Recommendations for Hide Tanning

AvidIndoorsman

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I have a frozen green (not fleshed and salted) beaver hide that I would like to get tanned and I'm looking for recomendations of where to take it/send it. I'm current in CO on the front range but I'm comfortable sending it just about anywhere if the tannery is good, I don't want some crappy garage set up where the hides come back all stiff . I've read terrible terrible reviews of just about every place within 100 miles of Denver and this has me spooked. Definitely would like to send it to a tannery and not a taxidermist who will then just send it somewhere else and charge an arm and a leg.
 
I have used RMT in Denver for several hair-off tanning jobs (elk and moose) for gloves. Their communication sucks and they take forever, but the end product has always been soft, supple leather and/or very durable gloves. If you are in Denver, you might pop in the shop and see what they say.

http://www.rockymountaintanners.com/
 
Moyle mink and tannery, I have sent to them a good bit and I've always been happy. I've never sent them frozen hides but I think all you have to do is call them first and send it Monday so they get it when they are there and its not sitting some place over the weekend.

Goat
 
I have used RMT in Denver for several hair-off tanning jobs (elk and moose) for gloves. Their communication sucks and they take forever, but the end product has always been soft, supple leather and/or very durable gloves. If you are in Denver, you might pop in the shop and see what they say.

http://www.rockymountaintanners.com/

No way I would go near rocky mountain they have 2 pending lawsuits and just about every forum on the internet is filled with horror stories. Plus they don't actually do any tanning they send it out, which seems ridiculous given their name.
 
Moyle Mink and Tannery in Idaho. I have several beavers they did and they are just fine. Have to be trapper dried, no green hides accepted.$22-28 depending on size.
 
I've heard good things about Moyle and Mink. I'm not too worried about the fleshing just not sure if I'm going to be able to convince the wife to let me salt a beaver hide in the living room of our 1 bedroom apt. hence the wanting to ship green. I fleshed and salted when I was in Montana and sent hides to Furs for Fun, but they also only accept fleshed and salted. Has anyone used USA Foxx? The apparently take green hides.
 
I've used USA Foxx for a bobcat that I sent them green frozen. It came back soft and no holes in it or anything. Did it with the feet on and came back with the claws and pads looking good. I personally think it had a very light bluish/purple tint to it when it came back but no one else seemed to think so. Either I've gotten used to the color or it faded over time because I don't notice it at all anymore. They were quick and pretty reasonable.

With that said, there are some bad reviews of them. People claiming they got the wrong fur back, etc. I was a little apprehensive when I sent it in, but am happy with the result.
 
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Sleepy creek tannery in Iowa will do a frozen green hide. They did a coon for my son. I sent a coon,badger,and coyote to usa foxx. I got my stuff back and they were nice but man I think I got lucky. Moyles is the best but it has to be put up. You might try a trapping websit (not sure if it's ok to post links to other sites) and see if a local will put it up for you and you could then have it tanned
 
No way I would go near rocky mountain they have 2 pending lawsuits and just about every forum on the internet is filled with horror stories. Plus they don't actually do any tanning they send it out, which seems ridiculous given their name.

I think I would agree. I dropped off 2 elk hides last year and they told me turnaround time was 10 months. I called when a year had passed, and they said they had no way of tracking the progress of my hides. They said not to call them - they would call me. Their business voicemail message basically says unless your hides have been there over 1.5 years, they don't want to talk to you about their status.
 
Sleepy Creek looks like the best option... but I'm considering getting my hide made into something and I like that USA Foxx is a one stop shop...definitely finding it weird that Bozeman has more/better taxidermists and meat processors than the entire CO front range... at least from what I've been able to glean, I'm sure missing some gems that don't have a web presence.
 
wllm1313.... super old post but I am wanting to tan my deer if I am able to harvest for the upcoming 3rd season. Did you ever find a tannery along the front range? I cant find anything on the net and am getting ready to get a DIY kit if not. Might have to go to tanning school and open a business. Seems like at niche that is not taken care of here.
 
wllm1313.... super old post but I am wanting to tan my deer if I am able to harvest for the upcoming 3rd season. Did you ever find a tannery along the front range? I cant find anything on the net and am getting ready to get a DIY kit if not. Might have to go to tanning school and open a business. Seems like at niche that is not taken care of here.
Sent a bunch of stuff to USA FOXX since this post. Really east just

The hide in question was round tanned, I believe....

Then I sent 2 more and got a pillow made.
1604088162480.png

bear tanned...
1604088073744.png

If you get a deer that you want to tan skin it out, fold it flesh in, then get a comforter sized vacuum storage bag and vaccum seal it. Put it in a freezer for a week or so to make sure it's fully frozen and then overnight the hide to them.

Info is on there website, with further instructions. Takes about a year to get your hide back.
 
Big Bear Tannery in Darby MT did my grizzly bear hide and they did an outstanding job. My taxidermist uses these folks exclusively and said they are the best. Might be worth giving them a call to see if they could work with what you have.

David

Big Bear Tannery
405 N. Main Street
Darby, MT. 59829

406-821-3231
 
Thanks Fellas! Doesn't seem like a bad price to me. I may just give that a try.
 
Ha. I was going to say I use Rocky Mountain Tanners but they're horrendously slow. I've probably had 20 hides done there over the years. I just checked their website and apparently they have closed, are no longer accepting custom tanning jobs, and all hides they currently have will be significantly delayed. I hope I still get my hides at some point! Great that I prepaid in full...
 
Ha. I was going to say I use Rocky Mountain Tanners but they're horrendously slow. I've probably had 20 hides done there over the years. I just checked their website and apparently they have closed, are no longer accepting custom tanning jobs, and all hides they currently have will be significantly delayed. I hope I still get my hides at some point! Great that I prepaid in full...
USA FOXX has always been pay when complete which is nice.
 
Ha. I was going to say I use Rocky Mountain Tanners but they're horrendously slow. I've probably had 20 hides done there over the years. I just checked their website and apparently they have closed, are no longer accepting custom tanning jobs, and all hides they currently have will be significantly delayed. I hope I still get my hides at some point! Great that I prepaid in full...
Yeah....good luck. Saw this posted on another forum recently:

I dropped off a hide in 2018 to Rocky Mountain Tanners. They required that you pay the full fee up front. It was supposed to be completed in 9-12 months. I finally got hold of them last month. My hide, along with a few hundred others, were dropped of in Idaho to another tanners to be completed. The tanner in Idaho then calls me for payment. In order to get my hide back I had to pay the tanning fee again. Rocky Mtn said sorry we're going out of business...no refunds. Lame, really lame.
 
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