Anybody tanning pelts?

[Younggun]

Thinking of saving pelts from varmint hunting and tanning them. Seems there are lots of opinions on the best way to do it.

From what I’m finding it seems like the basic formula is after skinning is:

Freeze immediately if not ready to start work.


When ready to start thaw slowly

Flesh the hide

Salt hide and let it sit for 24 hours.

Remove salt and repeat salting for another day.

Rinse the hide in cool clean water.

Hang and let it air dry until it’s nearly but not completely dried.

Apply a tanning solution according to the directions.

Break the hide to get the desired softness.

Lightly apply saddle soap and work to further soften the pelt.

Am I missing any steps? I’ve also seen methods that use a brine solution instead of salting. And some that call for both.


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[mad88minute]

Really interested in this topic. Nothing to contribute.

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[Younggun]

Really interested in this topic. Nothing to contribute.

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Post results if you try it and we can see who screws it up the most, lol.


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[FireInTheWire]

Really interested in this topic. Nothing to contribute.

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I'll second this. I'd like a yote blanket.

 

[mad88minute]

I'll second this. I'd like a yote blanket.

I have a fox fur given to my wife by her grandfather.
It's really beautiful, well done, soft.
I've also seen several more he has done with felt backing, including a bobcat.

I've seen foxes out hunting a few times. Either I didnt have permission, or the proper caliber to shoot one.

As a child I tried rabbits. I didn't know about the salt, and did a really bad job at defleshing...... Didn't yield very good results.



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[FireInTheWire]

I have a fox fur given to my wife by her grandfather.
It's really beautiful, well done, soft.
I've also seen several more he has done with felt backing, including a bobcat.

I've seen foxes out hunting a few times. Either I didnt have permission, or the proper caliber to shoot one.

As a child I tried rabbits. I didn't know about the salt, and did a really bad job at defleshing...... Didn't yield very good results.



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Seems like an all in endeavor. Do it right or pass.

 

[Younggun]

Seems like an all in endeavor. Do it right or pass.

From what I can tell, screwing up a step can turn a nice pelt in to hairless rawhide, or worse.


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[Lost Spurs]

I helped my mom tan white tail deer hides as a kid. I hated it. The de fleshing and cleaning the hair was a terrible experience. I remember them coming out pale grey. I do not remember what exactly she used to tan them. Probably brains as she had (has) friends on the reservation that do everything legit. (Ojibwa in north east minnesota).

The leather always turned out fairly soft after working it. I always thought it was easier to go to this outfit called Tandy leather to get things like leather and pelts though.


Edited after re-reading.

It looks like you are trying to keep fur intact. I have never done that. In a past life I did frequent a trading outpost that was like a 20 minute drive from Canada on lake superior. The guy that ran it got all his pelts from traders out of Canada. The only exception was cat pelts. No joke, feral cats that roamed the area. He always laughed as the city folk would buy them because they were cheap and soft. They use to run like 5 or 10 bucks.

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[RoadRunner]

I'll second this. I'd like a yote blanket.

What is a yote blanket?

 

[jrbfishn]

What is a yote blanket?

Like a yeet blanket but won't yeet you.

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[roadapple]

I helped my mom tan white tail deer hides as a kid. I hated it. The de fleshing and cleaning the hair was a terrible experience. I remember them coming out pale grey. I do not remember what exactly she used to tan them. Probably brains as she had (has) friends on the reservation that do everything legit. (Ojibwa in north east minnesota).

The leather always turned out fairly soft after working it. I always thought it was easier to go to this outfit called Tandy leather to get things like leather and pelts though.


Edited after re-reading.

It looks like you are trying to keep fur intact. I have never done that. In a past life I did frequent a trading outpost that was like a 20 minute drive from Canada on lake superior. The guy that ran it got all his pelts from traders out of Canada. The only exception was cat pelts. No joke, feral cats that roamed the area. He always laughed as the city folk would buy them because they were cheap and soft. They use to run like 5 or 10 bucks.

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My experience with Tandy leather is that it contains too much fat to be easily stamped, but I can't afford the "ten hide minimum" purchase from Hermann Oak. I have no experience with any fur pelts from them. My Creek friends, from Eastern Oklahoma, used brains and stretched the hides while drying them. I've never seen then preserve the fur. They just wanted the leather. I wish I had paid better attention to the whole process. I remember it being a lot of work.

