If you tag a deer this fall, put its skin to good use. Here’s how to tan a hide or preserve it for professional tanning.

Learning how to tan a deer hide is a rite of passage, cementing blood ties to our hunting forebearers who depended upon skins for warmth and who respected slain animals by never letting any part go to ...

You’re not a fur trader, so many of the terms—hide, skin, fur, pelt, and buckskin—used to describe the outer coat of wild game animals may seem interchangeable. (And frankly, a lot of them are.) But ...