My seven year old son wants me to try and tan the deer hide that I shot this year. I thought it might be a good father/son project, so I told him that I would give it a try. I have tanned hides for taxidermy but they were stiff. I would like to tan the deer hide with the hair on and have it soft and flexible. Please give me some advise and direction on the process. I do have access to a fleshing machine, if needed.

Thanks.

You will need to "break" the hide. Which is simply stretching and breaking the tanned hide fibers so that the hide gets soft(er). For a home project this is best done by hand as the skin dries. Just rub the skin on a beam or table side as it dries four or five times a day for 4 or 5 days.

Wratcheting (spelling) it up a bit, if you have access to a six foot fur drum it will do the breaking for you over a period of 2 to 3 days, drumming it periodically in that time.

If you do it yourself u will never achieve tannery specs.

"Breaking" hides is what you what to search.

Check out the old "FOXFIRE" series of books about Appalachian verbal lore, as recorded by college students in the 70's / 80's. You might start with the local library.

Lots of info on traditional living topics, including this one.