By Sally Gracie
In the 15 years since I arrived in the Methow Valley, I’ve been privileged to meet — and sometimes write about —many intelligent and beautiful young women: artists and craftswomen, cooks and garden farmers; all are accomplished at their vocations. Each, like Katie Russell, the woman I met today, has real passion for her work.
Among other things, Katie — who calls herself a professional Wilderbabe — teaches primitive living skills and offers classes on deer-skinning and tanning, and makes buckskin clothing. Next April she will teach a class on making use of every part of the wild buffalo.
At the start of hunting season, Katie posts a hand-lettered sign on Highway 20 north of Twisp, offering free deer-skinning. She also sets out a barrel for deer hides.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure whether I could watch Katie skin a deer, but her sure confidence, her strength and good humor drew me in. I was fascinated by what she was doing. I was also happy to have Katie’s mom Chris’s company as we watched her incredible daughter at her work.
Katie had skinned 33 deer since deer season’s opening Saturday when I arrived at her place after noon on Monday. Chris and I watched together as Katie skinned No. 34 and No. 35.
The first truck delivered a three-point buck, which Katie hoisted up by a hook, hindquarters first. The buck had been field-dressed by the hunter, a man from the west side who has been coming to the valley for deer season for more than 40 years and taking his deer to Katie’s place for three or four.
Katie quickly went about her job, using her utility knife to peel away the hide from above the buck’s tail. She was intentional with each movement of the blade, focused and serious as she worked. Katie says she especially enjoys hearing the hunter’s stories, and she chatted with the hunter and his companions as she worked.
“Do you want the head?” she asked the hunter. He did, and he had the trophy head and meat —covered in a mesh bag — in his truck in next to no time. A big buck usually takes about 20 minutes to skin, Katie told me. The buck’s hanging weight, all parties agreed, was probably 160 or 170 pounds.
No sooner had the first hunters left than another hunter backed his truck up to the shed. Katie and her apprentice Bartle used a pulley to hang the doe. This time, both women worked to skin the deer.
The hunter said that he had drawn one of five doe tags for the Chewuch. It was obvious he would rather have bagged a buck. “Bald-headed deer” don’t come with bragging rights, he said, and he was almost apologetic for having shot one. Still, as he had to return to the west side on Monday, he was grateful for the meat.
He and the other hunters all commented on how much fat was on the deers’ carcasses. A fatty deer means a cold winter, they said. The extra fat should also make for tender meat. While at Katie’s, I also watched her apprentices and some friends complete the next two steps of processing. Bartle scraped the remnants of flesh from the hides. A pile of hair grew at the feet of a young man who was graining, removing the hair and epidermis. When these steps are finished, the hides are laid on tarps and salted, which preserves them until they can be tanned.
Though most of her customers leave a tip, Katie is happy to have the hides and other deer parts, which she sells online.
Visit Katie’s website, wilderbabe.com. She has some wonderful stories to share.
