I tan the hide from every deer I take, it's part of my process. I use salt, Saftee accid and Lutan F - started with Cabelas kit, now I order directly what I need from Van Dykes.
Anybody has better way to tan deer hide? There is nothing wrong with this process, but I am always trying to educated myself just little more)

Thank you

The very best way is to send them out to a professional commercial tannery. No joke ... seriously ... they are set up for just the purpose of tanning, drying, drumming, breaking ... and the results cannot be beat by any home tan. I've been a Taxidermist for about 40 years now ... my first employment was in a tannery ... I used to tan my own stuff, but got wise and ship all off to the commercial tanner's now. Something to think about.

John.

I believe you are right. I do it one at a time - when I shoot a deer and the process is as consistent as possible, but it is still far from professional job.
Would you know what is the typical cost of tanning of a Virginia sized white tail deer? Do I ship salted hide?

I agree with John from the perspective of a taxidermist, a tannery is the way to go, But anyone can tan a hide. Tanning is a process that if you have the materials and know the steps it can be done properly. Yes the guy at the tannery is a professional but he had to start somewhere and really when you think about it, he can only do one at a time. They may do batches of hundreds through the chemicals along with some of the other steps, but one man can only shave one at a time. There is no reason you can not learn to tan a hide as good or better then any other tanner/tannery. Doing one hide at a time from a deer you shot can be fun and rewarding.


Yes when shipping a hide to the tannery it should be salted but most do not receive from individuals.