BB in the freezer, couple taxi questions...

[curtisb]

Hi - I was successful this spring and killed a 6'11" black bear the other night!
(I saw another thread on measuring and I'm scared to round up, but I measure him at 6'10" - 6'11" square.)

Tuesday night, home at 130AM, cooled overnight, and in the freezer at about 0700 the following morning.
I'll clean, cut and wrap and freeze my meat tonight after being chilled for a couple days!

I was in process of lowering my bow from the tree at about 945 and the target bear decided to show himself so I shot him with my rifle. Which turned out to be a good choice at that time of the evening as after I discharged the rifle 3 other bears crashed away that I didn't know were even there. *First time I've taken an animal with the rifle in 12 years.

Now it's decision time. Although I already have a beautiful rug and this is a WAY bigger bear, I'm not necessarily ready to fork out that kind of $$$ for another rug, then another, etc., etc.

I had it in my head and have been researching for quite some time how to run a tan myself, watching you tube videos, etc. Thinking seriously about giving it a whirl. However I will honestly say I'm a beginner to the point I've never even skinned out feet or a skull before...much less fleshed and tanned a hide. lol

A few questions:
Has anyone done it themselves before (fleshing/tanning/ and how much work truly is it? Any advice? To do, or not to do?

How much would it be at a taxidermist to just have him run a tan and return the skull?

Any advice would be awesome.
Attached one quick pic.

[walking buffalo]

For a first time venture into tanning, a bear is a very tough test.

They are greasy.... this make it difficult to tan properly.

I would definitely recommend a person learn to tan on other animals like deer before attempting to do a bear.

And Congrats on the Beast!

[wildwoods]

Very cool bear and story. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the tanning if you endeavour to do so

[wwbirds]

Such a great bear why risk a home based tan when you have not done it before. If it was me I would pay the money to have bigger bear tanned professionally and then sell the smaller tanned skin to recover some costs.

[curtisb]

Do any of you guys know a ball park figure for a taxidermist to flesh it and run a tan?
I paid 1600 to rug the 6 footer a couple years ago...
Or better yet is there anyone in Fort Mac? lol

[V45 sabre]

For a 5.5 foot nose to tail bear I just paid 515 for the bear to have the head paws ears skinned and another 50 for fleshing and salting which is included in the above price. Also I had the skull done for 160.

[double gun]

.....

[curtisb]

I talked to both my taxidermist, who measures back leg to nose, and a fur tannery, who measures tail to nose (shorter).
Both advised NOT to use a bear for my first attempt running a tan...

Also made several other calls to taxidermists in/around EDM.

I figure I'll pay 195 for the skinning head and paws, and 385 (55/ft) for a my tanned bear. (all in approx 580 - more or less sounds in line!) I can also have the skull frozen and deal with it myself...

I would anticipate a good finished product from the tannery as well, as that's what they do. Tan hides.

I did stumble across a couple taxidermists who would potentially buy hides...especially color phase in good shape...as such this got me wondering and I think I've posted about this before but:
now I have a second question:

I love the meat so I'm in a dilemma, if I have to deal with a hide (potentially) every spring - how do guys afford to hunt bears??? I'd go broke. Do they sell hides, trade hides or otherwise?
Forgive me if I'm naive but going by the letter of the law the hide can't go to waste, and I know some guys kill bears year over year and I make a pretty decent living, just not sure how I'd deal with (or pay for) all the hides?

Any advice on this?

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by curtisb

I talked to both my taxidermist, who measures back leg to nose, and a fur tannery, who measures tail to nose (shorter).
Both advised NOT to use a bear for my first attempt running a tan...

Also made several other calls to taxidermists in/around EDM.

I figure I'll pay 195 for the skinning head and paws, and 385 (55/ft) for a my tanned bear. (all in approx 580 - more or less sounds in line!) I can also have the skull frozen and deal with it myself...

I would anticipate a good finished product from the tannery as well, as that's what they do. Tan hides.

I did stumble across a couple taxidermists who would potentially buy hides...especially color phase in good shape...as such this got me wondering and I think I've posted about this before but:
now I have a second question:

I love the meat so I'm in a dilemma, if I have to deal with a hide (potentially) every spring - how do guys afford to hunt bears??? I'd go broke. Do they sell hides, trade hides or otherwise?
Forgive me if I'm naive but going by the letter of the law the hide can't go to waste, and I know some guys kill bears year over year and I make a pretty decent living, just not sure how I'd deal with (or pay for) all the hides?

Any advice on this?

