Tanning deer hide

[Tryit 1]

All on the forum, I just finished drying out the 7 deer hides that were given to me last winter. I prepared the hides and tanned them with a bark tan solution that I made from the directions that I got from a book a friend of mine has. I am in the process of rebuilding my breaking box. I still have 4 more hides in the freezer and I will get them into solution ASAP. The solution I am using was made by boiling the bark instead of letting it sit after adding hot water to the chips. The hides are a very dark brown color. I am so pleased with this method that I plan to get as many hides this winter as I can. It is a lot of work but the end product is very superior to anything I have seen. Has anyone used a oil to finish deer hide?I am planning to oil finish two of them and I am wondering if anyone has tried this with deer hide and what results you obtained and what preparations you used. Tryit 1

[Ranger J]

I salt and alum tanned a deer hide one time and while I got sone nice leather out of it I decided that it would be a once in a life time event.  I slipped the hair with a lye solution, rinced the hide clear and then put it into  the salt and alum solution for a number of days.  When I took it out I found  that my work had just began.  The process of beaming the hide over a pointed pole took forever.  I decided right there that if I needed any more hides tanned I would send them off to be done professionally.