VARIOUS NOTES GATHERED ON FIELD PROCESSING DEER August, 2001 This is the text-only version, so forgive any reference to pictures. Apparently, people do different steps differently. There is some repetition of the same material. The different descriptions give different perspective. I don't believe that the pictures are essential. If you read the whole thing it gives you a good idea on how to field dress, cut up, and process deer for eating, and the skin of a deer, for the many uses it can have. Collected for those of us who have not been deer hunting. Instructions from a Field Dressing Bag Hang your game, slide the bag from the legs to the neck of the carcass. If necessary, tie the legs together. Use the enclosed cord to tie the bag top. 1. Don't wash out the body cavity since water provides a medium for bacterial growth. If the deer is gut shot, use wet rags to wipe out body fluids and then dry with clean rags. 2. Hang the deer by the neck or antlers in a shady, cool area to drain the blood out of the body cavity. Remove the hide from the meat as soon as possible. 3. Age the deer for five to seven days at thirty-six to forty degrees to tenderize the meat. Never process deer within twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Rigor mortis sets in causing muscle fibers to harden, resulting in tough meat. After thirty-six hours, the muscles relax, and the meat can continue aging or be processed. 4. Meat should be deboned before cutting steaks and chops to preserve a mild flavor of venison. Bones can give meat a gamey flavor. Trim fat away, connecting tissue and bloodshot meat before cutting and wrapping to maintain good flavor. Deer Field Dressing, Quartering, Deboning Like the old adage, "The job's never over until the paper- work's done." A big game hunter must live by the slogan: "The hunt's never over until the meat has been properly cared for." That means field dressing the animal and / or quartering the carcass, then cleaning the meat and preparing it lor the butcher. For some reason, meat care takes on a sort of mystical quality for the inexperienced. It shouldn't. In reality, field care of big game is an easy process requiring nothing more than few basic tools and some simple skills. There are two basic ways to care for meat in the field. The first is old-fashioned field dressing, or gutting, a process designed to both remove the entire digestive system, as well as the heart, lungs and windpipe, and facilitate cooling before internal bacteria begins to multiply and taint the meat. This is the common method when the sportsman has easy access to mechanical or four footed transportation -- an ATV, truck or pack animal -- and the carcass can be transported to a clean, civilized area to be skinned, washed and cut up. Here's how to do it. Make sure the animal is dead: Approach it from uphill, and watch for movement. Touch the eye with a long stick; if it doesn't blink, the animal has expired. Unload your firearm. Safety first! Position the animal with its head uphill, and hindquarters downhill. This will facilitate the drainage of blood and body fluids. Prop the carcass on its back, and secure it so it will not roll or slide around. Remove your knife and other tools from your pack, and set them within easy reach. Put on your rubber gloves before making any incisions. Make an incision that encircles the external margin of the anus, cutting deep enough to free the terminal end of the digestive system from the surrounding tissue. Next, make a small opening in the abdominal wall, taking care not to puncture the underlying internal organs, from the pelvic bone upward to the bottom of the sternum (Fig, 1). Using the index and middle finger of your non-knife hand to lift the abdominal wall away from the internal organs helps. Pushing the stomach out of the way, locate the diaphragm (the thin horizontal wall of muscle that divides the digestive tract from the chest cavity). Completely cut the diaphragm from one side of the rib cage to the other. With your free hand, reach up past the heart and lungs, locate, and securely grasp, the windpipe. Sever it with your knife blade as high up into the throat as possible (Fig. 2). Take care not to nick yourself with your knife! (Note: using a serrated blade or small saw to cut through the center of the sternum up to the throat will make removing the heart, lungs, and windpipe much easier.) (Fig 3) Holding the severed windpipe, begin pulling the heart, lungs, and internal organs free and out of the chest cavity. It may be necessary to cut several adhesions to the body cavity, but the whole works should come free relatively easily. Reach down into the pelvic opening and grasp the lower end of the intestines, then pull them up and out of the abdominal cavity. If you've cut the anus free, everything, including bladder and rectum, should come free. If not, use the knife to carefully cut through the resisting areas. Take care not to puncture the bladder and get urine on the meat. Elevate the carcass, draining all the blood out of the body cavity through the hole where the anus used to be. Transport the carcass to civilization, where