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Oil for tanning hides11/13/2023 Add olive oil to the flesh-side of the hide. Be extra careful around holes in the hide that have been left behind from bullets or broadheads. Once you do this a few times, this goes fairly quickly. ![]() Once you’ve scraped enough away, you can grab the flesh with your hands and slowly peel it back from the hide, a little at a time to prevent tearing. Hold the knife horizontal, keeping it as parallel to the hide as much as possible. The flesh will be slightly pink, and the hide underneath will be black and white. Once the hide is in place, use the flat side of a butter knife to gently scrape up the layer of flesh from the hide. That will be fixed later, and it’s better to leave it oddly shaped for now. Your hide may be an odd shape, but that’s okay. You’ll want the hide to be taut, but don’t try to stretch it too much. Using the tacks (or nails, like I did) pin the rabbit hide to the board. Place the hide fur-side down, flesh-side up on your board. Working slowly is the best way to avoid tears, but if you do end up tearing the hide, it can be fixed later. Most hides are fleshed with a fleshing tool, but that doesn’t work for rabbit hides as it would destroy the thin skin. The first step is probably the most difficult step because, as I noted above, rabbit hide is very thin and tears easily. Pin your rabbit hide, fur-side down, to a board with tacks or small nails. ![]() Thumb tacks or small nails, and a hammer.A board slightly larger than the rabbit hide.1 bottle of dish soap (generic is fine, I used Dawn).So, don’t toss those bunny furs next time you bag a few-save and tan them! You can tan the hides fresh, or put them in a Ziploc bag and freeze them until you’re ready to start the process. It was very simple, and the hide came out beautifully. The whole process, excluding the drying, only took me about an hour from start to finish. That means it’s safe to do indoors, and with small children and animals around. Not only does this method use simple household items, but it’s free of harsh chemicals. All the instructions I found were vague, but the process seemed simple enough. After several nights of scouring the internet, including many taxidermy sites, I discovered a method called soap tanning that looked like it might work for rabbits. ![]() Even once you decide on a specific method, there are various ways to approach it. There are many ways to tan animal hides, and it can be overwhelming. Their skin is so thin and delicate that you can easily skin them without using a knife. If you’ve ever skinned a cottontail rabbit, you’ll know that their hides are the “tissue paper” of furbearing animals. Rabbit, however, is a completely different story. I have tanned several deer hides, squirrels, fox, coyote, and mink. So, I decided to tan the rabbit hides on my own. I knew that it would take quite a few rabbit pelts to create a blanket for anyone other than a baby, and sending them away to be professionally tanned would cost more than I wanted to spend. Rabbit fur is incredibly soft and beautiful when it’s prime, and at the beginning of rabbit season this year I decided to start saving my rabbit hides to eventually make a blanket. Especially right after a fresh snow-there’s nothing like flinging arrows at cottontails. Beka Garrisĭuring the cold winter months, rabbit hunting is one of my favorite things to do. Rabbit pelts are in their prime in the cold winter months.
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