Tanning Deer Hides Start to Finish! How Easy is This? | TUTORIAL | INDIGENOUS SKILLS | DIY 

Your guests seem to be in total awe of your knowledge of the hide tanning process. You are an excellent hands on teacher, and deserve all the credit in the world for the things you do. Keep on, keeping on.

Truly excellent video! This guy is a National Treasure, I think he is Canadian from his speech patterns. He is articulate, considerate, and kind. Ted

this Chanel is the stuff that should be on tv not that reality and drama shit. Keep up the great work!

This reminds me so much of a book that I was gifted years ago, “Deerskins into Buckskins” by Matt Richards. He follows essentially all the same steps you do, and gives alternative methods based on available resources. You are an excellent teacher sir, and are genuinely enthused about each subject you cover.

I have been interested in this all my life. But I think I learned more in 30 minutes watching you than I did reading about it for 50 years!

And that is why people on the frontier worked every day. Great tutorial

WHAT BEAUTIFUL HIDES! I 'canNOT' imagine the warmth of owning a buffalo hide! = wall-to-wall carpet in your home Peter! Thanks for this very WELL DONE vid on tanning hides. U R a 'natural' teacher, Peter and 'good job' Catherine on the filming. Nice fam learning what is a 'lost art' 2 many...self included. Kudos to; Kim, Brad and Memphis, 4 making and mastering their 1st attempt! Years ago, my brother did missionary work in the Rankin Inlet area of Nunavut. He stopped home B 4 his posting in Winnipeg and brought several clothing artifacts, boots and hides, which had not been tanned. We lived in southern ON and summers R near 'tropical' at times. He came in the summer and placed these items in our garage. I ended up across the street, in order 2 deal with the stench of it all = YIKES! He had 2 quickly call a museum in Winnipeg, which gladly took the items 4 their display. They remain there 2 this day, with a plaque stating my brother as 'donor'. Yes, tanning is indeed a lengthy art of preservation and may I add 'from experience'...a 'needed' one. "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." Frank Lloyd Wright. Health and God Bless! :)

This is a great video! Kim and her family are amazing people.

Great episode, I remember my first tanned hide, well it was a piece of a hide, I did a small pig skill that I bought from the Market, pig is pretty time consuming and tough to do, but I did it, it took me about a week to finish it up, first I defleshed it, then you have to remove the thick armor, I made a wood ash and water solution to create sodium hydroxide and let it soak for 3 days, then scrape lots of the grease off before you have to wash it in soap and a pinch of bleach for further degreasing, now once washed and degreased I nailed it to a board and let dry, with salt to aid with dring, once dried I removed the salt and I sanded the grain and flesh side with a 80 grit sand paper to soften even further, then one last soak, then wringed it out, then I made a oil based solution with egg yolk, and mayonnaise, and massaged it in until the hide was smothered with the solution, then I wiped off all of the solution and started working it and pulling it until dried, then I gave it one last sanding to soften the nap then I smoked it until a beautiful light golden rust color. this was 14 years ago, and I was hooked, after I did a squirrel hide with fur a few years later, and that came out great as well, but since then I dont have the space I live in the city, cant wait to the day I move to the country side so I can tan skins again, and maybe live the life of a 18th or 19th century gentlemen or mountain man. enough rambling for me now, sorry for the long comment. Thanks for reading if you do, and Im still binge watching your vids.

The word is simple,not easy. It is hard work but the process is simple.

Absolutely, every video gets better and better. Only thing missing is the "Wee bit of history" 🙂

I always love watching other people tan hides. Even if the basic premise is the same, there is always just that small variance from person to person when it comes to tanning.

Don't know how I missed this channel but it's outstanding. I keep watching being a reenactor the history lesson and the method of teaching is so well done. Thank you for your passion in doing what you do.

This is likely the most informative tutorial on preparing , a hide for smoke tanning that I have seen in a long time ! There are a lot of videos on doing this but this is the better of any I have seen .and I myself have done this before

This is one skill I don't need to ask a lot of questions about Peter .. (Like Birch Bark Canoe Building) ! I've been Brain tanning skins for quite a few years now, made myself an entire Buckskin Suit, all with deers harvested with handmade primitive bows & arrows. Excellent material.

