What to do with Deer Fur?

Now that I have a decent deer hide, fur on, I am at a loss for a good project to do with it. It seems like all the deer skin ideas are for buckskin, hair off. Do I just need to wait and use it as trim on some other project? Do you have any ideas?

Probably the coolest thing I've seen made with them is lamp shades for a cabin. I made some tall boots with one once but that didn't use an entire hide. They do make good belt trim, hatbands, & wallets.

I have many questions and few answers.

Have you cured the hide in some way, or is it just fleshed and dried?

For those who have done "hair/fur on" projects, does the hide shed or does it stabilize?

Most of these wild ungulates have a hollow hair, which is a great insulator. So, if processing into rawhide, there may be an opportunity to utilize the hair in other ways.

Yes I have skinned, fleshed, salted, pickled, and softened the hide.
The hair isn't coarse, but it certainly isn't soft. The way it lays I want to call it slippery.

The hair on belts & wallets seems to stay on good. It didn't stay on the boots as long as desired but I was rather hard on those.

Mike Barkley wrote:The hair on belts & wallets seems to stay on good. It didn't stay on the boots as long as desired but I was rather hard on those.

Do you have a good place for finding templates, or do you just convert any buckskin project into a hair-on project? I would love some pictures if you have them.

Until you decide what you want to make with their hides, do as our hunters do... display it on a wall or hang the hide over a chair or sofa.

Anne Miller wrote:Until you decide what you want to make with their hides, do as our hunters do... display it on a wall or hang the hide over a chair or sofa.

I have considered hanging it over my bed to see how long it takes for my wife to make me take it down.

A buckskin blanket is great either on the bed or as a throw on the couch.

I have considered hanging it over my bed to see how long it takes for my wife to make me take it down.

1.04 nanoseconds?

Mike Barkley wrote:

I have considered hanging it over my bed to see how long it takes for my wife to make me take it down.

1.04 nanoseconds?

Exactly

Deer hides with the hair on are cool. My husband tanned one that way years ago. We used it over our wooden box coffee table.  Whatever you decide to make I am sure will be cool, but just be aware that the hair is hollow and will shed and break off with use. Our hair on hide lasted a few years and then I had to get rid of it because it was making a hair mess everywhere. If it were me I would want to keep my projects simple because I would hate to invest tons of time into something that is going to shed. The shedding happens because of the hollow hair it is not necessarily because you did something wrong when tanning the hide.  My husband now braintans or barktans deer hides. The uses of hides tanned these ways is endless and they wear very well. I have a wallet that has seen over ten years of use it is just starting to get the tiniest hole in one of its corners.

You have started down your deer tanning journey. Happy trails to you!