Deer hides

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I have and still have some of the leather lying around. One could buy a complete tanning kit thru catalog sales, a flensing board is easy to make. The hide was first soaked in a Lye solution to remove the hair then scraped clean and soaked in the tanning solutions. The hard part was the flensing and working the hide with oils to soften them.
 
Deer hide is very thin and wears out /tears easily. I had one of those tan fringe-covered jackets made of deer hides and it got beat up pretty quickly. I switched to split cowhide and never regretted it.
A friend always wanted the deer tails to make sinking fishing ties because he said the northern hides had hollow hair and would float. He wanted some to sink.
 
No processors locally that want them, no monetary value. Toss hides and bones in a pile for the buzzards, crows, hawks, eagles and coyotes to feed on. Recycled back to nature.
 
I leave them in the woods. I use the gutless method on big game and just take out the quarters, backstraps, tenderloins and whatever other meat is easy to trim off. I generally also remove the horns and the rest stays in the woods. I have no use for the hide nor any interest in packing out the extra weight.
 
I have a pretty good book on tanning buckskin and making clothing. It includes all of one or two pages on making rawhide. Having read the book, I can see what Loyalist Dave is saying, but I'd still like to try... got three hides in the freezer, six years and newer, waiting on me to get the tools together.
 
I always wanted to give it a try but never got into it. I should buy the kit which would motivate me to get it going.
I guess the hardest part is getting it going.

We have been giving the hides to the Bainbridge Sportsman Club or drop them off at Mayhoods deer hide drop off box in Norwich.
 
I tanned some back in the 70's. Made some possibles bags. I still have one full skin from back then laying over a chair that I still use. I've left some in the timber. A buddy went into taxidermy business many years ago and since then we cape out hides for him. He can always use hides that are skinned carefully for those guys/gals that want shoulder mounts but have poor hides.
 
From consulting the book I mentioned earlier, all it takes to start the project with a frozen hide is to thaw it out, soak it in warm water for 24hrs to re-hydrate, then start scraping out the flesh side. What you do next depends on whether you want full-on buckskin or hair-on.

It'd be less work, sounds like to me, to go hair-on... only have to do all that scraping on one side.
 
A few years ago I had a couple of Axis hides tanned because my wife wanted them. Cost $150 a piece and well worth it. My time is worth more than that.
 
I paid to have one tanned many years ago. It was a big doe, shot high in the neck by my hunting partner. It was a big flawless hide so I took it to my taxidermy buddy. He tans his own stuff for mounts, but he said he could send it off for a hair-on tan. They tumble the hides to soften them and it came back soft as a blanket.
 
Commercially tanned/tumbled vs home tanned and stretched... yeah, the latter's more work... the point of it is not letting the hide glue set up as the hide dries after being soaked.
 
Cemetery21
That sounds like the way I would like to go with the hair on. Any chance you could stop by your taxidery friend and get the contact information on where I can send a hide to get tanned with the hair on?

Between myself, my brother and two sons one of us should get a decent head shot on a decent size deer.

I think I will pick up a tanning kit and give it a try at home as well.
We generally harvest five or six deer a year if any one is in need of a raw deer hide. Free of coarse.
 
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There are a few on the list semi local. There is one on the list that was in the next town south of where we live, but they went out of business a couple of years ago.

I will make a couple of contacts and get one lined up.

Thank you.
 
The last time I sold a deer hide which was years ago they were paying $5 a piece for them.
I have been donating them for a long time now.
 
You can go to someone that processes deer and get all you want, at least around here. They have to pay to get rid of them
 
My brother shot a deer on Sunday and will be getting it tanned. We have been checking around a little so far from $85 to $200.
 
My sister-in-law tans deer skins and uses them for various crafts. I never had any interest in the process so I can't even tell you what process she uses. I do know that the jackets and vests she makes are always well received gifts. She also makes holsters for smart phones that do very well at the church rummage sales.
 
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