I'm just starting into tanning. I have a few deer hides soaking in the lime barrel right now.
I know the hair will come off of the deer hides, so they will be buckskins.
What about cow, squirrel, and groundhog?
Thanks.

Beaver make a great bedside rug soft and warm.

What purpose do you have in mind for the hides? Anything can be tanned hair-on, you just use a different process. I've seen some deer hides that were drapped over the back of a couch or used as robs that eventually had a problem with hair slippage. I've honestly only seen 1 cow hide tanned hair-on, and it was tacked to a wall. Don't know how it would last as a rug.

I'm no expert on tanning by any means, but I would assume the process used to do the tanning would have alot to do with how suitable a hide is for a particular use.