proper bear skin care ?????after the shot

[Nitro175]

hopefully planning to harvest my first bear this spring and looking for advice or tips and tricks as to what to do after the bear is skinned out ,planning on getting a rug not a full mount done. some guys salt skin ,some say freeze skin,and some say neither?? also whats the best material to wrap in and how long would i have to take to the taxidermist? and can anyone recommend a good taxidermist around the edmonton area? thanx for the help

[bdub]

If you flesh it, turn the lips, ears, nose and feet and salt it well, it will keep damn near forever. If you are not comfortable doing that, then skin it to the head and paws, either cool it and get it frozen ASAP or salt what you can and get it to someone who can finish it off for you ASAP and salt the rest. Talk to the taxidermist you intend to use before you go to see what they prefer if you don't intend to salt the entire hide in the bush.

[RDW]

There is a good write up in this months edition of alberta outdoorsman on how to care for your trophies in the field check it out or contact your taxidermist ask him what you should do

[Hogie135]

If youve never done it before then dont bother with salt. Its messy and pointless if you have a freezer. Get it skinned to the head and paws, roll it up and put in freezer. Take to taxi when youre ready. Give Starky a call at Starky's taxidermy.....just google him.

[Nitro175]

thanx for the advice greatly appreciated:)

[Xiph0id]

I one were to get a black bear and skin it without doing the head or paws.
Would a 3 hour drive be too long to freeze it?

[Rennich98]

I highly recommend Northern Impressions Taxidermy...he's in Edmonton and did mine and it turned out absolutely amazing...PM me if you'd like some pics...what I did was we skinned everything except the head cuz I wanted the skull bleached...then washed it with some water...salted it...the more the better, then it went into a garbage bag and froze it until it got to the taxidermist...hope this helps

[blgoodbrand1]

Just a heads up. Salt OR freeze. Never both. You will end up with bear soup in a garbage bag.

[bdub]

I one were to get a black bear and skin it without doing the head or paws.
Would a 3 hour drive be too long to freeze it?

Nope. Just do your best to keep it as cool as you can and you should be ok.

[waterhaulerhunter]

Find your taxidermist first and ask him what you should do. If he wants your business he should me more than willing the give you any tips and advice you need and how he is going to want it when you bring it to him. I was also told either cool/frozen or salted. Never both together. Good luck on the hunt, first bear hunt is a rush!

[huntinstuff]

I one were to get a black bear and skin it without doing the head or paws.
Would a 3 hour drive be too long to freeze it?

No. Not too long

When you skin it, cut with your knife perpendicular to the hide

Takes all the skin off that way

[Xiph0id]

No. Not too long

When you skin it, cut with your knife perpendicular to the hide

Takes all the skin off that way

Thanks for the advise.
I'll be looking for a taxi.
Would love a bear rug but don't want to mess it up.

[B-radshaw]

If you decide to skin it to the head and freeze it make sure you keep the head and paws out and not rolled up in the hide! Many a bear hide have slipped as it took to long for the head and paws to freeze rolled up inside the hide.

[huntinstuff]

Thanks for the advise.
I'll be looking for a taxi.
Would love a bear rug but don't want to mess it up.

You wont mess it up.

If you drop one, call me. Bring it over and id be glad to show you how to do the paws and head. Then u will never have to worry again

[Rennich98]

You wont mess it up
X2 a few holes her and there doesn't matter with a bear...a good taxi will be able to sew that up as if it was never there

[Torkdiesel]

Just skin it out to the paws and head. Roll it up fur side in and put it in a garbage bag then into the freezer. If your going to get it the taxidermist within a few hours don't worry about freezing it. Bear hides cool down really fast and heat shouldn't be an issue, just don't leave it in the sun. Unless you know what your doing don't do the head and paws and salt it. Chances are your taxidermist will have to finish fleshing it anyway up to his standard and it being covered in salt will just **** him off. The same goes for salting before skinning out the head and paws, it will just **** him off having to finish skinning it listening to his knife scrape against salt crystals.

[winmag]

To all new successful bear hunters in camp, hours away from freezer services [ if you can even find one ] bring a small freezer and gen set, that's the fool proof way to preserve your trophy, leave head and paws in ,fold the bear in half length wise, always skin to skin and roll from the butt up so the paws and head are out, then the cold will penetrate all the thick parts quickly , set the bear on loose spruce bows in freezer to speed the freeze remember warmth and moisture promotes bacteria and then hair slippage. To skin a bear all the way find buddy with a few beavers and ask to skin out the heads[ that's how i learned] you will learn to keep knife on bone how to keep the eye area , lips, ear butts and nose intact for the most part and the paws on the bear remove at the last knuckle if this proves difficult the second is good enough. For old school salt preservation you must skin the whole bear out[ stiff SHARP paring knife works good for toes]. For salt, go to Co-oP and get 20 kg bags of salt about six bucks a bag you will need four to five bags will do a six foot black , lay bear out in dry shady spot and pack salt into and around paws, the nostrils ,ear holes etc.and rub in well and not just sprinkled on top.All the juicy spots should be done extra well and don't cheap out!! , in a little while the salt will get mushy shake it off and start again till the salt stays dry after being applied for about 15 min to half hour (it takes time) and usually takes about 3 saltings. Once salt no longer gets wet shake off (lots will still be sticking on the hide) Make sure that the toe holes have been emptied and resalted like the rest of the hide. Fold in half but keep pounding the salt to the damp juicy areas, just remember always always salt.:)
keep going until the salt has penetrated everything, you can do the bear flint dry this way if you want[ wife did this with deer hides when the freezer was full] , fold the bear up kinda as you go and transport with salt ,when you get home don't bag him in plastic take an old sheet along and wrap him in that and keep in a cool place , the taxidermist will rehydrate the bear in salt water for prep. and soon you will have a bear rug: :sHa_shakeshout: ...hope this will help..

