Easiest way with local store bought materials is with salt and alum. Bring one gallon of water to a boil and dissolve 1/2 pound of alum into the hot water. Add one gallon hot tap water after alum is dissolved and add at least a pound of salt- more if it all dissolves...you cannot add too much salt! Pour mixture into a large plastic or ceramic container (five gallon plastic bucket is fine).....
Thaw the hide and scrape all of the flesh and connective tissue from the skin. Split the lips and remove all cartilage from inside the nose pad. Split the eyelids and turn the ears to remove the cartilage. A dulled flat bladed screw driver will help with the ear reversal. Spread the hide on a slanted board, fur side down, and spread stock salt or kosher salt or other medium coarse salt over the skin to pull moisture from the tissues. Repeat salting to pull additional moisture from the pelt. When the pelt is nearly dry, wash off the salt in a solution of 1/2 cup borax, 1/4 cup dawn and two gallons of cool water. Rinse thoroughly and completely in clean water and when sure the soap is gone from the hide, place it into the alum salt pickle you prepared by following the above steps.
Move the hide around once a day in the pickle and make sure that it is completely immersed. A brick may be placed on top to insure it remains soaking, if desired. Leave in the solution for about two weeks, making sure you agitate and turn it daily. You can check the edges for a complete tan by making a small cut with a sharp knife. When the hide is tanned, it will be white through and through.
When the skin is completely white, remove from the pickle, rinse well in warm water and then soak in a bath of warm water with 1/2 cup of borax and one tablespoon of Dawn added for each gallon of water added. The hide will be stiff when it is first removed from the alum pickle. Soaking for a time in the borax water will soften it.
You will need to break the hide if you intend it to be soft and flexible. This is done by rubbing Protal or Neat's foot oil into the hide and by breaking it over a rounded dull edge. If you have no breaking edge available, a dull axe head can be clamped in a vise and used for the purpose. After the initial breaking, the hide should be tacked fur side down on a plywood sheet, stretching, but not too much, as you tack around the edges. Be careful of the hair arrangement as you tack so that it isn't reversed or bent in the process. Tacks or nails should be about two inches apart and just hold the skin taught, but not tight. A couple of layers of cardboard laid between the hide and the board will help the drying process.
When the hide is nearly dry, remove from the tack board and reapply oil and break until it is the softness you desire.
The alum process is as old as they come, and it is time consuming if you desire a soft pelt for hanging or rugging. The reason I outlined it is that it is effective, and can be done with locally purchased materials.
Good luck hope you have some pics when its done. An added comment. You can use a needle and thread and sew the holes closed. I use dental floss after the hide is has been cured but still wet from the rinsing. You'll never see the holes from the fur side.
