Compared to the traditional blade fleshing method, Tim Kjellesvik prefers the faster, less labor-intensive method of pressure washing deer hides for preservation.

A lot of folks who hunt deer have thrown out the hide with the rest of the animal after it had been processed. I used to count myself among them. I hated to waste the deer’s beautiful coat, but I didn’t have the time or know how to preserve it.

A buddy of mine was getting into cattle ranching and he asked if I wanted to try my hand at preserving a cowhide. It was a no-expectation scenario so if I botched the job, he didn’t care. I stopped by his place to pick up the 60-pound block of folded frozen cowhide, brought it home, and thawed it out in soapy water. Bear in mind that I was working on a “loose” understanding of the preservation process. If it worked out that I could preserve the hide, my friend was going to hang it in his cabin.

Once the hide thawed, I realized I was in for another unexpected job: wrangling this sopping, fatty, bloody carpet remnant of a hide to my makeshift fleshing beam (a five inch diameter PVC pipe that in its first life was a DIY fishing rod tube). This was all happening in my backyard in full view of my neighbors.

I worked for two hours to scrape the fat and flesh off one square foot of cowhide, just about 29 more to go and I would have had it cleaned up. Suffice it to say, my buddy’s getaway cabin is today without a rustic cowhide wall hanging.

That got me thinking about alternative methods for deer hide preservation. I wondered about using a pressure washer. I did some searching on YouTube and found examples of guys doing this, so I worked out my own little system and ended up with good results. This method will allow you to preserve a hide, not tan it. Probably the best application for the end product of this method is a wall hanging.

I built a three by four frame out of some junk two by fours and zipped the hide to it with deck screws at 6-inch intervals. I started off in a corner of the frame and added matching screws along the X- and Y-axes.

The point was to keep the hide as taught as possible. I then placed the frame with the flesh side facing up on a hard, clean surface (like a concrete driveway).

Then, I started up the power washer and beginning at the corner closest to me, began to work the flesh off by making steady side-to-side movements. You’ll want to find the sweet spot of spray aperture so you don’t blow holes through the skin, but still have it strong enough to remove the flesh. My washer is rated to 2000 psi, any less than that and it may not be enough to get the job done.

Though I ended up with splattered deer fat on everything in a 20-foot radius of the project, the flesh side of the hide was bright white and free of tissue. At this point, I picked up the frame and gently hosed the hair side free of any debris. I stood the frame vertically so the grain of the hair shed water with gravity. When the hide was partially dried, but still tacky, I applied a liberal coating of borax to the recently fleshed side, then let the hide dry completely. This can take a couple of days given the ambient temperature and humidity. You may also have to add more borax to spots where the original layer of borax appears saturated.

At the end of this process, the hide was stretched taught on the frame. I used a dry cloth to sweep away the borax, backed the screws out, cut some small slits in the hide and made hanging loops out of zip ties. I connected the zip ties with heavy monofilament for a hanger.

Now I can be confident that I’m utilizing as much of the animal as possible with this much simpler way of preserving hides.

Want to try something new this fall? You’ll find lots of tips and ideas for outdoor adventures in the November issue of MidWest Outdoors, available the first full week of November at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.