further cleaning, skinning, and butchering can take place. PACK IT OUT While rapid skinning will promote cooling, I like to leave the skin on when transporting the carcass whole from the field simply because it keeps the meat perfectly clean and free of debris that would otherwise need to be trimmed away later. On backcountry hunts, where meat often must be packed out on your own back, eliminating weight and bulk is a real concern. Under these circumstances I no longer field dress the animal. Instead I quarter and, perhaps, bone it out without ever cutting into the body cavity. It's a much quicker, cleaner way to do business. After making sure the animal is dead and unloading my firearm, here's what I do: 1. Position the animal on one side, making sure it won't roll around. 2. Skin out the up side of the carcass. First make an incision up the backbone, from tail to neck. Begin skinning down the side including the legs. 3. Remove the rear leg. Do this by cutting up from the underside of the hip toward the backbone, then down through the ball (hip) joint. The joint will separate easily using only your knife. 4. Remove the front shoulder. Lift up on the front leg and cut under the scapula as high as you can while pulling the leg away from the rib cage, until the front leg comes free. 5. Remove the back strap. This process is similar to filleting a fish. Insert the knife blade tip into the loin and follow the spinal column from the hip to the neck. Next, cut across the grain of the meat at the hip, finding the point where the ribs disappear under the loin and inserting the blade tip along the ribs. Cut and peel the meat away from the spine and rib cage toward the neck until it all comes free. 6. Bone the neck meat off by simply filleting the meat away. 7. Roll the carcass over, and repeat the process. BONING THE MEAT IS SIMPLE All you have to do is follow the contours of the major muscle groups with your knife blade around the bone. I try and keep the meat pieces as large as possible when boning. This gives you more options for preparing the final cuts for the freezer. When transporting quartered or boned meat from the field in my backpack, after placing it in cloth meat sacks I prefer to stuff it into heavy - duty plastic bags before loading it into my pack bag. This will keep blood and meat off my pack bag and hunting gear. When I reach my destination, I remove the meat-filled game bags from the plastic bags and hang them so air can freely circulate around them, thus continuing the cooling process. The above does not take into consideration whether you want to save the cape for mounting. Caping is another process and, while simple, is too lengthy to be discussed here. It also does not consider the fact that some game management jurisdictions may require that evidence of sex remain attached to the carcass. If that's the case, make sure you cut around the genitalia when field dressing; if you skin the animal, make sure you leave the sex organs attached. Also, make sure you remove the hide as quickly as possible. Since the idea is to cool the meat as rapidly as possible, and since the hide will hold heat in like a heavy blanket, it must be removed quickly. Proper field care of a big game animal yields the sweetest, most succulent meat on earth. With similar effort, you'll never hear your friends and family complain about "gamy old venison" again! TOOLS FOR FIELD DRESSING Several "little things" can make field dressing quicker, easier, and cleaner: Knife blade shape, length: Either a clip - or drop - point design between 2" and 4" long is ideal for most all North American big game. Longer blades tend to get out of control and contribute to user fatigue. Knife handles: Non-slip synthetic materials like Kraton, Zytel, and Rynite, as well as natural bone, help you keep a sure grip even after they've been covered with blood. Whetstone or steel: Your blade edge should require no touching up if you are simply field dressing an animal. When quartering or boning meat, it may. Carrying a small whetstone or sharpening steel makes this easy. Small saw: A lightweight pack saw is handy for cutting through the sternum during the field dressing process as well as for removing antlers from the skull on backcountry hunts. Browning, Gerber and Michael's of Oregon all make excellent saws of this type. Gloves: Infection is a real concern when field dressing big game animals. I once deeply cut an index finger skinning an Alaskan brown bear; it got so infected I nearly lost it. To this day, it throbs in moderate weather. To avoid such problems, always wear rubber gloves when field dressing game. I use the inexpensive, heavy-duty forearm-length gloves used for washing dishes. Tarp: To keep meat as clean as possible, I always carry an old Space Blanket in my pack. It doubles as part of my survival gear, but I also use it to lay meat on during the boning process. This helps keep it clean. A heavy-duty plastic bag works well for this, too. Game Bags: Never store meat in plastic bags where it cannot cool properly. Heavy mesh cloth game bags are the ticket. The best I've used are from