preserving a hide

[Plumber]

I was wondering if I could get some advise on preserving a deer hide with salt. I this doable? I also would like to know the steps. an do I use table salt or rock salt ect. thanks for the in put.  ED

[Chris Surtees]

http://www.specialtyleather.com/

[ChristopherO]

I've seen where some tanners will salt a fresh hide before storing to keep then from rotting before they get around to processing them.  Fine salt is better than rock salt to cover all the areas.
Here is something I did with salt and a hide:
Last November my daughter shot a very nice buck, her first year hunting, too.  I fleshed and washed the hide, stretched it tight in a frame and applied 2-3 pounds of table salt to it.  It was stored in the barn until the weather warmed some and then the flesh/salt side was scrapped to remove excess salt and any loose hide. A sharp paint scrapper with the square corners filed round to prevent cutting.  The flesh side turned a  beautiful white in color and set the hair in place strong with no sign of slipping.  This may not be the most accepted method but it hangs on her bedroom wall very nicely.

[Seven]

Christopher, essentially when you fleshed the hide and then scraped it you created rawhide.  It will stay almost indefinitely provided you don't let the bugs get to it.  For preserving hides for storage before I can work them I usually roll them up, flesh side in, and then place in a garbage bag and then into my freezer.  If I have time before doing that I flesh them first, it saves some space and it's much easier to do when the hide is fresh.  It takes me about 30 minutes to flesh a hide, but I've done a few so it might take a first timer a bit longer.  I've used the salt method once or twice but got spotty results from clumps of salt and it's a bit messy.  When you salt a hide basically the salt is used to take the moisture/water out of the hide so that it won't rot so fast.  That water has to go somewhere.  The first time I tried salt it went into a big puddle upstairs in the barn.  It dripped through the floor boards and onto my brother in law before I knew what was going on.

[Tom Leemans]

Lots o' information here
  http://wyomingtaxidermy.blogspot.com/

[ChristopherO]

Seven,
I know, I've made rawhide, not salted, before and have two doe hides ferritted away just for backing wood bows.  With the buck, though, I  used the salt dry it out.  As you said, it poured the water for quite some time.  I resalted it a week or so later just to be sure it was good and covered and left it on the frame for months before getting around to finishing it off.  It works for the intended purpose and my daughter is happy with it.

[Plumber]

so far I have scraped it. If you wear cotton gloves you can get a better grip an rip the skin in larger pices it is snow white underneath.I have some more cleaning to do on it.

[Roadkill]

Several taxidermay supply houses have a variety of instant tanning solutions.  When I did taxidermy regularily I went thru the entire process-bugs and unsalted areas are a danger if not.   my 2 cents.