The Process

The more I have grown as a hunter, the more I have desired to honor and utilize everything that I can from the animal that I have harvested. Once I had a deer down, my wife asked if I could turn the hide into a table runner. I knew next to nothing about what that would take, but was more than willing to learn. Here’s what I learned and how I went about The Process.

After I had skinned the deer, the hide went into the freezer to preserve it for however long I needed before I could really set aside the time to work on it. I eventually had a chunk of time that I could dedicate to the hide, so I bought a few ingredients: a bottle of Hide Tanning Formula, a bunch of non-iodized salt, and a 5-gallon bucket and lid.

I started out with the hide laid out and used my Buck Knives 140 PakLite Skinner to flesh it out. The hide was not perfect to start; the entry and exit holes from my arrow were showing, as well as some rub spots that were on the doe already. Along with that, I trimmed the edges to try to give it more form, but I in no way made straight-edge cuts.

Once the hide was fleshed and trimmed, salt was poured over the flesh-side of the hide, the hide was folded, rolled, and placed in the sealed bucket where it sat for 24 hours. The next day the old salt was shaken off, new salt was put on, and the hide was folded, rolled, and placed in the bucket again for another 24 hours.

Once the hide was done sitting in the bucket where a lot of the moisture was pulled out, it was given a bath with dish soap to remove any grease and oils the hide my still have, as well as any stink that may have developed. This prepped the hide for the tanning process. Once the hide was washed and rinsed, we hung it out to dry for the night.

The next day, the Hide Tanning Formula was warmed up in hot tap water for 30 minutes, then poured and rubbed into the flesh-side of the hide. The hide was folded another time and left for 12 hours, and then opened up to continue drying. I was reading that the hide would take a few days to dry but, due to the cold, that process took much longer than anticipated. I moved the hide around from my parent’s shop, to the canopy of my truck, and finally to our apartment bathroom (my wife was not super fond of the wet-leather smell!).

I reapplied some of the Hide Tanning Formula and as the hide continued to dry, did the last step of folding, rolling, and stretching the hide. This is to make it more pliable. This was the step I could have improved on the most. I was putting in a lot of overtime at work at this point and I just flat-out did not have the time to dedicate to working the hide. But, this is what can be the difference-maker between a hide that is as stiff as a board, or one that is as supple as a blanket. Mine ended up more board-like, but all in all I was pleased with the final result!

And, as requested, the finished hide was put on our coffee table. This table is live-edge and was actually the “guest book” at our wedding. The bottom of the table is signed by everyone who attended and having my first archery deer’s hide on top adds to the sentimental value.