Jack Weeks

Jack Weeks
Replicated Leather Work of the 17 & 18 Hundreds
Jack Weeks -

Born and raised in a small town in the Northern Illinois farm fields my family escaped annually to the “North Woods” of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada to hunt and fish. Through these outdoor adventures I gained my earliest skills of observation and love of field biology. Along the way I gathered a B. S. in Zoology and Earth Sciences from Northern Illinois University and a M. S. in Wildlife Biology from Louisiana State University. These in turn led to a 31-year career as a Wildlife Biologist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, 6 years with Michigan Wildlife Division and another 2 years with the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services.

Released at long last from the shackles of bureaucracy I’m now free to pursue my interest in United States history and the life ways of our ancestors. I camp and hunt using historical arms and equipment. I make my own accoutrements. All this has led to my working leather and scrimshawing powder horns in the “old ways”.

I’m a member of The Contemporary Longrifle Association, The National Muzzelloading Rifle Association and The National Coalition of Historical Trekkers.

My wife p.t. and I live south of Luzerne, Michigan in the Huron National Forest, out in the woods…the place I truly belong.

Jack selects bag shapes and materials that were used during the 17 and 18 hundreds and crafts them with the types of hand tools that were available at that time. These early bags and horns were originally crafted by harness makers, cobblers, and cord winders. Farmers and hunters with the required tools and skills sometimes made their own. Dying, conditioning and metal aging are all done with agents available to early makers.

Heart-shaped bags were often selected by Revolutionary War mounted infantry soldiers to prevent the loss of bag contents during rough riding.