Made this shooting bag for a friend

[dhaverstick]

My good friend, John Pruitt, made a couple traditional muzzleloader rifles for my dad and me and asked me to make him a shooting bag as payment. I finally finished it yesterday. What is really special about this piece is that the body of the bag is made from the hide off the moose I killed with my longbow in 2015. The light brown dotted leather is ostrich hide and the colored leather is ostrich leg skin. The trim and fringe are deer hide and I carved the buttons out of the antlers off a buck I killed with my longbow. Everything was sewn by hand using artificial sinew. The bag has one external pocket and two internal pockets. I hope he likes it!

Darren

[Kulafarmer]

Sweet! 

You tan the hide? Or send out? Just curious

[alpha2]

That's amazing! 

[rodneywt1180b]

Between it being an awesome bag in it's own right and the personal connection of the antler and moose hide I'm sure he'll love it.

Great looking bag!

[garypl]

Beautiful work!  I like the rifles as well - LH flintlock and mule hammer sidelock - don't see that many of either styles around much!  

Gary

[kiwican]

Awesome work. Is the moose strap a single piece or folded over for more strength? 

[battlemunky]

Man, that is an awesome piece of work! That stitching and lacework is insane.

[JD62]

That is some magnificent work! Those are very nice rifles too. I'd be proud to carry any of them( I'm strictly pre 1840).

[Stetson912]

Very nice! Where might one find info on the lacing applique and different stitching you did?

[bikermutt07]

How could he not love it? That is awesome.

[YinTx]

Awesome, he is going to get asked 1000 times where he got that!  

YinTx

[MichaelT]

Wow! That looks great- you really put a lot of thought into that. I really like the mix of different leathers-, the textures and colors really make it pop.

I can't fathom why he wouldn't love it- and if he doesn't- check his pulse!

Nice rifles too.

[Stetson912]

After looking closer I don't think the trim around the inlays was laced was it? How did you do that! Again, remarkable work. 

[dhaverstick]

Thanks, everyone! Kulafarmer, I killed that moose about 70 miles north of Edmonton, AB. The guide and I skinned it out in the bush and took it to a tannery in Edmonton which, oddly enough, sent it to someplace in Ontario to actually tan it. From the time I turned the hide in to the time I received my leather took about a year. What amazed me about the whole deal was the price; only $7 a square foot! The hide those rifles are laying on is the finished product and I think I ended up with a little over 30 square feet of 5 ounce leather.

What I do to outline the colored pieces is glue down 1/8" leather lace around the perimeter and then sew it down with a single thread of artificial sinew using an "X" stitch.

Darren

 

[Stetson912]

Awesome. Thanks!