I recently acquired a deer hide and want to try to tan it just for practice. As soon as i got the hide I put it in the freezer a day later I got it out rinsed it off in some water. Since it was not skinned by hand there was still quite a bit of fat and meat on it so I trimmed most of it off. Then I salted it but It was still pretty wet. I then folded it up to let it dry but the next day it is still very wet. What do I need to do?
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You need to get all of that membrane off, there should be no meat or fat on the hide at all. You said that when you salted the hide and set it to dry, it was still wet. When you salt a hide, the salt makes a lot of the fluids drain out of the skin. that's why it's still wet. Try sitting the skin on a slanted rack and apply more salt, wait for the hide to dry completely. Then buy a tanning kit from one of the supply catalogs, WASCO and Van Dykes are good. Good luck
Nina
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When you recieve a fresh cape or skin - try to avoid moisture! Keep it as dry as possible (the hair)! Dont rinse it. Simply flesh and salt it as quickly as possible and then salt it. When you rehydrate it prior to pickling it - that's the time to wash it briefly if it needs it! But also rinse it thoroughly before the pickle.
As for your cape or skin - try using a plastic garbage bag with sawdust in it. Put the cape in - bounce it around for 5 minutes - then blow it off with an air hose. That should eliminate a lot of the excess moisture. Then salt and dry!