Tanning an Elk Hide

I have thus far worked three elk hides and one goat hide, with varied results. The only true conclusion that I have reached is that it is a really difficult thing to do well. Additionally, I have learned a lot about leather, patience, and about the history and technique of a beautiful craft. There are some great how-to books out there, but this is a basic overview.
Once the animal is dead, you need to skin it. The skin on the shanks gets thinner and thinner toward the hoof, so there is really no reason to try to keep much of that on. You'll end up cutting it off later. Then, if you are going to do a hair-on hide, you should scrape off all the meat and fat and then tie the hide on a frame to dry, and dry-scrape the membrane. If you are doing a hair-off buckskin, you should put the hide in a big tub with water and ash from a pot belly stove, and let it sit for a few days. At some point, the hair will be falling off (or easily pulled out) and at that point it's time to wetscrape. Throw the hide over a smooth beam or huge PVC pipe leaning at 45degrees against a tree, and scrape the hair side with a drawknife. The hair should scrape right out. Flip it over, and you'll see that the membrane side is impregnated with dark ashen water. As you scrape, that whole membrane will peel off. Now let the grained and membraned hide dry out.
Now you have a dried out hide that's as stiff as a board. Maybe you should let it dry for 6months to let the fibers "open up." Or maybe before drying you were supposed to soak it in a vinegar solution or something else. I'm not sure. But when you're ready, it's time to cure the hide.
This can be done by soaking it in a solution of water and blended up brains of the animal, or water with 10 whipped eggs, or water and olive oil and grated ivory soap, or a solution with soaked tree bark. You need to work the hide into the solution, getting it wet and soft and pushing it into the bucket. Let it sit in the bucket for a day. The idea here is that instead of water filling all the cavities inside the leather, proteins from the eggs or oil are going to fill those space, so when it dries, it will be soft and full instead of drying out thin and hard again. After the day in the eggs, you take it out, and here come the hard work!
You have to "work over" the hide, stretching it and moving it and ruffing it up, transitioning it from wet to dry. It is particularily important to be working the leather rigorously when it is finally transitioning to completely dry. This process will take 4 to 8 hours for an elk hide, cuz those suckers are thick and hold a lot of moisture. Plus they're heavy, so it's an incredible workout for your shoulders and forearms. You can do it by sitting and stretching the hide over your knees, then turning it and stretching it the other way, and moving around like that. Or you can do it by tying the hide up in a frame and pushing into it with your fists, or an axe handle, and massaging/stretching it like that.
As the hide dries, hopefully it becomes soft, pliable, full-bodied, and elastic. If it's not soft to your liking, you can return to the eggs/olive oil/brains soak, and then work it over again, so hopefully you saved that solution.
Then you are ready to smoke it. Smoking the hide permenently changes its character, so if it gets wet again, it wont become mushy and slimy. Build up a bed of hot embers in the middle of a circle of rocks or in a big ceramic pot. Use three 12' trees to build a tripod over the fire. Fold the hide in half and safety pin or Elmer's glue it into a tight bag. Attach a denim skirt to the bottom that flares wide so as to go around the rocks or the pot, and funnel the smoke from the fire up into the hide bag. Throw leaves or punk onto the coals, and it will pump off enough smoke to inflate the bag. Watch out for flare-ups. At some point flip the hide inside-out and smoke the other side.
The leather will smell so strongly like smoke, so you can throw it in the washing machine and then in the dryer to get the smell out. Now you're ready to cut patterns, and make the backpack, moccossins, or jacket that you want!