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How to Make a Deer Hide Wall Hanging

A tanned deer hide is a decorative and enduring way to display your hunting prowess with pride. Deer heads and skulls are other common ways of displaying the unused portion of the animals you have successfully hunted. Deer hides are also an intriguing way to decorate a den or game room. As you work and relax, you can look back with fondness and a sense of accomplishment on your hunting experiences. While you can pay someone to tan a deer hide for you, you can just as easily learn to do it yourself, and save yourself the cost of a professional hide tanning.

Things You'll Need

Flat surface or worktable
Long bladed, sharp knife
2 gallon plastic bucket
1 pound of alum
Trash can
2 1/2 pounds of salt
Yardstick or broom handle
Thumb tacks
Plywood
Neatsfoot oil
Petroleum
Small paintbrush or sponge brush

Instructions

- 1
  Butcher your deer. Prepare the meat for consumption and cut the skin and coat off of the deer. If you are paying a professional to dress your deer for you, request that the hide be removed and reserved for you. Cut the skin off the deer̵7;s tail as well and reserve it.
- 2
  Lay the deer hide flat on an even surface. Remove the fat and any remaining flesh from the underside of the deer hide with a sharp, long-bladed knife.
- 3
  Dissolve 1 pound of alum into 1 gallon of warm water in a 2 gallon plastic bucket.
- 4
  Fill a trash can with 4 gallons of warm water. Pour 2 1/2 pounds salt into the water. Stir with a yardstick or broom handle until the salt is dissolved. Pour the alum mixture into the salt water. Stir the resultant mixture again with the yardstick or broom handle.
- 5
  Place the skinned deer hide into the trash can. Press it down into the mixture with the yardstick or broom handle. Stir the hide twice a day and allow it to soak in the mixture for 6 to 8 days. Keep the trash can covered when you are not stirring it.
- 6
  Remove the deer hide from the mixture. Hang it from a clothesline or wood rafters. Rinse the hide with a steady stream of water from a garden hose for 15 minutes. Let the deer hide drip until it is wet but no longer dripping water.
- 7
  Take the deer hide down and attach it to a piece of plywood, with the hair side facing down, with thumbtacks. Allow the deer hide to dry in the shade or in your garage for 12 hours.
- 8
  Prepare a mixture neatsfoot oil and petroleum jelly. Start by mixing 1 cup of neatsfoot oil into 2 cups of petroleum jelly. Apply the mixture to the skin side of the deer hide with a small paint brush or sponge brush. Remove the thumbtacks and flip the hide over so that the hair side is facing up. Apply a thin layer of the neatsfoot mixture to the hair side of the deer hide.
- 9
  Press a chamois onto the deer hide to soak up excess oil mixture. Flip the hide over and use the chamois to repeat this process on the skin side. Attach the hide to the plywood with thumbtacks.
- 10
  Moisten a clean chamois cloth with warm water. Rub the cloth onto the skin to get it damp. Untack the deer hide and rub the skin side over a dull wood beam such as a sawhorse edge. Continue to rub the skin until it softens and is easy to manipulate.
- 11
  Rub the softened skin with a piece of fine-grit sandpaper. Brush away sand ash with a dry paintbrush or clean cloth. Hang the deer hide on the wall, as desired.

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