Alaska Game Bags, (Dept. AR), 100 Sheffield Court, Cookeville, TN 38506; (931)525-3626. Pre-moistened towelettes: Just like those you get with some fast food, these little gems make cleaning hands and arms in the field easy as pie. You can find them in the baby products section of a grocery or drug store. The above was from: Deer Field Dressing Basics, by Bob Robb AMERICAN RIFLEMAN August 2001 Second Section: First discussion: Chris Boyle's Whitetailmasters. Second discussion: From The Hunting & Fishing Library by Gary Clancy and Larry R. Nelson. How To Field Dress a Deer (directions for a right-handed hunter) Both gathered from the internet. How to Field Dress a Deer , note that the pictures showed the hunter using a folding-hunter's knife, like the one that Buck makes, of about a four-inch blade. They also wore those long rubber-butchering gloves you can buy for field dressing. First discussion of two: The fun begins! The first thing that you should do is position the deer uphill if possible. This will simplify the removal of all the internal organs. The way that lyme disease is spreading today we recommend that you wear rubber gloves when field dressing your trophy. Another thing to remember is that you don't know the history of this whitetail so be careful. You never know what you could find in the body cavity. Position your trophy on its back with the head uphill. Use your knife and cut around the anal opening to free the end of the intestine. Use your fingers to locate the end of the sternum or breast bone and with your knife cut carefully towards the pelvic area of your trophy. The best way is to cut a small slit just past the sternum. This cut should be completely through the hide and into the body cavity. You'll know when you're inside. Insert your knife and use your fingers as a guide. Your fingers should be underneath your knife blade to prevent you from cutting the intestines. Position your deer on its side after making the cut to the pelvic area. All the internal organs in the stomach area should slide out for the most part. If not use your knife to carefully cut anything that may be connected to the back bone. You should be able to pull the end of the intestine free from the pelvic area if the cut around the anal area was done properly. Next you have to remove the heart and the lungs. Reach forward into the front end of the rib cage area and cut through the windpipe and the esophagus. You'll notice that the windpipe looks like a grunt call. Now pull out the heart and the lungs. Position the deer on his belly and let him drain. Now is a great time to get some good pictures of you and your trophy. Clean up your mess as much as possible, cover up the remains and pack out anything that you may have used in this process. The animals will finish the job for you. Rinse out your deer as soon as possible to remove dirt, blood, and hair. How to Field Dress a Deer second discussion of two, this section: 1. RUN your finger along the breastbone until you can feel the end of it. Pinch the skin away from the body so you don't puncture the intestines, and then make a shallow cut just long enough to insert the first two fingers of your left hand. 2. FORM a V with your first two fingers, maintaining upward pressure. Guide the blade between your fingers with the cutting edge up; this way, you won't cut into the intestines. Cut through the abdominal wall back to the pelvic area. 3. SEPARATE the external reproductive organs of a buck from the abdominal wall, but do not cut them off completely. Remove the udder of a doe if she was still nursing. The milk sours rapidly, and could give the meat an unpleasant flavor. 4. STRADDLE the animal, facing it's head. Unless you plan to mount the head, cut the skin from the base of the breastbone to the jaw, with the cutting edge of the knife up. If you plan to mount the head, skip this step and the next. 5. BRACE your elbows against your legs, with your left hand supporting your right. Cut through the center of the breastbone, using your knees to provide leverage. If the animal is old or very large, you may need to use a game saw or small axe. 6. SLICE between the hams to free a buck's urethra, or if you elect to split the pelvic bone on either a buck or doe. Make careful cuts around the urethra until it is freed to a point just above the anus. Be careful not to sever the urethra. 7. CUT around the anus; on a doe, the cut should also include the reproductive opening (above the anus). Free the rectum and the urethra by loosening the connective tissue with your knife. Tie off the rectum and urethra with kitchen string (inset). 8. FREE the windpipe and esophagus by cutting the connective tissue; sever them at the jaw. Grasp them firmly and pull down, continuing to cut where necessary, until they're freed to the point where the windpipe branches out into the lungs. 9. HOLD the rib cage open on one side with your left hand. Cut the diaphragm from the rib opening down to the backbone. Stay as close to the rib cage as possible; do not puncture the stomach. Repeat on the other side so the cuts meet over the backbone. 