Welcome to Deerskin Crafts
We are passionate about deer and all the things they freely give us since way back; venison, antler and hides.
In rural NZ deer hunting is a strong tradition. With humans being their only real predator, every year a large number of deer are shot to provide sustenance and to keep their populations at a sustainable level. Our area, the central North Island high country, has three deer species; red deer, sika and fallow. So it is mainly hides from those deer that we use in our tanning and craft projects.
Most deer stalkers hunt for meat and/or a trophy stag. Very often the skins are thrown away, which is a real shame. Deer leather is both light, strong and supple, with different tanning methods giving a range of textures.
We produce rawhide (untanned skin, very stiff), brain tan (buckskin, with a fabric like touch), bark tanned leather (with a shiny top surface) and soft hair–on skins.
In our small family business we want to provide an opportunity for hunters/farmers to turn their deer hides into a memento of the animal that we all hold in high esteem. This can be in the form of a hair-on flat skin, a cushion,a pair of mocassins, a rawhide drum, a painted hide, parchment or some item of buckskin clothing or bag.
So, contact us if you have a nice deer hide and let us know what you would like us to make out of it. We will take it from there.
If you send us skins, they should be either well salted or frozen, especially when you want to preserve the hair.
Please contact us for any other queries.
Ngā mihi,
Robert (aka. Belgian Bob) and Annemie Peeters
DRUMS
CUSHIONS
