quick question

[HUSKER]

hey i'm kind of new to hunting but i'm going in head long lol. i was wondering if anyone on here knows how to tan an animals hide?

with the head and feet still on,and how to do it with them off too

thanks in advance guy's

[bigneily]

Tanning is like art there is good and bad, Had a friend who had a bear tanned for a hide to lay over the back of the couch. It looked good but if you touched it the hair would fall out, He must have had a bad tan...lol..

[Ride Red]

hey i'm kind of new to hunting but i'm going in head long lol. i was wondering if anyone on here knows how to tan an animals hide?

with the head and feet still on,and how to do it with them off too

thanks in advance guy's

It's just like when I was a kid. My hide was tanned with a bid wooden spoon. :twisted:

[fearnodeer]

You can google anything.

[kgriz]

become a member on taxidermy.com.....endless help on there as well as swap/sell etc.

[RayHill]

Tanning is like art there is good and bad, Had a friend who had a bear tanned for a hide to lay over the back of the couch. It looked good but if you touched it the hair would fall out, He must have had a bad tan...lol..

Sounds like the hide shouldn't have been tanned in the first place. The hair should be checked for slipping before it gos in to be tanned. If you don't cool it down right away and get it to a tanner soon it can slip before and after the tanning process.

[HUSKER]

thanks for all the info guys! i'll check it out

[greenhorn]

use the search function on this site - there have been a number of threads on do it yourself tanning. If you want to do it yourself, you can get kits, or buy the chemical separately and make your own concoctions. IMO, you should read up on it for a while and get an idea of the amount of work and time involved. It's not as easy as you may think, but certainly not impossible either. Good luck!!

[HUSKER]

thanks so much greenhorn! i do know it would be hard but i'm up for trying it :)

[Singleshotneeded]

The alternative is you can call the local indian band, they usually have a woman or two that tans
hides for a very reasonable amount of money, and can make it into a rug or item of clothing.

[loneeagle]

Tanning hides is not that hard to do I do taxidermy work and if it is something you have never done I would suggest you lookup VanDyke's taxidermy online they are out of dakota but they sell kits with step by step instructions on how to do your own that is where I started 30 years ago. Just so you know the biggest mistake most people make is that they put salt on the hide to preserve it that is the worst thing you can do as it stops it from freezing and will cause the hair to slip and even worse can cause it to rot in your freezer if you are unable to start working on it right away. Simply fold it flesh against flesh put it in a bag in the freezer and deal with it when the weather warms up as you need warm tempetures for your tan and most people, especially spouses, do not want the chemicals nor the smell in the house. Feel free to contact me if you have questions I do remember the fun I had getting started and I would be glad to help.

[blacktailghost]

if you are going to freeze the hide it is true don't salt it, however there is nothing wrong with salting the hide as long as all lips, eyes, ears and nose are turned and the skin is removed of all flesh,try you best to not nick the hide. this is not easy, if you are not farmiliar with doing this ask a friend or taxidermist how it is done. opening insicions should be done by one person and kept symetrical on both sides of the animal make sure you get the last knuckles out as well. as for the tanning, it is a science and although it can be expensive you are probably beter off getting it done at a tannery alot of fleshing and good chemicals are required to get a good job. btw i think every taxidermist wants his client to be a good skinner and i am sure they will show you how to do it, even if you are getting a tan only, you never know when you might get something you want mounted.