[Torkdiesel]

To all new successful bear hunters in camp, hours away from freezer services [ if you can even find one ] bring a small freezer and gen set, that's the fool proof way to preserve your trophy, leave head and paws in ,fold the bear in half length wise, always skin to skin and roll from the butt up so the paws and head are out, then the cold will penetrate all the thick parts quickly , set the bear on loose spruce bows in freezer to speed the freeze remember warmth and moisture promotes bacteria and then hair slippage. To skin a bear all the way find buddy with a few beavers and ask to skin out the heads[ that's how i learned] you will learn to keep knife on bone how to keep the eye area , lips, ear butts and nose intact for the most part and the paws on the bear remove at the last knuckle if this proves difficult the second is good enough. For old school salt preservation you must skin the whole bear out[ stiff SHARP paring knife works good for toes]. For salt, go to Co-oP and get 20 kg bags of salt about six bucks a bag you will need four to five bags will do a six foot black , lay bear out in dry shady spot and pack salt into and around paws, the nostrils ,ear holes etc.and rub in well and not just sprinkled on top.All the juicy spots should be done extra well and don't cheap out!! , in a little while the salt will get mushy shake it off and start again till the salt stays dry after being applied for about 15 min to half hour (it takes time) and usually takes about 3 saltings. Once salt no longer gets wet shake off (lots will still be sticking on the hide) Make sure that the toe holes have been emptied and resalted like the rest of the hide. Fold in half but keep pounding the salt to the damp juicy areas, just remember always always salt.:)
keep going until the salt has penetrated everything, you can do the bear flint dry this way if you want[ wife did this with deer hides when the freezer was full] , fold the bear up kinda as you go and transport with salt ,when you get home don't bag him in plastic take an old sheet along and wrap him in that and keep in a cool place , the taxidermist will rehydrate the bear in salt water for prep. and soon you will have a bear rug: :sHa_shakeshout: ...hope this will help..

Why would you fold the bear skin to skin then roll it up ? It will take longer to freeze and longer for the taxidermist to thaw it out.

[grouse_hunter]

Is one method better than other for the end quality? As in salting better than freezing or vise versa. I've never skinned a bear, but I'm planning to completely skin it out in field being a hobby butcher and all.

[Rennich98]

Is one method better than other for the end quality? As in salting better than freezing or vise versa. I've never skinned a bear, but I'm planning to completely skin it out in field being a hobby butcher and all.

If ur gonna do it out in the field I'd say probably salt it unless u can make it to a freezer...I recommend leaving the head unskinned and let the taxi do that and get the skull bleached it is a great addition to the rug

[Double Shovel]

If you watch here in the next few weeks on Outdoor Quest, I did a segment for the viewers on proper bear care and how to "fold" not "roll" a bear up. It should be informative for those that are looking for info. It is supposed to air here soon so it will be in time for the bear season. DO NOT salt it with the paws and head in, it does nothing for the head and paws and they are still at risk for slippage. DO NOT salt and freeze at the same time either. We put salt on our hiways every winter to "stop" them from freezing. You have two options. Either skin cleanly and take out the paws and head, turn everything and salt, then your good while in camp OR get it to a freezer asap and when you put it in the freezer "fold" it down on top of itself, don't roll it. What happens if you roll it, the center takes a couple days to freeze because the hair acts as an insulator and most people put the head in first which is holding the most heat. Then when we get it, it takes a couple days to un-roll and the the outside has been thawed for a couple days until you get to the head then it is froze. So you have a half salted/half froze bear and it creates a mess and headache. FOLD the bear and leave the head and paws on the outside then freeze. Then when I get it, I can hang it by a paw and as it unfolds evenly, everything is thawed in a day and all is good. I show all this on the show and I hope it helps. I have had to turn a few bears away and it is not fun telling a guy who shot a beauty chocolate bear who brought it to you in a bag of salt soup that it was no good because the head and paws weren't out. Most hunters don't think of it because most are used to deer but deer are very forgiving because they aren't eating rotten bait and they are usually shot in below zero temps. Once you kill that bear who has been eating rotten bait, his system does not have the ability to kill off that bad bacteria that is in his guts but the bacteria still goes on. Combine that with being left out over night(if evening shot), heavy coat and plus zero temps, you need to look after it soon. The taxidermist you plan on using should have no problem showing you how to take paws and heads out as long as you bring the work back to them after. Your doing the right thing by asking these questions now.
Thanks,
Curtis

[busch11]

If you are going to roll it up and freeze it or take into your taxidermist of choice fresh, I would recommend spreading it out on the ground or the back of your truck skin side up, and let it cool off first. There is a lot of heat in the head and could lead to spoilage. Especially if you got a big bear. The cooling is also good if you plan to put it into a plastic bag. Best would be to have a tub with you to put it into after. If you get a bear cooled off right away you won't have a problem getting it fresh to the taxidermist within 12 hours. With that being said I know there is guys who will shoot them at last light and not skin them till the next morning. I personally wouldn't recommend doing so unless it is unsafe to recover the bear. Especially in big bears. There is just way too much body heat in them to risk leaving them to spoil.

Cheers

[Torkdiesel]

I guess everybody really does have there own way. I've always rolled them fur side in from the tail up to the head so the head was on the outside of the bundle. A taxidermist taught me how to do it that way years ago and I've never had anybody complain about slippage or spoiling. I'm sure I've done a couple hundred bears like that too.