Do it youself taxedermy videos/tips

[police women of America]

a great video for deer gutting/taxidermy is by a guy named Richard Smith on YouTube (look up Richard Smith deer gutting). I have been looking at deer gutting technics, skinning, tanning the hide, taxidermy, for a while now seeing which is best and this guy has great videos on how to do it all.

But I'm also hoping I can get some tips on tanning the hide because everyone does it differently and I'm planning on doing it myself this year.
 feel free to share photos, directions, or stories, anything helps thanks!

[Red leaf 67]

 Learning tanning will require some trail & error. There are many ways to do it sucessfully, no matter how you do it, patience & elbow grease are in order. Will you be doing hair on or hair off tanning?  Para tan, a Knobloch product works well for hair on, Bark tanning works well for hair off, so does traditional brain tanning even done with soap worked in. If you have access to a few hides, you may even want to cut a hide in several pieces & try different methods to see what works best. Smaller pieces are easier to manage as well. One tool that has helped me is a wire cup brush (hardware store item) chucked in a drill. These are used to remove rust/scale from metal originally, but works great for treating tanned hides after stretching & before oiling... leaves a nice soft suede nap. If you ever want to talk tanning, I have tons of resources. A very practical & useful skill to have.

[police women of America]

Learning tanning will require some trail & error. There are many ways to do it sucessfully, no matter how you do it, patience & elbow grease are in order. Will you be doing hair on or hair off tanning?  Para tan, a Knobloch product works well for hair on, Bark tanning works well for hair off, so does traditional brain tanning even done with soap worked in. If you have access to a few hides, you may even want to cut a hide in several pieces & try different methods to see what works best. Smaller pieces are easier to manage as well. One tool that has helped me is a wire cup brush (hardware store item) chucked in a drill. These are used to remove rust/scale from metal originally, but works great for treating tanned hides after stretching & before oiling... leaves a nice soft suede nap. If you ever want to talk tanning, I have tons of resources. A very practical & useful skill to have.

thanks! I'm going to do hair on. is it better to pickle the hide or salt it? everyone does it differently but I cant decide witch to do. maybe both?

[Kuduman]

Here is my step by step process

1 Measure split and flesh
2. Salt and re salt after 24-48 hours
3. Dry to white hard condition 7-10 days
4. Re-Hydrate
5. Pickle 3-5 days Keep PH below 2.5
6. Shave
7. Neutralize
8. Tan
9. Wash
10 Finish prep and mount

[police women of America]

Here is my step by step process

1 Measure split and flesh
2. Salt and re salt after 24-48 hours
3. Dry to white hard condition 7-10 days
4. Re-Hydrate
5. Pickle 3-5 days Keep PH below 2.5
6. Shave
7. Neutralize
8. Tan
9. Wash
10 Finish prep and mount

thanks! ill write that down for when I make leather.

[Weehunt66]

I've had good success with ez-tan 100 on coyotes. You can find the product and instructions on-line. I have not tried it on a deer hide.

[Red leaf 67]

 Yes, the double salting & the pickle steps are important!  get some pH test strips if you can, they will eliminate the guess work for the pickle & tanning solutions. If you desire soft pliable leather, the breaking/ stretching, & oiling steps are time consuming/ tiring, but necessary. This is where the cup brush makes a difference ( you could also try coarse sand paper 60 grit  before the oiling( final step)   I have used the ez tan 100 with good results also.. Bruce Rittel product

[police women of America]

Yes, the double salting & the pickle steps are important!  get some pH test strips if you can, they will eliminate the guess work for the pickle & tanning solutions. If you desire soft pliable leather, the breaking/ stretching, & oiling steps are time consuming/ tiring, but necessary. This is where the cup brush makes a difference ( you could also try coarse sand paper 60 grit  before the oiling( final step)   I have used the ez tan 100 with good results also.. Bruce Rittel product

thanks ill do that!