What to do with deer hide

[Loope]

I have never done anything with deer hides, but this fall I decided to save one.  Fleshed it with a pressure washer and then rolled it up and put in a trash bag in the freezer.  I am needing to do something with it soon, we are getting a half beef soon and need the freezer space.

What would you do?  I had thought about trying brain tan (I saved the brain in the freezer too), but also though about just rawhide for bow backing.  What would you recommend for a beginner?

[Pat B]

Slip the hair and make rawhide. From there you can cut strips for bow backing or go right to brain tanning. By making rawhide you can store the hides outside of the freezer as long as it is in a dry place.

[Hawkdancer]

If you opt to brain tan, cook the brains(outside) several different ways to apply the brains to the hide, after brains are rubbed into the hide, stake it by stretching over a pole or rounded stump until dry, them smoke it for several hours over cool smoke, not hot!  The smoking will set the brain oils into  the hide and allow it to dry soft if it gets wet.  Caution, your lady may decide she needs a new dress.  Good move to save the brains .  You can also find them in the meat section or butcher shop.
Hawkdancer

Every critter has enough brains to tan his/ her hide

[Outbackbob48]

One more option if you don't want  to slip hair and grain is to salt your hide and roll flesh to flesh and put in a 5 gal. bucket with a good sealed lid, will free up freezer space and will keep in 5 gal. bucket for yrs. Bob

[aaron]

For a beginner I recommend rawhide for bow backing and many other uses. brain taning on your own is a complex yet rewarding process that is about as hard to understand and accomplish as making bow. If you do braintan, you can use eggs or other things in addition to or instead of deer brains. so to make rawhide, you can soak the hide to make the hair slip (fall out), then scrape the flesh side with a dull blade over a section of PVC pipe or smooth hard wood. stretch flat to dry.

[Hawkdancer]

If you use lye, ashes, or garden lime to help slip the hair, you will need to wash the hide with warm water and pure soap such as Ivory cake soap, not the liquid.   When I do this, I take the hides to a laundromat that has a front loading machine, also saved my worn out running shoes, and throw them in with the hides to help begin breaking down the hide for stretching, speeds up the stretching staking a bit, I believe.  Also I got the cleanest bag of worn out running shoes there is !
Hawkdancer

[bjrogg]

I bet you get some looks when you walk in the laundromat Hawkdancer. I have my mother in laws old washer in the shop for washing old dirty greasy coveralls and I also plan on using it for hides this year.
Bjrogg

[---GUTSHOT--->]

I've used hard ash to slip the hair and want do that again what a mess! I built a frame and after I flesh the hide I lace it up in a stretching frame then after the hide dries out I built a scraping tool out of a really old garden Hoe. Then I dry Scrape it and use my shop vac to clean all the hair up. I know have 5 large white tail hides ready to make raw hide out of or brain tan. Good Luck with what ever process you choose.

[Pappy]

I always just rack them up and dry scrape. Pretty easy once you get the technique down, it comes off in sheets if you are doing it right and mess is easy to clean up. Only down side is the weather has to be right to keep the hide tight, to damp or humid the hide will loosen up in the rack and you can't scrap it properly.
 Pappy

[BowEd]

Yes like Pappy nowadays for quite some time now I do all the work in the frame.1/2 hour to an hour fleshing with the scraper for fleshing.Not really that messy or smelly.Let dry rock hard then dry scrape the hair and epidermis off.That can take a little longer depending on size of hide.2 to 3 hours maybe.At that point it's ready to be brain tanned or used as rawhide.
The nice thing about it you don't neccessarily have to get it done in one session except for the fleshing.Dehairing can be stopped then renewed anytime you please.After dehairing then it can be used anytime you please too.No refrigeration needed.
Most hides generally take 4 to 5 hours preparing them for brains.Total time on most brain tan hides before smoking is generally around 8 hours.
A build-a-long called big fella to buckskin is viewable on this primitive skills thread.Type it into the search slot.

[bjrogg]

That was a very good thread Ed, I really enjoyed it.
Bjrogg

[nclonghunter]

Since you are undecided as to what you want to do, you can simply stretch it in a frame and let it air dry. If you have all the flesh removed the hide will dry hard and flat. If kept in a garage or dry area it will last in that condition for a long time. After drying you can remove from the rack and pin it to a wall for display or roll it like a stiff piece of plastic and store it. After several months or years sometimes bugs will get into the hair and cause it to turn loose. If you de-hair it while on the frame you can store it as rawhide for years.

No need to keep it in a freezer if you get it free of fat and tissue and dry it hard. Take your time then and decide on what you want or need it for.

[BowEd]

Glad to share it BJ.It's always fun to share something that pleases yourself hoping the new comer will experience the same feelings about it.
One more thing I would like to add when storing rawhide is I spray my hides with a light mist of regular bug spay like OFF.If I know I'm not going to get to brain tanning it very soon.I've never had any occurance of bugs or the notorious hide beatle[and you'll remember them when you see them] after spraying them.Even after years of storage which does'nt happen much because I process them.

[bjrogg]

Ed I'd love to see a magazine article, I think it'd be a good read. Like to see some articles about how you make your bags,pants and various end products. I love furs and hides and am starting to play around with tanning them and making things from them. I find it very rewarding. I've got a couple bear hides I was gifted that I'm looking forward to doing something with this winter.
Bjrogg

[BowEd]

BJ....You've done more then most already.The sky is the limit.Making useful things from ground 0 out of natural materials knowing full well things wear out keeps the production going.Proper preperation/care/and usage are all learned then.Glovers needles/speedy stitchers and good thread.The backstrap sinew is amazing stuff for sewing very tight seams too using an awl and the stiffened end as a point.Consoling with seamstress's[a lost art] methods of seams.Referencing to books back in the 80's was the only way to learn back then.Nothing wrong with making something useful in your own style to suit your needs.Nowadays a U tube version is available it seems.
There are many on here who make very nice things.I enjoy seeing them.
Your bear hides are very nice to make anything out of.I used to substitute skunk hide as a look alike....lol.A guy who used to stoke my fire was John Mcphearson aka the Paraire Wolf.He's got his own web site and many many books out there nowadays.
Loope can take it as far as he wants in the future and hope to see the results of his intentions.Yours too BJ.