Shiyo! A beautiful presentation. Well done! The neatsfoot oil and ivory soap work very well if one lacks brains. From a feller traditional tanner and crafts maker! Sgi!

Peter and Cathy, Wow - what a terrific tutorial video! You two knocked it out of the park with this one! Makes me think back to my high school days back in Ohio. My brother and I ran several hundred traps on several different trap lines to make some extra money. We caught muskrat, raccoon, mink, and fox all of which were skinned and stretched for the fur buyer at the end of season. I always loved getting up early and slipping on my waders to hit the streams and rivers early prior to getting back home to shower and head out to school for the day! Then once again we’d hit the lines again right before dark and then head back to the shed to skin and stretch all of the day’s catch! Those were truly the good ole days and I miss it dearly. In ending, always wanted to get into brain tanning our deer hides but never made it happen. My wife and I love your channel and admire your love for God’s creations and the beautiful land you call home! Keep up the great work you two! Job well done my friends! Larry and Judy Kennedy - Port Charlotte, Florida…

Thanks Peter for videoing the process. it takes a good man with an authentic desire to share his knowledge to make such a fine video.

I had to circle back and thank you for this video. This is where I discovered the woodland escape. I've done a half dozen hides but always watch a few videos before starting. Your video taught me things I didn't really understand. In particular, grainining. I think I was getting off but didn't pay much attention to it. Now I do. I use wood ash and sometimes it worked better than others. Now I know why. Thanks. PS I really appreciate you answering my questions. I know with 57 thousand subscribers you must be a busy fellow and need not reply to every comment I post. Thanks again for what you do.

WOW i wish I could live like that for about a year for a mind and spirit and physical healing! The city life has taken it's toll on me👍

Hey Peter! Mom always said that, "Many hands make for a light task!". This was a prime example, and the final product looked amazing. Thanks for sharing this tutorial with us!

Those buffalo hides are gonna be so nice!

even I don't have the ingredient that he uses but I watch the video till finish!!! I just love how he explain everything clearly and nothing missed out... the real teacher❤❤

I can't hide before but I've never heard of using Ivory soap and at oil oh my I just learned something else I've always either use deer or elk brains or the commercial stuff that you can buy and and I learned a better method by just watching what you're doing again you should have been a teacher in a school kids would have learned a heck of a lot more than what they're learning nowadays

pH is a measure of how acidic/basic water is. The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral. When you were rinsing, you were going for neutral (7) not 0.

Hi peter! I am working on six hides currently and I saw this video and had to watch it! Great job. And I love how you're teaching other people this skill! Started working last summer on this skill with our boys, and I believe next week my friend Tiffany is coming over so I can teach her how to work hides! The best thing is to be able to share it with others absolutely love it

Having built Native American hand drums, deer rawhide. Wonderful material for many, many, used. From inner sheaths for knives, to gunstock repairs, to parfleche bags. Much more pliable than cowhide. Very satisfying to make a drum from game that you have harvested and processed for both meat and hides.

I tried, and failed miserably, years ago to tan a deer hide. I only had a book to go by. Now that I've watched you explain the how and why I want to try again. Thanks so much for sharing.

One comment which may prevent some confusion for chemistry aficionados out there: When discussing rinsing the hides after de-hairing , you said the idea was to remove the alkalinity and reduce the pH to “zero”. The pH scale goes from 0-14, with 7 being right in the middle and is considered to be “neutral”. Anything on the low end is acidic (or “basic”) and anything on the upper end of the scale is alkaline. It should be noted that the pH scale is a logarithmic scale, meaning that when you jump from one full number to the next, there is a 10 fold increase or decrease in the pH. (Example: A ph of 1 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 2; a pH of 1 is 100 (10 x 10) times more acidic than a pH of 3, etc,). So, a pH of “zero” is actually as acid as a material can become. What should have been said is to rinse the hide until the pH is “7” or neutral. Wonderful and educational video!!

