Originally Posted by
Berserker
I have only done it once, and did lots wrong. But I salted. Pickled, fleshed, and picked again maybe. Doing hide on. I froze before doing tan, due to timing.
Being a novice, I was just following what I read.
Hide doesnt flat, but not stiff. But I did not spend time breaking. I had some timing problems.
Did you not stretch the hide? I'll admit, I don't stretch in a traditional manner - I don't use a center board to stretch, rather, I pull them out over a board, and progressively move my pins further a time or two each day. That way I get a nice, flat laying hide. If I'm making buckskin for anything but a wall hanger, then I use the traditional center board method, but I also don't leave the hair on then.
Hair on deer hides are a pain, in general. The hollow hairs are very brittle, especially when they dry, which is why you never see hair on deer hide rugs - only cattle hides or bear rugs. Deer can't take traffic, the hairs break and leave big bald spots. Equally, a guy has to take care during the tanning process to not beat up the hair too much, making bald spots before it ever even makes it to the wall.
For what it's worth - I've paid $75-100 to taxidermists to do wall hanging deer hides. No fuss, no muss, just take them a green hide, hand them a check, and wait a couple months. Much, much easier than DIY, and just about as cheap once you figure in time and supplies.