10. PULL the tied off rectum and urethra underneath the pelvic bone and into the body cavity, unless you have split the pelvic bone. If so, this is unnecessary. Roll the animal on it's side so the entrails begin to spill out of the body cavity. 11. GRASP the windpipe and esophagus; pull down and away from the body. If the organs do not pull freely away, the diaphragm may still be attached. Scoop from both ends toward the middle to finish rolling out the entrails. Detach the heart and liver. 12. PROP the body cavity open with a stick after sponging the cavity clean. If the urinary tract or intestines have been severed, wash the meat with snow or clean water. Hang the carcass from a tree to speed cooling , or drape it over brush or logs with the body cavity down. Third Section. Notes prior to 2001 US Army Survival Manual FM 21-76 ISBN 1-56619-022-3 The following comes from the manual published in October 1970, which has no ISBN number. It is different than the 1998 version cited above. pages 158 to 168, edited. ANIMALS. Skinning and dressing. Clean and dress the carcass as soon as possible after death because to delay will make your job harder. To prepare light and medium sized animals- [page 141-142 SAS Survival Guide; John Wiseman; HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN 0 00 470 1674. Bleed animal by cutting jugular or carotid artery in its neck. When the animal is hanging, these will bulge clearly. Make cut either behind the ears - stab in line with ears to pierce vein on both sides of head at same time - or lower down in V of neck, before artery branches. Unless you have a stiletto knife, the latter is best.] Make a ring cut at the knee and elbow joints and a "Y" cut down the front of each of the hind legs and down the belly as far as the throat. From the belly make a cut down each foreleg. Make a clean circular cut around the sex organs. Working from the knee downward, remove the skin. Cut open the belly. Pin the flesh back with wooden skewers, and remove the entrails from the windpipe upward, clearing the entire mass with a firm circular cut to remove the sex organs. Save the kidneys, liver, and heart. Use the fat surrounding the intestines. All parts of the animal are edible, including the meaty parts of the skull such as the brain, eyes, tongue, and fleshy portions. Throw away the glands and entrails in the anal and reproductive regions. Save the skin. It is light when dried and is good insulation as a bed cover or article of clothing. LARGER ANIMALS. To prepare, follow the steps outlined above, except for hanging the carcass. This may be impossible because of the lack of a suitable method of hoisting the animal. Forth Section: Lifted from an internet site: Field Care of Big Game Meat What to do After Killing Your Game After you have shot your game, approach it from the rear carefully, making sure it is dead. Validate your tag and attach it to the carcass immediately. Start field dressing it at once with a good, strong bladed knife. Be sure your knife is sharp, maintain a fine edge blade as you work. If you choose to do so, lay the animal with head downhill and cut it's throat to bleed it. This is not necessary, however, because it will bleed out satisfactorily in the normal process of field dressing. The following procedure has withstood the test of time by experienced hunters. Many, however, like to vary one or more steps, so the hunter should feel free to innovate to suit the situation. Starting between the hind legs, cut all the way down to the pelvic bone. Then turn your knife blade up, and using your other hand to hold the meat and skin away from the entrails, cut up through the breastbone (brisket), and on up the neck as far as possible. A strong, large-handled knife is needed to best make the cut through the breastbone. Cut the windpipe in two as far up the neck as possible. Lay your knife down. Grasp the windpipe with both hands and pull hard, downward. The insides will come out all the way down to the mid section. Now remove the rocks from under the animal and roll the carcass on it's side. Cut the thin layer of meat that is holding the entrails to the ribs, all the way down to the backbone. Then turn the deer over and do the same on the other side. Lay your knife down again, and using both hands, get a firm grip on the entrails and pull down, hard. All the entrails will come out of the animal. Lift the animal up by the hind legs and lay a large rock under the rump. This will spread the back legs open. Place your knife against the middle of the pelvis to locate the seam where the bones grow together, and press down hard. If you have a good, stout knife, it may help to twist the blade from side to side to work the blade through the seam. As a last resort, you may have to hit the back of your knife blade to cut through the bone. You can also use a hatchet or saw for large game such as elk. Then you can finish cleaning out the animal. If a tree is handy and you have a rope, hang the carcass up by the head or antlers for about 20 minutes. This will allow the loose blood to drain out of the body cavity. If no tree is available, turn it upside down in