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Hey, y'all,

Just wondering if anyone has any tips on what to do with a deer hide. As I posted in another thread, I got my first two deer ever this season, and would like to keep the hide, maybe make a gun sack for my muzzleloader, etc., out of some of it. The hides have been washed and are in a cool spot, but I don't know what to do next. I'm going to do a google search and see what comes up, but any tips any of you experienced hands have are most welcome!!

Regards,
Liam

I haven't tried this yet. Someone posted this here a while back.
tanning link

Jamie

Remove all meat and fat from the inside of the skin then cover them on the flsh side with about 3 lbs of salt.

I had 2 hides tanned (hair off) by WB Place in Utah for $35 for both last year. They do a good job and you can choose from a couple of colors. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the leather.... Maybe a possibilities bag for black powder....


Looks like a good link - thnx
This year's hide is salted and waiting for me to decide if I have ambition enough to try tanning it myself....

The simplest would be to bag then indiviudally in a trash bag and freeze. When you have a tannery picked out, just box them up and do an overnight ship. 1Minute

Thanks for the info guys, especially that tanning link, Jamie. Turns out I waited too long to get started, and I just decided to throw them out. Next year I'll know better, thanks to you guys.

Thanks!
Liam

For what it is worth I do have a great recipe for tanning deer skins with hair on. This year I'm trying it on a moose hide.

I bought a kid from Cabelas this time. It's got Lu-tan in it or something. It's pretty simple to use for hair on tanning.

I made a fleshing beam by clamping some 4" ABS drain pipe to a stout outdoor table. I used a heavy duty gasket scraper, like a overgrown screwdriver, for most of the fleshing and it worked great.

To inially salt the hides use noniodized canning salt and go with 1 lb. salt to every pound of hide. Rub it in and tack the it out flesh side up on a piece of plywood propped up on one end so it drains. The next day or a bit later and the meat and other stuff dries out from the salt a bit and comes off pretty well with the scraper.

I love Lutan F. Produces a great tan, very white skin too.

I switched to a syntan, but lately just take it all to a local tannery.

DO some research. I"m rural and local was about 1.5 hours away and they'd ship back to you or I could even ship there but the drive was ok. Make sure if you are gonna freeze, that they accept frozen, generally at an extra charge. Get all that straight before season.

I found one thats now only 30 minutes away... helps out and does great work.

You can expect to wait 3-12 months for turnaround though FYI.

And salting.... remember if you are gonna salt, the main rule is that salt can penetrate thin meat layer, it CANNOT penetrate ANY fat. Worse case in a bind, you cut through thin fat, like a checkerboard, 1 inch squares and salt really good. I prefer to make sure all fat is removed before salting. Use a non iodine salt, go to a feed store and ask for feed mixing salt, comes in 50 pound bags or 80 pound bags, generally US Salt brand, and even in the middle of nowhere AK this fall I paid only 13 bucks for two 50 pound bags of it.

Jeff

Whatever you do, don't salt the hide and then throw it in the freezer. My taxidermist gets a couple every year like that and all he can do is throw them away.

Not sure about salt and in freezer, if you mean just salt and toss in without drying, yes that is not good. But a salted hide can stay in the freezer....

Jeff

Liam, You didn't say IF you wnated hair on or off like buckskin or what.
Hair off is not as demanding..INITIALLY..cause if the hair starts to slip no big deal.
When you get your next fresh skinned hide,Lay it out flat on a bit of incline in the shade, out of rain.
Apply about 6#s of plain( uniodized) salt in and even 3/16" layer rubbing by hand into every fold and cranny..about 40 cents a pound at most stores.
The salts retards bacteria and dehydrates the flesh side of the hide.

After several days, the hide needs to be shaken of the salt, which will be discolored.The hide will be somewhat stiff at this point.
Then you can either flesh the hide or resalt it lightly and roll it up and store it in a cool area until the tanning.
IF you are going to proceed with the tanning, wash-rinse the hide in clear water and a bit of kitchen liquid dish soap and allow to drain well.
Mix the tanning solution in a 50 gallong plastic can and stir the hide well and then let it sit for the required number of days according to the tanning chemical instructions you have.
IF you are gonna take the hair off, before the tanning you soak the hide in a lye solution which loosens the hair and then you scrape all the hair off.This is time consuming, wear elbow length rubber haz mat gloves..
IF you have a tanner nearby, do the initial salt down process and then ship the hide to them..Tanning is fun, work and interesting even IF you only do it once,:)
Commercially tanned-processed hides usually come out very nice IF the hide is taken care of just after the skinning..Jim