Thank you for taking the immense amount of time that it probably took to make this video, walking us through the steps needed. I've got two whitetail hides that were in need of rescue, I'm like, now what do I do? I love deer, they are majestic in their own way. (The hides came from two deer who had been hit nearby our property. It's a drive that, unless ill, I make daily. The first, a buck, had been there for about 36 hours in below-freezing temps before I decided to go for it; he was frozen when I cut him open. The second, a doe, was there for about 6 hours. I couldn't leave them there to rot like the garbage flying around. So I determined to get the hides, to give them SOME dignity. Sounds silly, I'm sure, but that's the way I see it.) I put the capes in the freezer and voila, here I am.
I grew up in the Shuswap area (Gardom) - thanks so much for putting the time and energy into this tutorial - I'm glad I stumbled upon it. I live on the North Coast now - hunting moose, blacktail, and goats. I will indeed be tanning some blacktail hides next season thanks to your inspiration!
Hi. I am from all the way The Netherlands and I hunt in Germany. I have a really nice thick hide from a roe deer which I tan at home. I am using a recipe from a taxidermist. So far everything goes fine. I watched your video and just confirms that I am doing it the right way, although I have some of my own habits. I have already tanned several hides, but not all are very souple. So I hope this time it is somewhat more flexible. Good idea of sanding the hide. I did that too with one of my previous ones. By hand, that is. Not with a machine. Thanks for the video!!
Howdy, Brother! This is the best and most detailed, respectful tanning instruction on the market. The time and effort you put into this lesson is very much appreciated. Thank you and Drive-On, Cowboy!! 🤠
Thanks for staking the time to make the video! I genuinely enjoyed watching the process and hope to give her a go this fall. I would love to see the predator edition of the process as well.
I’ve been wanting to give this a try for a while. Any advantages to fleshing after it’s been in the pickle for 72 hours? As far as I can tell, most people flesh before the pickle.
Just come across your channel and subscribed , great info. Yes please do the predator tan , im wanting to do a coyote trapper hat , and maybe some othe things. Thanks for your vids.
Thank you for this video! I will be trying to tan my own hide this year for the first time ever, and I will definitely be using your process! I just feel like I've always wasted so much of the animal in the past, and I no longer want to do that. I want to use as much of the animal as possible so nothing goes to waste. Also I would definitely be interested in seeing a predator video! Maybe something like a coyote or bobcat, thanks!!
this might sound gross but i have a rat problem. nothing a good old air rifle cant fix but.... im tanning rat hides to show my kills thanks for teaching me how to.
@@shuswapoutdoors I turn them into mouse pads. similar to a bear rug. I take off the feer and cut the belly. I get rid of the tail. tan them with egg yolk. After that, take felt and cut it to size. stitch the hide to the felt. let it dry the egg method works however I really need a better solution. if I get a huge rat I'll take the felt and embroider the size of it. we have Norway rats and they get huge. measure from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose. The biggest rat we've got was 17 3/8 inches however they get bigger. Some get up words of 19 inches. I and my neighborhood friends hunt them to help keep the rats out of houses. a few years ago rats were almost in every home on our street. now we have the population under management.
Dawg that is so cool, should consider getting into stuffing them and have them doing funny things, like a bunch of rats sitting around a table playing poker etc lol
Fantastic video! I really appreciate your attention to detail and use of tools that us amateurs may already own. I'm working on my first ever tanning project; a whitetail. I was dreading the thought of needing special equipment to stretch and break the hide. Your video relieves much of that anxiety. You have a new Sub here!
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to make it. I have a question if ya don't mind, how much of the citric acid would you use in the pickling for whitetail
You can use white distilled vinegar for the pickling. Use one gallon of vinegar for every one gallon of water. You need to use at least 2 gallons of vinegar and 2 gallons of water to have enough for proper pickling per hide. Also, I used 2 pounds of salt for every gallon used. Might be a little overkill on the salt, but I just have to keep the Ph level right. Everything else this man said in his video works like you need to follow.
