Bear hides , what to do after I harvest one?

[cochranenite]

So if I'm successful in taken a
Spring bear , what do you do with the hide. Take it to a taxidermist and ask just to get it tanned?

Thanks CN

[Icatchfish]

If you google skinning bear on YouTube you'll find some decent videos showing how to skin for a rug or a mount and what to do after.

Usually u want to salt it for a day or so and take it to the taxi or if u got access to a freezer then freeze it right away. If I were u, I would also call my taxidermist and ask them if they have special instructions

[SugarCreek]

Skin the bear.....you can leave the head and paws attached for the taxidermist to skin out and freeze as soon as possible or get to your taxidermist of choice as soon as possible. Bears have a tendency to have hair slippage from improper care which makes it that much more important to get the hide in a freezer or to a taxidermist ASAP.

Don't salt the bear unless the paws are taken out along with the toes, the head is completely skinned out with the ears turned, the lips and nose split and the eyes turned. The hide must be fleshed quite well to ensure the salt can get into the hide to fix the skin and dry out the skin in preparation for tanning. If the flesh is not removed and the salt cannot penetrate, you run the risk of areas on the hide that will "slip" leaving bald spots on the bear.

Hope this helps.......Marco

[leeaspell]

What do you do with it if you have no interest in doing anything with the hide and only want the meat?

[Bard]

Thanks for the input Marco. In your opinion, how long an interval between harvesting the bear and getting it to a freezer is acceptable? 6,12,18hrs? ASAP would be best of course.

[bighorn1]

What do you do with it if you have no interest in doing anything with the hide and only want the meat?

You can give it away , no paper work needed

[Jimboy]

So if I'm successful in taken a
Spring bear , what do you do with the hide. Take it to a taxidermist and ask just to get it tanned?

Thanks CN

boil it up , make bear soup

[cochranenite]

Thanks guys, ya I dunno if I will keep the hide, if it is a nice bear then yes
Kinda saving wall space for when I go to Alaska. I wanna try the meat and just get out hiking abit
And Jimboy mmmm bear hide soup that's sounds tasty ...

Thanks CN

[Advantage Taxidermy]

I would never put a bear right into a freezer it really has to cool down first if you roll it up the heat from the head will cause slippage I have only mounted a few 1000 of them and worked at a tanner for years. I can tell you the ones that were trouble were put in a garbage bag and froze
Alex

[SugarCreek]

Thanks for the input Marco. In your opinion, how long an interval between harvesting the bear and getting it to a freezer is acceptable? 6,12,18hrs? ASAP would be best of course.

No sure answer for you. I have had a bear that was left in the bush for 2 days that I thought for sure would be trouble that ended up tanning nicely and bears that came in the following day that had significant slippage after tanning.

If the animal is worth harvesting my recommendation is that it is worth the effort to ensure that the animal is looked after properly and get in ASAP for proper care of the trophy

Of note....by law, you cannot let a bear hide go to waste even if you are harvesting it for the meat.

Marco

[SugarCreek]

I would never put a bear right into a freezer it really has to cool down first if you roll it up the heat from the head will cause slippage I have only mounted a few 1000 of them and worked at a tanner for years. I can tell you the ones that were trouble were put in a garbage bag and froze
Alex

Alex

You are right about cooling the bear down. I do not recommend rolling the head and paws up inside the hide to freeze as they will not freeze down right away and retain heat and will likely slip. Fold the bear skin up skin to skin...lay it in the freezer and let cool down.....then fold the skin up, keeping the head and the paws on the outside of the hide so they can freeze faster and ultimately thaw faster at the taxidermist shop which will reduce the likelihood of slippage.

Marco

[Advantage Taxidermy]

I like that idea of laying them in the freezer to cool , but only if you have a freezer for only bear hides ,might be hard to talk the wife into putting it in with your food ,I have seen what bears eat , really don,t want that in with my steaks another problem is shooting it and not finding it till the next day the side laying on the ground really has heat in it, as well as the gut area thats one that needs salt quick.
Alex

[raab]

Was talking to some guys on the trapping section and apparently if the hide was legally taken you can sell it.

[alkalisavage300]

Spring bear my hunting partner and I got we simply skinned and rolled it up with snow and stored in a tote until we got back to town. I believe we stayed out and kept hunting for a couple 3 days before heading back to town.
The fall bear was a little trickier as there wasn't snow and we stored in the toybox of trailer with AC on until we were completed our hunt.

Both bears were made into rugs at Sugar Creek and my buddy and I are thrilled with them!!

[bdub]

I think it would be a good goal for any hunter to learn to cape, turn ears, nose, lips, eyes, paws, flesh hides etc. If you are competent in this and have salt handy you can properly preserve any trophy even if you are days from a freezer or taxidermist.

[bighorn1]

last spring bear i shot was a few years back and was 21 degrees at the time. skinned it out rolled snow in the hide and stored it under the camper in a rubbermaid tote after it spent the night hanging in the trees cooling. we hunted another 4 days after this and once home it got re-rolled with the head and paws exposed so they could freeze right away. this bear spent a year in the freezer and when marco did the rug up there was no slippage at all and it tunred out excellent.

buddy also shot a bear that fall and same deal, was 20 some degrees, we tied it on a rope and left it in the river for the night to cool, rolled up and in the tote under the camper for a few days and it turned out awsome as well.

[Dewey Cox]

buddy also shot a bear that fall and same deal, was 20 some degrees, we tied it on a rope and left it in the river for the night to cool, rolled up and in the tote under the camper for a few days and it turned out awsome as well.

Leave it in the water for a few more days, any maybe the fish will pick all the flesh off the hide for you.:)