often see it and would like to know what it's made of; it's understated and class and obviously won't 'reflect light'... thanks again for taking the time to educate...
One of my ram lambs ended up with what looks like a severe hernia. He was looking ready to butcher around November. Sadly, if I don't see him poo or eat by evening, it's his last day. I don't want to waste what little meat we'll get from him...likely less than 30lbs, but 30lbs of lamb from the store is a heck of a lot of money. He's got gorgeous markings and color. I think I'll end up with a sheep skin. Thanks for the instructions.