Thank you for your video! I shot my first deer of 2024 season last week, and I kept the hide for exactly this kind of project. I did one before with just a salt bath soak and the tanning oil you get in the orange bottle from retailers, and the hide ended up stiff as a board, so I apparently did not stretch enough. Two questions for you; I've heard using a pressure washer with some care will flesh the hide out pretty easily. Do you have opinion? Also, I was thinking to get a good stretch on the hide this time, I was going to secure to a frame and use straps to stretch the hide. Is the intent of the stretching to break up fibers, or to keep the hide from drying thick? I'm hoping to have a product soft enough to use as a throw.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the pressure washer method, and no professional tanneries use it for fleshing. Second, stretching it on a form will only keep the shape. You need to stretch it as it dries for a sift end product. The tanning oil you use also play6a huge roll in the softness of the end product
No way! Im working on a my first buck right now and I am from enderby. cant believe you made this from right down the road. Thanks for the info I learned a lot. Currently at the tanning stage and will sand it like you did afterwards
This was fantastic. Thank you for really giving detail and showing everything! I’ve done one attempt at brain tanning buckskin but this is my first back skin. All was going well until I think I misunderstood and going from pickle to neutralizing bath I started w freshwater and fresh salt and baking soda. I was supposed to keep original pickle water and ADD to it wasn’t I? I caught it fast cuz the ph after the first 15 min was 6 so I have tried to get the ph backdown hopefully I didn’t ruin my process. What do u think?
The neutralizing bath is with fresh water. I dump my pickle out then I make the neutralizing bath. It is supposed to raise the ph of the skin. The tanning products won't absorb properly or at all in a low ph. Also, if you don't raise the ph, you wil end up with acid rot. It will be brittle and fall apart. If it gets wet, it will turn to mush.
@@shuswapoutdoors oh boy. I could have sworn the video said try to bring it up to 3.5 to 4. I am going to have to re-watch again I guess. Well I guess we will see what happens. I had it at about 4.5. Tan oil is on now and it is in the dry/stretch process. So far so good. When would acid rot show up if i did screw it up? You are so kind to help. Thank you.
great video, after watching numerus others I tried my first sheep skin and the fur slipped, very disappointing. I am ready to try again, is there anything different for a sheep skin? Are these tanned hides washable?
Nope, same process. Hair slippage happens before the pickle. So it's how you handled it from skinning to the pickle. As for being washable, it would depend on the type of tan you use. Most synthetic tans are washable
@@shuswapoutdoors thanks, I am going to use the same products as you use, and yes, I left it plain water to long to rehydrate. your video is so well done and you explain every step so well.
Amazing, just what I am looking for. Thank you for sharing and your attention to details. My 2 time trying to process the hide myself turned into disastres and waste of deer hide. Now, I can retry with confidence.
@@shuswapoutdoors Thanks for the information. I have several hides in the freezer. Most I will brain tan, but I will do 2 or 3 hair on using your process. TC
Thanks for your post, appreciate the detail and explanation. Question: During the pickle stage, (about 11:00 of your video) the emphasis on skin down and insuring contact with fluid, could a press or device be used to "hold everything under the solution" ? I envision a plastic grate or similar that would push hide under solution and insure contact. (or is this just overkill and not necessary? 😁) Thanks
You don't want to weigh the hide down. That can compress the hide and cause the pickle to be pressed out of the area, causing dry spots even though it is under the pickle. You want it to float loose.
Just get an old washing machine. Don't even need water hooked up to it, you could put the discharge hose into a tote of need be. Designated washer for the hides
@@shuswapoutdoors Do you sell tanned hides? I want one for a bench cover at the cabin, I don't think it's worth it to buy everything I'd need for one hide...
I'll be putting mine in the neutralizing bath this weekend and working on it all week! Looking forward to using all the steps you've explained so thoroughly. Thank you for this incredible information!
Excellent video! Thank you for taking the time to show each step and explain. I plan to do some of this in the very near future. I would be very interested in seeing how you do coyote hides or bobcat. I plan to get into hunting predators and would like to tan some of them up and make a nice coat as well as some other projects. Thanks again!! (subscribed)
Is the process the same for all animals? I want to tan rabbit hides, deer and coyotes hides I have? Great video and thank you so much. Your mounts are all awesome. God bless you
Hi from Vernon. Lots of good info. Thanks for tje info. If tou get a chance that would be great if you do a video on tanning a bear, wolf or other predator
I have a hide that I threw in the freezer straight from skinning it. Can I put a frozen hide into the pickle and let it thaw in that or should I try to thaw it first and then pickle?
@@shuswapoutdoors did you get a predator version up that shows the Degreasing differences? Follow up... Have you worked with wolverine pelt before? The fur is supposed to be uniquely suited to hoods, and faces because it doesn't frost like other pelts.
