Nature & craft
Tanning leather
From rawhide to soft leather – for hunters with their own roe deer hide and for everyone who wants to work outdoors with simple means.
Tanning is an almost forgotten craft – and one you can only learn with your hands. While you work the hide, it tells you the story of the animal: its strength, its endurance, its tenderness. That is exactly what you need yourself.
The course produces leather, not fur: the hair comes off, and in the end you have soft leather without hair on either side.
For hunters: more than the antlers
I am a hunter myself. I tanned the leather from my first roe buck myself and sewed a peaked cap from it. The antlers hang on the wall – the cap I wear. And every time I put it on, I am back in that evening.
Usually all that remains of a roe buck is the antlers. The hide ends up in the bin. Yet it can become leather that you made yourself – from your own piece of game.
Here is how: skin the hide and freeze it, so it keeps until a date is set. Then we work on it together, and at the end you take your leather home. What you make of it is up to you.
On your own or as a pair? Add yourself to the waiting list below. Often you know two or three others in the hunting ground or in the hunting association.
Survival and bushcraft: a basic craft
If you want to get by outdoors with what nature provides, you can't avoid tanning. For thousands of years leather was the material for clothing, shoes, pouches, straps and sinew – and the hide belongs to the animal just like the meat. In the course you work outdoors in camp, with simple tools and plenty of hand work, the way people did long before us.
It fits everything else you pick up outdoors: fire, whittling, bow making. And in the end you hold something you made yourself from start to finish.
The schedule: two parts
Part 1 – one day.
We prepare the hide and stretch it in a frame. There it dries.
In between the hide dries. That takes a few days – in sun and heat a single day is enough, and we go straight on.
Part 2 – two days.
From the dried hide to finished leather. How exactly, I show you in the course – a little surprise is part of it.
In summer with good weather this also works over three days in a row, otherwise in two sessions.
At a glance
- Groups of 4 or more – individuals and pairs via the waiting list
- Adults only - 3 days in two parts (1 day + 2 days)
- Leather only, no furs – the hair comes off
- €380 per person for the whole course (3 days), tools provided
- Roe deer hide*: bring your own, or I get one (needs lead time, see below)
- Location: wilderness camp in Uetzing, 96231 Bad Staffelstein — or at your place (plus travel, €0.50 per kilometre driven)
- Food: no flat rate – we arrange it at the start of the course, sometimes we fetch something, sometimes we grill on the campfire
- Overnight: my camp is open – stay outdoors if you like, or go home or take a guesthouse if you prefer
- Date by arrangement
* Other animal hides are possible too. Roe deer and goat work best, other hides on request.
As a small business owner under § 19 UStG (German VAT Act), I do not charge VAT.
Where the hide comes from
It is best to bring your own. If I am to get the roe deer hides, the course needs lead time: roe deer may only be taken at certain times. For a course in summer or autumn 2027 I can organise the hides – tell me early enough.
Do you have a different hide? Goat works just as well as roe deer. For other animals, just ask.
Sustainable
When an animal is taken, as much of it as possible should be used. That respects the animal's life and the resources it gives us. Leather from your own hide is exactly that.
Enquiry about the tanning course
Nature & craft: tanning course