a clean place and let it drain. You can begin skinning while it is draining. (If it is to be mounted, hang it by the hind legs for skinning.) The skin comes off most easily while the deer is still warm, so it should be skinned within two hours. To remove the skin, cut down the inside of each leg to the middle of the animal, being careful to cut the skin only. Now cut the skin all the way around the neck, as close to the head as possible. Grasp the skin with both hands at the back of the head and pull down hard. Usually the skin will come off down to the front legs. Use your knife to work the skin off the legs and where the skin sticks tightly to the meat. Then pull down on the skin and it will come free. Take your animal back to camp. Take note that dragging it may get it quite dirty. Keep it clean. (You may opt to quarter or halve it for easier transporting. If you do so, remember to have the tag attached to the largest portion of the carcass.) Hang it up by the hind legs for four or five hours to allow the tiny blood vessels to drain. Keep the carcass in the shade and as cool as possible, and make certain it is free of flies by wrapping it in a game bag or cheesecloth. It is very important that the carcass is allowed to cool throughout within ten to twelve hours. Once it has properly cooled overnight, warm days in the mountains should be no problem so long as the carcass is kept cool in the shade. Without quick and proper cooling, the meat will spoil. Once you get home it is alright to cut up the meat or you can age it in a refrigerated cooler, or other cool place for a week or ten days before cutting it up. It is advisable to trim all fat from the meat, as wild game fat quickly turns rancid and will affect the meat's flavor. Wrap the cuts well before freezing. Wild game meat is also delicious if cooked and canned, or jerked. Tips on Quality Flavor, tenderness and juiciness probably are the most important aspects of venison quality. The hunter controls factors such as the sex of the animal, hunting practices and handling techniques after slaughter which may enhance or reduce this quality. Individual preference plays the major role in deciding which sex to hunt. For example, if you prefer a highly intensified (gamey) flavor, hunt a male animal; if you prefer a less intensified flavor of venison, a female animal probably will be your best choice. The sex also may affect tenderness and juiciness, but not as much as the intensity of flavor. The meat of female animals usually is juicier and more tender than males. Age of the animal, which is a difficult factor for the hunter to control, probably has a greater influence on tenderness and juiciness than does the sex. Proper hunting practices are very important in determining the final venison quality. First, try to select an animal which has been resting or is quietly grazing instead of one excited by a disturbance or stressed from heavy exercise. Second, place the shot so that it insures a clean kill (instant death). Normally, a shot through the neck or lungs will result in a clean kill and less tissue damage (wastage). An animal shot in the gut or hind quarter, for example, will die slowly, causing muscle stress and consequently a decrease in meat tenderness. Thus, an undisturbed, unstressed animal which suffers little in death will yield the highest quality meat. Handling techniques after slaughter also will influence the final meat quality. Field dress the animal as soon as possible after death and hang so the carcass will be thoroughly bled. Delayed field dressing will cause a decrease in meat quality. Hanging the carcass also will increase tenderness by allowing some muscles to stretch. Skinning the animal soon after field dressing seems to enhance the quality slightly. However, if you plan to transport or age the animal before processing, leave the skin intact to prevent drying of the meat's outer surface. Age the carcass in cold storage just above freezing for about a week to increase the tenderness and possibly the flavor of the venison. To insure high meat quality, reduce bacterial spoilage by keeping the carcass as clean as possible. Rinse the outer meat surface and inner body cavity with clean water if any debris, hair or intestinal material is present. Chill the carcass to 35 degrees F. by hanging it outside (weather conditions permitting) or by putting it in cold storage. Once the carcass is packaged, keep it frozen in a moisture - and vapor- proof packaging material until ready for use. A Note on Elk and Moose Elk and moose are large, heavy animals and consequently are more difficult to clean and handle. A hand axe, or meat saw is recommended to cut through the pelvis, brisket bones and to divide the carcass down the backbone for quartering. Some nylon cord is helpful to tie the animal down so that the carcass is stable and the big legs don't flop around while you are dressing it out. It is vitally necessary to get these large animals cleaned rapidly and off the ground for cooling as quickly as possible. Get the carcass off the ground so air can circulate, even if up on small limbs, brush or rocks. It