It's an option, but there aren't any full-time tanneries that use pressure washers. Most of the hides I do are in the winter, so it's not an option at -10C
I just started trapping last year I was lucky to have gotten a coyote on my very first trap I smoked and tanned it fur is in good shape but it has a strong odor to it what should I do it is soft and hair is tight. Thank you much for any help
Can i go wishout doing the pickle bath or do i need to :0 ive always just salted deer tails and they're still malleable, but im worried since a whole hide is much larger lol
Thanks for the info! I'm just looking to make a deer skin rug this year, your video has a lot more information than the others I've seen, especially the pickle bath recipe, which is why I had to ask!
They are for decoration mostly. We have some as rugs, hung up on the wall, others hung over railings. I know some guys who use them camping as a ground blanket.
@@shuswapoutdoors I have a few piled up in my closet. I hang them on the backs of our chairs and then my wife takes them down. lol. I hate to throw the hides away.
Honestly I have lots of questions. I want to do this going forward for all the deer I kill. Is the pickle bath ratio for only one hide? Or could I put more hides in one 7-gallon pickle?
You can overwhelm the pickle if you put too many capes in or if they are extremely dirty. I like doing 1 cape in 7 gals. I know guys will do one in a 3 gal pickle, but I'm personally not a fan. The chemicals are cheap and I'd rather be safe than sorry
Thank you so much for the outstanding video! I wish I had found this before starting my first tanning project. Tanning a coyote hide for my wife to use, and the measurement of the salt bath I was advised to use was off, and started to lose fur, so I put it in the freezer until I could find a solution. I will try to save it now. If you have the time, I would appreciate tips on coyote tanning. I'm subscribing to your page now... Thank you so much!
There is no saving a hide. If the hair is falling out, it's too late. Toss it out. Predators have an added step of degreasing. Either a tanning degreser or something like white gas can be used. Thanks for watching!
I just subscribed, only video I've watched of yours so far. Very informative, and cant wait to try this on my sons deer, different process than ive done before. Thanks you!
Going to give this a go next season. Though I cannot get over how much you look like Jim Halpert from The Office in this vid. It was hard to concentrate because I kept having flashbacks.
Came for the info, stayed of the undying eye contact and comedy. Skunks haha nice one pal. This vid was great, all the best from the Highlands of Scotland!
I have watched several tanning videos because I'm used to the brain tanning method but i have copd & the smell was killing me and i never seen a sander used it was always long hours of scraping I'm part Cherokee Indian i remember my great great Aunt chewing on pelts to make them soft
1st one will be this year and your way. Nothing to loose and EVERYTHING to gain. Ihope when i get on my computer i can pull all the products used up and locate then. Thanks for all you do. Do you have a plan for your fleshing board?
Thanks for watching! I purchased the fleshing beam from a trapping store and made the stand with a 2x4 and a hinge. Pretty easy to do. www.fntpost.com/Categories/Fur+Handling/Fleshing/Fleshing+Beams/
Would love to see the predator tanning video. We only have foxes and wild dogs where I live, but having a trophy fox fur would be cool. The Mrs would lose her mind if I did any of it in the house, but I really want to have a kangaroo hide. We had one in the lounge when I was a kid. I'd need a destruction permit, but I really want to have a roo skin rug that I've shot and tanned myself.
Wow! Great video! Thank you for sharing. Question about the tanning oil. Do you only put it on once? Another question would a finer grit sanding paper be good too? Could I go with 100 or 220? Or would it take much longer? I also would love to see a video on a predator. My Dad has always said he would love to have a coyote hide.
My understanding is that you should salt every hide because the salt is what kills the bacteria. I know there is a way to tan without salting but was under the impression that that process was only for if you don't have salt.
Salt doesn't kill bacteria. It removes moisture (that bacteria needs to grow) from the hide. It is a way of preserving the hide if you are unable to freeze it. Salt is needed in the pickle to prevent acid swell. It has nothing to do with bacteria at that point.
How do I keep my deer skin safe until the materials come in the tan it? I just ordered the salt, safety acid, ph strips, and trubond 1000B tanning oil.
Yes, but you will have to shaved down the hide to a 1/4 " as it is too thick for the tan to be absorbed. You would need to use a shaving wheel. A knife would take days to get it done right