You are an amazing teacher. I hope Kim and Brad and Memphis come back for more.

This was amazing. How many steps and time it takes. Beautiful hides. So great that nothing wasted. Nature benefits too. Thank you for the video.

This was such a fun learning experience. Thank you so much for all the time....kindness and hospitality while we were visiting and being a part of this. THANK YOU.

Btw that hide turn out awesome, good color too

I do it with wood ash an water in a bucket two deer hides will fill up in 5ga. Bucket. For one to two weeks stirring the hides every 3 or 4 days. The hide hair falls off with a hose or scraping. I like it cuz there are NO chemicals. Wring out the hide. Work it till soft. Then stretch it on the frame. Let dry. Make brain batter cover the inside with it , let it dry . Take it off your rack rinse it , wring it, work it, an your done. I use a chunk of elk rack for my scraper. Wide chunk of moose shovel covers more area. Been doing like this since my gramps taught me in the 50s. Works good for me and ive made all manner of goods with hides over the yrs.. enjoy, thanx for posting an reading an old mans texting rant.😎

I have watched 100's of primitive teaching videos.. with that said, I've never been more attentive to a video and the guidance given. You are a wealth of knowledge and an exceptional teach and human. I would love to learn hands on by you. Thank you so much for this content.

Good morning from Syracuse NY USA brother and everyone else thank you for sharing your live history videos

This video was a masterpiece. I shed a tear at the end, so well done. THANK YOU

i never wanted to tan a hide fur off until watching your video. amazing job on video explaining details and finished hide thank you for taking the time to share your skills

Cute, cute. Nice family. Fun tutorial.

This was great! My kids and I are reading the little house on the prairie series and I wanted to show them how they processed their deer back then.

I usually don't comment on "how to's" but this was the best straight forward tutorial on how to get the job done and enjoy it! Question: in your experience do hides turn out better with neatsfoot/ivory or brain tanning? God bless and thank you for the video.

Peter this is an excellent how to video, thanks to all. That hide turned out great, color and all. Have yourself a good weekend.

Hi Peter. Just had to swing back to this video to say , I've been tanning for years. Unfortunately I've been doing it wrong. For the most part. I've picked things up here and there but over all I've come up with a pretty poor product. That was until I watched this video and since some that were almost as good as this one. Ron Nail , buckskin revolution to name a few. Anyhow , I was working some green deerskins when I got on the right track here and properly "grained" a hide. I put them on hold to redo a hide that I'd had on a rack since a year ago almost. I re-brained it and gave it a good soak and several wringings and then worked it on a stake by the wood stove until dry. Closest thing to buckskin I've ever made. It looks a little funny due to improper graining but it'll make good camo leather , lol. Today I'm working on a couple skins that I'd tried to bark tan and executed the first braining and wringing and seem to be coming along. I'm fixin to build a smokehouse to finish them off. Oh I also have a coyote pelt in the works , a bunch of botched bark tanned steerhide straps, and of course the three fresh deerhides. I've also got a steer hide on the back burner that I'm doing like a moose hide. I hope you don't have to make a larger three corner hat now but wanted to send thanks. Making a new hat would be a good video though. Take Care , ATB

Well they say we learn something new everyday, i think i did watching how to tan hide's in this episode, well done folks and it looked like that hide turned out perfectly, also the color was spot on for my liking

Glued, that’s how I was when I discovered your video. Thanks a lot from a new subscriber.

👋👋👋👋👋hello from Detroit Michigan my friend thank you for taking us on your adventure through time

You're an excellent teacher doing excellent work. Talk about living a self-sustaining life........ maannnnnn you make me envious.

Always such interesting things you do. I don’t think I could, I mean physically I could, but I don’t think I have stomach. My husband’s grandmother was a hunter. She often went hunting and would butcher and skin the animals at the site. I have 1 left of the two hides she gave me as a wedding gift. She also went moose hunting up in Canada, well into her 60’s.

