Re: [VFB] Deer Dilemma

[Joyce Westphal]

I'd take that hide, lay it out on a big piece of cardboard that is very thick, and using a stapler, tack the edges stretched out to the big giant cardboard (a box that refrigerators come in works great).  Then buy many boxes of Borax (in the laundry soap section) and put on some rubber gloves. Take that Borax and rub it into each nook and cranny of the hide (raw side up, hair down) and really push it in. Then cover the whole thing with another layer of Borax. As it dries and hardens in your garage, keep adding Borax in any area which soaks through and the Borax is no longer a layer of white. Do this for several weeks. You will find that the hide will get very stiff and dried out and soon that the Borax won't need to be replenished..it will stay quite white. Let it sit another week, then carefully use your shop vacuum and suck up the Borax. You can then roll the hide around a long broom handle, loosely  (you want the air to get in, and put up two hooks in your garage and hang the whole thing like a long curtain. This has worked well for me. Joyce