DIY Taxidermy - Tanning a Squirrel Hide with Alum

If you have ever been fortunate enough to kill the limber and wily squirrel with archery equipment, you may want to find a way to preserve this trophy.

Because the game I am successful at harvesting with my longbow is quite a accomplishment to me, and filled with much satisfaction, I've started on a campaign to preserve a pelt from each animal species I am successful with.

This past season, the mighty eastern fox squirrel fell to one of my arrows.

It is imperative to skin the squirrel fast, especially in warm weather, and get it salted down quickly to prevent the hair from slipping.  I recommend skinning the squirrel in the field, but I did this one on my workbench to document the process.

Staring at the base of the tail, slice down the back of each leg to the foot and start a slice down the length of the tail as far as you feel safe proceeding.  Eventually, the bones will get very thin and you can leave a small section of bone in the tail here so as not to cut off the end of the bushy tail.

 

 Completely skin out the tail from the hide and chop through the remaining bone.

Continue to pull down the hide in an inside out tube.

Extend all the way down the front legs and cut off the feet.  Then, carefully keep pulling the skin from the head.  Use a very sharp knife around the eyes and ears, and don't horse the hide. 

Once done the skinning, heavily salt the hide until you are ready for tanning.  If it will be a while, freeze the hide in a ziplock bag to prevent the hair from slipping.

 

To tan you will need a small bucket and alum available from your grocery store in the spice isle.  

 

One small container will tan an entire racoon hide in a 5 gallon bucket of water. I used half a container for this small bucket. 

 

Dissolve the alum and about 1/2 cup of salt in the water and submerge the squirrel hide for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Rinse, wring out the hide, and start the process of breaking it when it is starting to dry.  This is the most labor intensive part, but a small animal is much less work than a deer hide!

Once pliable and dry I will smoke it by hanging the pelt from my smoker just long enough to turn the hide a amber color.  This helps preserve it and keep away insects.

Now you have a tangible trophy to add to your man cave.

Arrow Selfie Techniques for the Bowhunter

This week Traditional Bowhunter Magazine put out a "tip of the Week" by John Grizzle titled Arrow Adapted for Self-Photos.

Several years ago I made a gadget to do the same thing with a binder clip and bolt that screwed into the camera's tripod mount.

You can see my camera clipped to the arrow in the shadow of this photo:

Now, with the advent of high quality cell phone cameras, I find it much easier to just carry my phone and take selfie photos using a simple rubber band.

A see a lot of pictures of folks that have rubber bands stretched on the hood of their bow quivers, a practice made popular by Fred Eichler to keep adequate string clearance with bulky sleeves, now there is another use for them.  I keep a few heavy duty rubber bands on my quiver string pouch, but it is so I can connect my phone to my arrow in order to get that hero picture.

It is quite an easy concept:

1. Stick your arrow in the ground

2. Put the arrow through the circle of your rubber band down to below the fletching

3. Place your phone against the arrow with the lens facing out (the fletching will help keep it in place and from rotating)

4. Bring the rubber band back over the arrow nock and adjust the angle using the screen.

5. Set the timer and your done!

I just love the simplicity of this system.

DIY Wood Arrow Squirrel Point

Squirrels are tough customers for the bow and arrow hunter.  Yes, I have killed squirrels with the standard steel blunt, but I have also lost quite a few I've hit hard.  

Don't get me wrong, I have no issue shooting the occasional broadhead at a squirrel, but that can get expensive if you plan to shoot a lot of arrows. 

I started trying to find an economical way to create effective squirrel hunting points for my wood shafts.  Squirrels are hard to hit, are fast, and the points needed to be inexpensive to allow "no-holds barred" arrow flinging at bushy tails.

They also needed to be quite blunt to not penetrate deeply into tree trunks and allow those elevated canopy shots up in the trees.

Squirrels have very tough hides though, and something extra was needed to help get through the hide even with heavy bows. 

After much testing, I came about using the augmented standard .38 / .357 caliber spent shell casing.  I slide the hull over the 11/32nd shaft and use a nail set spaced in 3 spots around the shaft to pinch/peen the point onto the shaft.  No glue needed.

I then drill a small pilot hole through the spent primer into the shaft, screwing in a short drywall screw only about 1/2 way down the cartridge.  I'll leave the screw head long enough to cut off with my mini cut-off saw and abrasive wheel / dremel, and then sharpen the protruding screw to a point leaving about 1/8 inch of sharp screw.  

Just long enough to get through the hide, but it will usually bounce or be easily removed, from a tree trunk.

It is also an effective stumping head and, unlike the expensive judo, it will not snag other arrows and is easy to withdraw from the back quiver. 

So when the deer are not cooperating, I'll turn my attention to the squirrels.

Long Range Practice and Broadhead Tuning

One of the most valuable types of bowhunting practice in my opinion is shooting at distance with broadheads.

This practice method accomplishes and reinforces numerous positive aspects in your form, your equipment, and your confidence.

I have heard some grumbles at 3D shoots from certain individuals that the shot distances on some courses are unethical.  Why practice at those ranges if I never intend to take a shot at those ranges?



Well, let me tell you, life is not clean and perfect and sometimes things happen in the woods and it is best to be prepared.  You can see my experience when I found out first hand the value from long range practice:

The Long Shot Buck

I find the best way to accomplish this type of practice is against a hill and shooting into dirt or sand.  My house sits on a hill and this allows me to shoot in my side yard.  Once and a while, I will hit a rock and destroy a broadhead (BH), but I find enough value  in this type of practice that this loss is acceptable.  I keep a few of each type and weight broadhead reserved for dirt practice.  You will quickly learn which broadheads are the most durable.

 Long range practice will  do wonders for improving your form. You will quickly see the value in a stable bow arm, good release, and consistent anchor.  If you cut your BH arrows to your draw length like I do, you can use your BH touching your finger just like a clicker to check constant draw length.

Once you have your basic tuning accomplished, test your equipment by shooting your broadhead hunting set-up at distance.  By distance I mean at least your point on range (usually about 40-55 yards for most archers shooting split finger).

This accomplishes several things.  First of all you have the opportunity to see your arrow flight better.  More time in flight to notice any wobble or kick of the arrow.

Also, you can do some broadhead planing tuning of your hunting set-up.  If your arrows are grouping to the right of the target (right hand shooter), your arrow may be too weak.  If a majority of the shots are impacting left, your set-up may be too stiff.  Adjust point weights and see if you notice a correction.

The last great result of all this long range practice is confidence.  Shooting at distance will make you a more confident archer, make you more confident in your hunting equipment, and when that animal presents itself you will not doubt your ability or gear.