I didn't do this to my hide, ( was told it wasn't important)!
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I'm as old school as you get and I seldom pickle a hide either, but that doesn't make it smart. Pickling actually preps the cell structure of the cape and it LOCKS the hair follicles. At one time, "pickling" was all a hide got during taxidermy.
I justify my ignorance by only accepting fresh hides for my shop tans. Most of the others, questionable stuff, and those expensive capes that you wouldn't want to have to buy replacements get double salted, dried and shipped to professional tanneries anyway. Most of the shop tans or topical tans list pickling as an optional step. If you are using a submersible tan, I'd suggest you not follow my example and pickle the hide. It only makes the tanning agents take that much better.
The real purpose is to swell the skin tissues and fill the spaces between the fibers with moisture to allow the tann to penitrate the hide better, as well as to break down non tannable protiens and fats.
It also attracts the tanning agent into the skin and gives it something to bind to. make sur to neutralize the pickle befor you tan though, the acid will attract the tann to quickly if not neutralized and the tann will not penitrate past the surface of the hide. It is a very important step in tanning, and I would not skip it myself.