Whimsical Native shooting bag

I've never done a Native portrayal but always been intrigued with how their items were adorned with beadwork, porcupine quills & the deer-hair tin cones to make some of the most beautiful items I've ever laid eyes on in books & museums. Well, not having the $$$ to be able to own any of the modern day artists items that fall into this category I decided to try & build my own a couple years ago & this was the result of that.

This one's made out of my first ever attempt of a bark-tan deer hide that I didn't get broke well enough so it's pretty stiff, similar to a "half-tan" hide, the flap is brain-tan with edge beading & I say this bag is "whimsical" because it has a wampum band sewn on the flap, my own artistic license there as I've never seen any original reference to this being done on an original bag. The deer-hair, tin cones were made up by Mark "Rooster" Roster & added as well as the woven wool strap by C.J. Wilde.

split-belly pouches

Split-belly pouches or small market wallets can be used for all kinds of stuff & these are small enough to wear looped over your belt, sash or even your powder horn for use as a day bag for hunting. They have a slit in them that you put your items in on both ends of the bag to balance it out & these 2 I've taken liberty to dress up a bit, this top one is made of fustian with some of my free-hand embroidery on it, I'll bet my Grandma or Mom never thought I'd be doing embroidery someday!
This one is made of deerskin, lined in checked cotton & the opening is bound in red wool, I took some stiff bark-tan deer hide that I had & cut the designs out on each end & inlaid the bark-tan in behind it for something different. I've used this one to carry a fire starting kit as well as a sewing kit in the past & I've made quite a few others in various styles but they always seem to sell pretty good at events. I completely hand sew these using linen thread, isn't folk art GREAT!

Jessie McGlemary hunting pouch

I built this pouch after the Jessie McGlemary pouch in Jim Webb's excellent book "Sketches of Hunting Pouches, Powder Horns & Accoutrements of Southern Appalachia" Jessie & his brothers came from Ulster northern Ireland to settle in Rutherford Co. N.C. & this pouch is mostly laced together & I used hemp twine instead of leather lacing like the original, it has 6 rows of fringe on the front body of the bag & I put a small pouch on the inside that buttons shut to carry small items like flints or cleaning jags. The strap is in the same colors as the original & is woven out of wool by the talented Susan Wallace from Silver Shuttle in Memphis, TN.

It was just a matter of time!

I've been thinking about starting this blog for some time now to seperate my other long time hobby of "living in the past". I got into this hobby in 1984 & it's been a progression ever since but I've now got it narrowed down to a later 18th century time period & most of my gear reflects that.

When I go out to the woods to shoot or hunt I prefer to do it as our forefathers did who helped settle this great country with a flintlock, powder horn & shooting bag. For years I've been crafting what is now labeled as "folk art" in the form of leather bags, knife sheaths, beadwork, handmade wing-bone turkey calls, clothing, etc. This blog will feature pics of some of the items I make, use & collect as well as some of the other "folk art" I have by other very talented artists. It will also be the new home of me & my boys' hunting & woods running forays.

The header pic is of one of my fondest memories when my oldest son Delley took his first ever deer with a handcrafted flintlock by the talented Larry Cruise, I'll never forget that hunt & will probably do a detailed account of it sometime. My son's moved on to hunting mostly with modern firearms & archery equipment, but I hope he will always remember that special first deer with "dad's ol' flintlock", & who knows, maybe someday he'll return to his "roots" (I hope!) ENJOY!