is best to quarter the larger animals (even large mule deer), skin them and hang the sections in meat sacks. Small hoists are ideal for this. Antelope, Goat and Sheep Antelope are smaller than most deer, usually weighing less then 100 pounds. They are easily cleaned in the field and should be skinned to aid cooling. Where they are hunted, trees are usually scarce, so provide the carcass shelter from the sun's heat. Goat meat is good to eat if the hunter is very careful to give the meat proper care. Bighorn sheep is rated excellent as far as wild game meat goes. These animals, of course, should be cleaned and cooled promptly. If you must travel in warm weather, place the carcass in the vehicle early in the morning while it is yet cool and cover it with canvas and sleeping bags to insulate and keep out the heat. Be certain the meat does not get warm on the trip. Remember - when properly cared for, wild game meat is a special treat for any table and is very nutritious because it is high in protein content. http://www.netside.com/~lcoble/bible/bible.html THE SURVIVAL BIBLE - A Work in Progress by Richard Perron His words, with some of my editing: HOW TO CARRY DEER: THE WORST METHOD IS to tie its legs together and, using a 12 foot pole between the legs, you & your partner try to carry it. The continuous swinging motion of the deer will nearly kill you. THE TASK IS TWICE AS EASY if you use 2 poles to tie the legs. You then carry the weight on your shoulders and avoid the swinging motion. You just march on the same footstep rhythm. Here is a different method: Make a net under the deer using a rope between the 2 poles. Instead of tying it to the poles you tie it to the stretcher by the neck. HOW TO CARRY IT ALONE: Don't try to drag it on the ground unless the deer is very small, it will get tangled up everywhere. Don't try to drag a 175 to 200 pound deer, you only risk a heart attack. Moving your camp to the kill is the logical choice if in an emergency. It is not a bad idea even with no emergency. Realize that you will have to move after butchering, as the blood and guts may draw predators. TRICK TO MOVE IT IF ALONE: Try this trick which will cut the weight in half: Search for 2 small trees about 15 feet long with a trunk slightly bent. If you can not find them, cut 2 straight trees. Bevel the ends so that they slide better. Place them about 20 inches apart and tie a rope at one foot intervals. Roll your deer on this stretcher, stomach upward. Attach it firmly by the legs and the neck so that it does not slide downward. Cut a piece of rope to support the weight on your shoulders. Create a harness, attached to the two poles, with the rope. A man of average strength can, by use of this method, carry a deer of 200 pounds, without heart attack or total exhaustion. final section: Processing the Skin: Rawhide and Field Tanning RAWHIDE Like thick, form-fitting coats, animal hides protect their bearers from the elements, maintain body warmth, and allow for the free and supple movement of limbs and bodies. To perform these functions, hides must be very strong and elastic. These same qualities make rawhide one of the most useful and versatile materials in a survival situation. Fortunately, the process of making it is fairly simple. SOAKING. You can make rawhide either with or without the hair. Whether or not you remove it depends on how you plan to use the hide. If you want to make a warm blanket or covering for your entryway, you'll probably want to leave the hair on. You may also want to leave it on just to save time; for then you will only have to work on one side. If you plan to remove the hair, soak the hide in water for a day or two until it pulls out easily. Otherwise, soak it only long enough to make it soft and pliable-usually only a few hours. STRETCHING. Next, stretch the hide out on hard, cleared ground and stake it down every few inches so that it is well secured. Better yet, "rack" it out with cordage--preferably rawhide strings - on a sturdy rectangular framework. Do this by notching and lashing four poles together, or by lashing horizontal poles between trees. Stretch the hide inside the framework by punching small holes around the edge and tying it on with separate loops of cordage. This is easier if you first stretch out the four ends of the hide, then fill in the gaps. Whether on the ground or on a framework, though, stretch the hide tight all the way around. You may have to reset the stakes or tighten the cords periodically. SCRAPING. While the hide is still wet, remove as much of the hair as you can with your fingers. This may be very easy or a real chore, depending on the hide. If it is too difficult, soak the hide some more or remove the hair with a scraper, described below. On the other side, peel off all the fat and excess material so that it doesn't burn into the hide. Then let the stretched hide dry out completely. NEXT, using a scraper of some kind-ideally, a wide, rounded blade of stone or bone fitted with a sturdy handle-scrape off the outer membrane until the surface is smooth and fluffy, like suede. This final process takes a lot of elbow