Buckstopshere

Seems like such a waste to lose the hide of a deer,either to the butcher or because I butcher my own and don't know what to with the hide. Is it hard to do, and after you do it is hard to make use of the hide? Is it a fun process or is it work? I'd like a pair of deerskin gloves or slippers but making them doesn't exactly turn me on. For fun I did have a deer hide processed and it still sits in my closet. I bring it out every now and then to show the curious where I shot the deer as the only "flaw" is the bullet hole.

Tazman

I had one hide tanned years ago, it came out very well, I used it on my recliner for about 10 years until it finally wore out, the leather was fine, but the fur was starting to shed real bad so I threw it out.

From what I understand tanning is a lot of work, but I have thought about doing it myself, now that I have two little helpers! LOL

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog

DamBigBuck

In my opinion, it's too much work and a big pain in the butt. Much easier to pay the $35 to have someone professionally tan it. I send mine off to Arlington Cape in NW Ohio. If you want the number, send me an email.

Hucklburry

I plan on having mine tanned from now on and saving them to have some things made, like gloves, soft sided brief case, long coat/jacket, etc. I think people waste it by not using it, and an article I read says deer hide lasts longer than cow leather.

--Jim

Lady Forge

I used to tan some myself and yes it is a ;ot of work, but well worth the feeling of accomplishment I felt when I completed the tanning process.
As for professional tanners I use Sebring Custom Tanning Inc #(863-655-1600 Bldg 727, Sebring Air Terminal Sebing, FL 33870.
Sebring will tan deer hides with the hair on, or with the hair off and dye the leather to your custom order. They Charge around $20.00 per hide not including shipping.I usually recieve my hide back from them close to one year for the date in which I sent it to them, but its worth the wait, they do very nice work.
There are also tanners in wisconsin I know of but no longer use that will tan your hides and when you have accumulated enough square inches of hide you can order garmets etc made from them,this cost extra of corse, but some dont offer that is your acctual deer leather that they make them from.
You can locate some of them by doing a web search for Tanners.

kodiakhuntmaster

If you brain tan it, it's alot of work. If you bark tan it, it is alot of waisted time. But if you use "trappers hide tanning formula" it turns out just as good and isn't much work at all. I use all of my deer hides, from EVERY deer I get. I use them for about everything and I mostly brain tan them. It's great fun and very relaxing once you know what you are doing. It brings alot of satisfaction knowing that you can tan a hide and that you have a new resourse to use from the deer.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

Coastie

The work is in the preparation more than the actual tanning process. My wife and I tried one several years ago and the time involved getting all of the meat and fat off of the hide before beginning the tanning process was tremendous. Taxidermists and tanners have tools for this purpose that take a fraction of the time involved doing it yourself.

Coastie
"Children are tastier than Dogs or Goats and they're far easier for a Leopard to catch" Indian Magistrate Hari Prasad Tivari