 

[Younggun]

I’ve looked at brain tanning and don’t have much interest, lol. Supposed to be able to get similar results with egg yolks. I’m fine with chemicals.

From what I can tell it will be a lot of work no matter how it’s done.


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[jrbfishn]

I have done a few.
Salt is for if you can't work the hide right away to help keep it from rotting.

Best thing, shoot it, skin it and stretch it on a board or form, flesh it and let it air dry.
Fleshing the hide is probably the hardest step to get right but is important.
Whether you do hair on or off depends more on the type of hair. Deer hair(at least the coarser guard hairs)falls out fairly easily compared to some other pelts. That is why they are typically tanned without the hair.
I buy a lot of leather at tandy. But the don't carry furs. Except rabbit. Fur is expensive too.

I have never known anyone that sells furs to use salt or brine.
Personally, I have tried it on raccoon and snakeskin. It makes fleshing harder and overall, working the hide harder. It ruined the snakeskin.

The indians, mountain men and trappers did not use salt as far as I know. To carry that much salt was heavy and bulky. Besides, salt was to valuable for food.
I do know that making stuff from leather you took and worked can be fun and rewarding. But it is work to get to that point.
Patience is a major key point. Don't hurry steps or you WILL regret it.

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[jrbfishn]

I’ve looked at brain tanning and don’t have much interest, lol. Supposed to be able to get similar results with egg yolks. I’m fine with chemicals.

From what I can tell it will be a lot of work no matter how it’s done.


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You can talk to Dan about duck eggs. They have bigger yolks with more of the beneficial fats that help preserve hides. Most excellent eating too.

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[baboon]

I had backskins of my african trophies tanned hair on. Not all of them held up over the years. Jackels I shot were tanned hair on & the skin itself became brittle.

 

[Younggun]

I have done a few.
Salt is for if you can't work the hide right away to help keep it from rotting.

Best thing, shoot it, skin it and stretch it on a board or form, flesh it and let it air dry.
Fleshing the hide is probably the hardest step to get right but is important.
Whether you do hair on or off depends more on the type of hair. Deer hair(at least the coarser guard hairs)falls out fairly easily compared to some other pelts. That is why they are typically tanned without the hair.
I buy a lot of leather at tandy. But the don't carry furs. Except rabbit. Fur is expensive too.

I have never known anyone that sells furs to use salt or brine.
Personally, I have tried it on raccoon and snakeskin. It makes fleshing harder and overall, working the hide harder. It ruined the snakeskin.



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Any issues with air drying in hot temps? I’ve read that if it gets over about 70 the skins tend to rot before they have time to dry.

Lots of conflicting info though. Figured salting would work as a safeguard.

Most of it comes from some vids I watched here. He fleshes immediately after skinning, before salting. Or in some cases he stretches and air dries. Seems to depend on the pelt.

https://www.youtube.com/user/trapperstu1990

He seems to do a lot of batch work with a lot of his pelts being dried for sale later, and some being kept and tanned instead of selling. So some extra steps are involved that wouldn’t normally be needed if worked start to finish. Honestly, I can see some merit in doing things that way since my work schedule might not allow me going through the whole process at once.

Might have time to flesh and dry a pelt starting on a Friday and finishing before I go back on call, the. Finishing the process a couple weeks later.


Hoping to get a couple rabbit skins to practice on.



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[FireInTheWire]

Sub'd.

Good thread.

 

[jrbfishn]

If it gets too hot, put it in the shade with good air flow.
Basically, it is kind of like making jerky. You don't want it to cook. You want it dehydrated. Too slow and it rots. To fast and it cooks and then rots. One of the keys is air flow to carry moisture away. When it is cool, you can leave it in the sun to draw out moisture. When it warms up too much you need to move to a shaded spot and let warm air do the work.
You kind of have to figure out a process that works for you. You will probably ruin a couple doing it, so yeah, rabbit hides or something you don't care about as much is good to start with.

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[Hoji]

I feed 5-11 deer skins to vultures and coyotes every year( hunting in two states) I have often thought about tanning the hides, but by now I would have a room stacked to the ceiling with them, lol. Still want to do it though.

 

[Byrd666]

Can't recall who it was that I knew that did tanning on a regular basis. It's been years, if not decades, since it has been brought up in conversation. Let me think on it for a bit and if I can remember, I'll try and put 'em in touch with you.