grease, so be patient and keep scraping. Also be careful not to cut or puncture the hide. Use the tool as you would a plane or drawknife, holding the blade at right angles to the hide and pulling down without applying too much pressure. When fully dried, the resulting rawhide becomes hard and stiff and can be used for a multitude of purposes. Save the scrapings to make glue (see "Glues and Oils," page 263). USES. Because of its tendency to shrink and dry hard, rawhide is one of the best natural binding materials. It makes strong cordage for the most demanding jobs, including bowstrings and lashings for axeheads and hammerheads. It has even been used to secure wooden beams in major construction projects such as the Mormon Tabernacle Church in Utah. TO CUT A LENGTH OF THONG, lay the rawhide out flat on a hard surface such as a log. Then, beginning on the outer perimeter, cut gradually in a spiral toward the center. This way, you'll be able to get a much longer piece of cordage than by cutting straight parallel strips. The width of the thong depends on how you plan to use it. A half-inch strip twenty feet long can be soaked, then twisted and stretched into a much longer and thinner cord. If you lash it on wet and tie it well, it will shrink and dry as hard as cement. RAWHIDE can also be cut to pattern and sewn into an endless variety of tough articles. It makes durable soles for footwear, excellent cooking and storage containers, useful shelter material (tarps, doors, rugs, roofing, etc.), and stiff but serviceable clothing items. TO MAKE SMALL RAWHIDE CONTAINERS, soak the material in water, shape it into a pouch, and fill it with wet sand. Wrap cordage around the mouth and allow it to dry. Gradually, the rawhide will shrink to about half size. When it's dry, pour out the sand and use the container for whatever you like. You can make larger containers by pushing well-soaked patches of rawhide into the ground and filling them with sand or stones. When dry, such pots and pans can be used to hold either solids or liquids-or even for boiling and cooking (see "Rock Boiling," page 236). BRAIN TANNING For short-term survival purposes, it is unlikely that you will need to know how to tan hides. However, even a rudimentary knowledge of tanning will allow you to make soft clothing items - which, for an extended wilderness stay, is a very useful occupation. For this reason, I include the following short description. BRAINING. Fortunately, much of the tanning process is already complete when your rawhide is finished. In fact, the main purpose of tanning is to soften rawhide so it can be used for clothing. But from rawhide to buckskin is a remarkable transformation -- all the more so because it is done with the animal's own brains. THERE IS AN OLD SAYING that every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide, and this is generally true. First, soak the rawhide in water until it is soft and pliable. Then, over low heat, mash the animal's brains into a slimy paste and rub them thoroughly into the wet rawhide. During this process the hide will become softer, thinner, and more translucent. IF YOU HAVE TAKEN THE HAIR OFF, treat both sides. Then add a little water to the remaining brains and soak the hide in this mixture for two to three hours - or even overnight if it's especially cool. Finally, wring the hide out well (perhaps twisting and stretching it between two poles), and rack it out tight again. If you've left the hair on, just treat the bare side with brains and omit the soaking process. But make sure the hide is well permeated by the brain mixture. STAKING. Now stroke, push, and stretch the hide continually until it is dry. This may take a long time, so be prepared to use a lot of elbow grease. Work the hide with the smooth, rounded end of a stick until all the fibers are soft and pliable. YOU CAN EVEN USE YOUR OWN FISTS to some extent, although you may tan your own hide if you're not careful. Push in and down with long, even strokes, working both sides of the hide and giving special attention to rough, scaly spots. Apply plenty of pressure, but be careful not to puncture the hide. Keep pushing, stroking, and punching until the hide is completely dry. A good test for dryness is to touch the hide with the back of the hand. If it still feels cool, apply more elbow grease. If it feels warm and soft, it's probably dry enough. SMOKING. Once the hide is dry, take it off the rack and smoke it over a small fire of green boughs and leaves. This can be done by building a tripod over the fire and draping the hide around it. Keep the fire as low as possible--you want smoke, not heat. Turn the hide from time to time, but don't worry about over-smoking it. This process will cure and set the brains. BUFFING. Finally, buff the hide thoroughly by running it rapidly back and forth like a shoe - shine cloth around a smooth pole or thick loop of cordage. When you're done, the hide should be soft and pliable enough to use for a variety of clothing items, from shirts and leggings to mittens and moccasins. Tom Brown's WILDERNESS SURVIVAL A Berkley Book ISBN 0-425-10572-5 pages 257-261