Deer hides

[Eterry]

Two years ago i gave a guy a pair of hides from the deer I'd shot and he was to tan them for me, hair on.
They are still in the freezer, in thick plastic.
Are they usable?

Thanks.

 

[Ames]

I tried that one year and one year only. The bag went from about 35 lbs. to about 5 in that one year. Never opened it.
Now I just tan them in my basement after deer season, mid winter.

 

[tenngun]

I would bet you could still use them, they might have to soak in a bucket of water .... but that might make the hair slip.

 

[Nyckname]

I would bet you could still use them, they might have to soak in a bucket of water .... but that might make the hair slip.

Running water is one method of speeding up slipping the hair.

The weight loss in the hides is from loss of water through freeze drying. They're can't have rotted if they've been kept frozen. They'll still tan, but may not come out in what you'd consider usable.

 

[Eterry]

Sorry, I haven't had a chance to get back to this post.
I'd decided the hair would probably slip, so i might use the material to make a pouch, bag, etc.

Am I wasting my time ??

 

[tenngun]

No, you can brain tan, lard can be used in place of brains. It’s a bit of work but worth it.

 

[tenngun]

Salt alum also works well and looks much like brain tan

 

[Ames]

Your not wasting your time. I have a pile of tanned hides waiting for the day" I wish I saved them".
Never know what you need them for in the future.

 

[Eterry]

I hate to resurrect old posts, but with lots of time on my hands due to lockdown I'm thinking about tanning these hides.
I did an online search, there's as many ways to process a hide as there are stars in the sky.

Can someone give me a link to an easy way to tan the hides? I am fresh out of deer brains, so another method is needed.

Thanks
Et

 

[Gun Tramp]

Not sure about an easy way, but a good resource is Hobson's "Tan Your Hide." AbeBooks starts at $5.70, shipping included...

 

[Eterry]

Thanks, hoping someone has some easy steps i can follow. I'll settle for not needing expensive supplies/chemicals and/or hard to get items, ie brains... cause I'm fresh out of brains... lol.

 

[beardedhorse]

Am re writing my reply. Tanning deer hair on is waste of time as the brittle hollow hairs will break and shed. Soy lecithin granules and Crisco can be made to make fake brains to tan with "artificial intelligence" a "no brainer" _ pun

 

[beardedhorse]

Intended. Matt and Michelle Richard's. Deerskins to Buckskins, Steven Edholm and Tamara Wilder 's Wet scrape Brain Tanning, tanning video by Mel Beattie, Jim Riggs' Blue Mountain Buckskin all good reference books I recommend. SOME EASY INSTRUCTIONS BUT HARD PHYSICAL LABOR. Also check out on line Paleoplanet Forums section on hide tanning. Current blogs and teaching mini videos by Oldwood. Sorry for mess. Trying to type on strange notepad in hospital . No more e mails until libraries open. Good Luck.

 

[Eterry]

I'll be happy with a nice supply of buckskin. I'll check them out.
I hope you're well and staying safe.
Et

 

[Barry Stewart]

I have some limited experience in this area as I have brained tanned three hides and turned another one into rawhide. I will second everything bearded horse said, he is spot on. All of the books he mentioned are excellent and contain all the information you could ever need. There is nothing overly complicated about tanning a hide but all of the steps are important. All it takes is some patience and a lot of hard work but its totally worth it when you end up with some nice brain tanned hides.

You can freeze a green hide almost indefinitely. Just thaw it out, soak it in water and get to fleshing it. Then pick a method for de-hairing the other side and you are on your way.

You can replace eggs for the brains during the braining process. I did my first two with brains and the the third one with eggs.

Rawhide is an incredibly useful material and is another option for the frozen hides. The first steps are the same as brain tanning. Just stop the process after doing a thorough job of fleshing and dehairing. Instead of braining just stretch the hide out on a rack or piece of plywood and let it dry slowly. On a side note if a rawhide is stored properly it will last almost indefinitely and can be resoaked and still turned into brain tan.

You will need to improvise some type of fleshing beam and a fleshing knife or tool, all info in the books listed above. An outdoor work area is also good to have because the process can get a little messy!

I would recommend getting one or two of the books listed by bearded horse and studying before you give it a shot. The hides will be fine in the freezer.

The process is not overly complicated but there is nothing "easy" about the work involved. On the plus side it is very rewarding and your own labor is usually the cheapest kind! Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

There are tanning kits available. I've used Tannery In a Box from Tandy in the past with good results.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I'll second @Tom A Hawk and will mention Cabelas and Bass Pro sold a simple solution in a red bottle, I'm sorry I currently forget the name, that was easy to use. Basically it was flesh hide, salt hide, rinse hide, put the solution on and fold it up for a few day, open it and reapply the solution but hand open to dry. That was all.

 

[Eterry]

Thanks all, I once worked for a Sheriff's office and there was a Trustee there who tanned deer hides as part of the craft shop project.

He fleshed the hides then used a bottle of something he had ordered, then stretched a lariat rope between two posts and rubbed the hide, hair out, until soft.

He grew up on a ranch hunting, was a really nice guy, but became addicted to substances and spent more time inside than out. A friend had a hide tanned by him and its still perfect 5 years later.
I should've asked him more questions...

 

[nhmoose]

https://www.pcsoutdoors.com/trappershidetanformula.aspx
We have used this with good results on deer and fur bearers.

 

[tenngun]

Easiest way is salt alum. Soak the hide, and dehairing it and de flesh it. Pretty important to have ALL the flesh removed.
Make up a five gallon plastic water bucket with four gallons water five pounds slim and five pound salt. Emerse hide in the solution. Place a rock or brick on the hide to keep it all under water. Every twelve hours remove hide,turn and reshape reemmerse. In a week cut an edge in the neck area. It should be one color of white all the way through. If not give it a few more days. It may take two weeks.
When done wash hide out much like old fashion laundry. It needs a good rinse washed in five to ten buckets of water.
just like brain tan the hide has to be broke as it dries.You can do this rubbing over an end of a 2x4.
It will be white and rough looking like brain tan. It will not be as soft, but it won’t harden like brain when wet. And if you make it in to moccs you have to make them about two sizes too small as it stretches a lot.