Advice on deer hide

Hello all,

I promised my son I would give him a deer hide when I got my deer this year. As luck would have it, the deer I got has a nice, thick dark brown coat on it (must mean we’re in for quite the winter).

Not knowing much about the process, I skimmed it but there is still some flesh and fat on it and it’s in the freezer.

i spoke to the people at the Atlas Tannery (Old Mill) who I would have tan it with the hair on and they said ideally I should have scraped and salted it right away. That’s fair as I didn’t research enough ahead of time.

it has a total of four holes. Two from entrance and exit and the other two are small from slips of the knife.

Is the frozen hide, not yet salted or scraped with the four holes worth taking to a professional tannery or should I cut my losses and perhaps attempt a self tanning with the kit from Cabelas?

Thoughts?

It didn’t need to be salted right away. Your good to go. Put it in the driveway. Pressure wash off the rest of the flesh. It’s up to you if you do it yourself. It sounds like you have an excellent hide to do with what you want. No salt required. Pm me if you wish to chat further and we can perhaps call each other. I can talk you through the entire process.


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I friend got a buck yesterday that I think I would get tanned, piebald. I missed a doe several years ago that was a piebald and have wanted another chance ever since.

Let us know which way you go. It professional I wouldn't mind know the about cost.

Hi sabmgb,

I ended up taking it to the Old Mill/Atlas Tanning in Blyth, Ontario. The quoted cost was between $80-$190. I don't know if that was based on size or hide quality. Said it would be ready around March. Hope that helps. Sorry I didn't see your post until now.

For that price its a good deal. Theres a lot of work to processing a hide. And just for future into, I've always been of the understanding that you salt only when you can't get the hide on ice and frozen right away.