Very interesting content Peter. Interested to see how the Buff hides come out.

No ego...how refreshing 💛

What a fantastic video, love it. Thanks Peter. Keep your powder dry

Outstanding video Peter! They looked fantastic when done. Can’t wait to see how the buffalo hides came out. Keep us in prayer, moving next week.

absolutely wholesome!! My friend tans hides and i help him time to time. great video helps me fill in the missing tid bits and learning some new stuff!

Great video. Your store bought fleshing knife has 2 sides one for pushing the fat and meat ( concave side) the other side is for shaving the grisly parts.

What a lovely 28 minutes. 👏

This information is so important. Especially now with how the world looks to be heading. Thank you.

Amazing video Peter to see how hard for people before us had to live and adjust to the wilderness and that way of life and dedication and desire was amazing and especially the discipline they had to have in life everything you had to do in those days took time and patience cuz it was a way of survival from what I understand thanks again I enjoyed the middle of the video immensely thank you from the bottom of my heart thanks for the good medicine love always Freddie 😄😎😀👍❤️🇨🇦🛶

That was a great video and a wonderful tutorial, i enjoyed every minute of it!

Hi Peter, great tutorial! Great job covering the fine details thanks for sharing. See ya on your next adventure! 👍

Really useful video, Peter. Thanks for sharing.

Wow just amazing to learn. Thank you!!

always nice to see how others prepare hides as you can always learn something new...glad these vids are out so the younger kids can see how it is done

Great step by step explanation with just the right amount of demonstration. I like the idea of using Kim, Brad and Memphis to aid in the instruction. It helped me relate. So interesting to see how much work it takes to make a hide usable. Nice work all around! Special shout out to Memphis for your patient participation!

Thats some great info

Loved the tutorial. The daughter tanned a lot of hides. I used to pick up otters, mink, skunk for her on the side of the road. I'm originally from south west of New Orleans so she had all the hides she wanted. She was in High school and college when she played with it. Otter was the best. Bruised areas lost the hair.

I love videos like these. It's nice that there is someone keeping these skills alive.

Pretty dang cool, thanks for educating me

Just found your channel the other day and love it! Now I have to binge watch for a while to get caught up😂

I made my first neatsfoot oil lasts year from the marrow of deer and cow lower leg bones. It ate fine and oiled my boots also. I put a little grapefruit seed oil in it so it did not mildew or get rancid on my boots.

That flashing knife is a Necker 600. You can get from a trapping supplier. I use that knife when i flesh my skins from trapping.

Another great video Peter! Love your smokehouse technique. 🐾🙏🏻✌🏻

That was great. I've saved a few feet hides over the years and eventually tossed each of them because I was at a loss as to what to do. Now I know. Thanks. Great lesson.

This was amazing! Thank you so much for doing this!

So informative and helpful thanks.

Perfect timing, thanks for the video...

Excellent tutorial, Peter. Thank you for sharing! Next time you get a moose or deer, do a video on butchering. I would love to learn that.

That must have been an intense couple of days. Great job.

Love this! Subbed! Keep em coming!

Good to see you on the Frontier.

great video! loved it

Interesting

Awesome stuff! You had a great team!

You Sir, are indeed a master of that which you do. Your content is genuinely pleasurable to watch and I greatly appreciate you as a person. I wish you had a storefront I could check out. I would be very much interested in some of the items you create.

Fantastic tutorial! Well done and thank you!

This is something I’m going to try with my next deer 🦌 thank you 😊

Awsome

Great video 😊❤

How cool, looks great!

Awesome thank you for the video.

Good work all , fantastic 😍

Awesome job

Very interesting - not least because the whole process is quite labour intensive. BUt what a beautiful product is derived - I can imagine the soft hide being used for gloves and boots and so many lovely things. Well done.

Great video guys!

Woodland, that was awesome the whole video from start to finish I seen the light!!!

I really like this one

Great job on that hide!

Excellent educational video!

Man that was Awesome 👍. Thank you

very neat also quite educational.

excellent tutorial