Outside of the Martha’s Vineyard Hunt Club, Blake Wasson takes the hide of a deer and carefully pokes string through the fur and stretches it into a large wooden frame.

Nearby is a pot of water resting on a boiler, steam rippling over the rim and clouding the crisp air surrounding it. Two antlers protrude from the pot as Mr. Wasson cleans a deer skull for a friend hoping to use it as decoration.

Mr. Wasson has been hunting since he was a kid living in Seabrook, N.H. For him, it is a way to honor the forests and spend time outdoors.

“My first memories are sitting in tree stands with my Dad...” Mr. Wasson said. “As long as I could be quiet, that’s how long I’ve been hunting.”

In recent years, he has taken an artful approach to the sport, teaching himself how to tan hides and make decorative pieces.

With his current hide, Mr. Wasson plans to shave the fur off once the flesh dries. He shot the deer in the fall, and its hide was just beginning to get thick enough for winter, but wasn’t as full as he prefers for throws rugs.

Once the fur has been removed, he plans to tan both sides until it becomes a suede-like leather, something he has never done before. Then he will cut the leather and sew it together to create a pair of pants.

“How cool would that be?” Mr. Wasson said. “I want to make wallets and belts. I’d like to get into actually turning [hides] into utility products, especially utility products that align with hunting... like a knife holder.”

Mr. Wasson moved to the Island in 2019. He didn’t have the same community of hunters that he did in Seabrook, and didn’t have anyone to teach him about tanning, so he learned by watching YouTube videos.

While there are several ways to tan, Mr. Wasson’s favorite uses the bark of trees. He said it can’t be just any bark, but rather bark from Oak or Sumac trees, both of which are hydro soluble and high in tannins.

He then boils the bark until it becomes a tanning liquor that resembles brewed tea. Once the liquor cools, he dilutes the concentrate with water and soaks the hide for about an hour.

“And then over time, which could be an hour, the hide will take in those tannins, the tanning liquor becomes a bit more pale, the tan, the leather becomes a bit more tan, and you repeat that process until you’re not really extracting any more tannins.”

He places the hides on a tanning rack to dry and covers it with salt to clear the membrane off. Then comes the difficult part, stretching the hide until it becomes soft. He uses the butt end of an ax and presses it into all parts of the hide, loosening up the fibers until the fabric forms.

He said there are many ways to tan hides using a natural process. Acorns are high in tannins and if you forage enough of them, once boiled they will create a rich maroon liquor. The smoke from a fire offers another option.

He said hunters will also take the brains of the deer, grind it into a paste and spread it over a dry and salted hide.

“They say that every mammal [has] just the right amount of brain to tan their entire hide,” he said.

Mr. Wasson has begun to pass along this tanning knowledge to other members of the MV Hunt Club. He said the process can be intimidating, but tanning is easier than it first appears and offers a rich reward.

“The way I see it, the hunt doesn’t end after you’ve taken deer,” Mr. Wasson said. “Even after you have butchered the deer, there’s ways you can memorialize it, and tanning is an [important] process.”