Be really selective about the bears you shoot. I know lots of guys on here won't shoot a bear unless it's really special. Tanning is the cheapest way (without head and paws) to get your bear processed. I disagree with the law in regards to not wasting the fur. I believe it should be either not wasting the fur or harvesting the meat. That option should exist so Joe Lunchbucket can shoot a bear every year.
Perhaps a tannery will accept an donated,un-processed fur at no charge? I don't now if that's legal or not.... Worth looking in to.

[Guide5689]

Why not learn how to turn the lips, ears and nose yourself. Paws are pretty straight forward. You'll feel self rewarded once you figure it out. A good taxidermy will be able to repair your slight mistakes


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[Guide5689]

Another alternative would be a shoulder mount if your wanting to keep cost down


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[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by Guide5689

Another alternative would be a shoulder mount if your wanting to keep cost down


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Yup good call. Still a little more than a tanned rug though.... but definitely a viable option

[Dean2]

I know that up till 2013 you could sell an untanned black Bear hide to anyone you wanted to, it was part of the Q&A right in the hunting regs. You would have to check with F&W to see if that is still true.

Once tanned you can sell it to anyone but often the cost to tan out strips what you can sell the hide for. If you want he meat and can't sell the hides any more, I would just give the raw hides to a tannery or taxidermist, and let them skin out the head and paws, if you don't want them. At least you have met the no waste the hide rule.

[Freerider]

Originally Posted by curtisb

I talked to both my taxidermist, who measures back leg to nose, and a fur tannery, who measures tail to nose (shorter).
Both advised NOT to use a bear for my first attempt running a tan...

Also made several other calls to taxidermists in/around EDM.

I figure I'll pay 195 for the skinning head and paws, and 385 (55/ft) for a my tanned bear. (all in approx 580 - more or less sounds in line!) I can also have the skull frozen and deal with it myself...

I would anticipate a good finished product from the tannery as well, as that's what they do. Tan hides.

I did stumble across a couple taxidermists who would potentially buy hides...especially color phase in good shape...as such this got me wondering and I think I've posted about this before but:
now I have a second question:

I love the meat so I'm in a dilemma, if I have to deal with a hide (potentially) every spring - how do guys afford to hunt bears??? I'd go broke. Do they sell hides, trade hides or otherwise?
Forgive me if I'm naive but going by the letter of the law the hide can't go to waste, and I know some guys kill bears year over year and I make a pretty decent living, just not sure how I'd deal with (or pay for) all the hides?

Any advice on this?

Curious were you got the Quote for the tanning I am trying to find someone to do my bear from this spring. Friend who is looking as well got two quotes our bears are around the 6'6" mark one place said 800 another said 950 I was expecting more around the 500 mark.

[leeelmer]

wow
2 years ago, i took my dead bear.
Not skinned to my taxi guy, he charged $500
I got back the skull, this I bleached my self.
I got back a tanned hide(no head and paws) this is the way I wanted it for a saddle pad for my horse(I do midevil eventing on horseback)

So the costs you guys are talking about seam really high.

[35 whelen]

Originally Posted by Guide5689

Why not learn how to turn the lips, ears and nose yourself. Paws are pretty straight forward. You'll feel self rewarded once you figure it out. A good taxidermy will be able to repair your slight mistakes


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Exactly you might mess up a few Toes or stuff but it's good practice

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[ex811]

My fall bear was a little smaller than that pumpkin headed monster you shot (Congrats), but I paid the taxidermist I frequent around $1000 for the hide, claws/head on, and to have the skull done.

In my Bear Den (Man Cave) I've a rug, shoulder mount, a fellow walking out of my wall (1/2 mount), along with a bunch of tanned hides simply hanging up by the nose's. While I've cleaned most of the skulls I have, some have been done by taxidermists for various reasons.
Yes, it can it expensive, but it's what we do.

[curtisb]

Wanted to raise this back up.
Cold days ahead, hoping it will warm up, with bear season coming, and looking for something to do in the spring!

I've also done more researching, so I have a pretty good idea what I might do...
The idea now is to take as big of oval I can, meaning a medium sized blanket per say, will be a good throw, over the couch in the camper!

I would then skin out the skull, a couple paws, (for practice more than anything), and I don't want the skull to go to waste as my retired father wants it for his spring project at the lake! And it's a monster!

All this said, I'm fairly confident I can work with the center section of hide, ran a tan on it, etc.
Last questions:
-Tanning solution, or pickle and traditional emulsion? Thoughts?
-Fleshing, thoughts on a pressure washer???

[Battle Rat]

Wow, if you haven't tanned anything before you sure have picked a challenging one to start with.
Seems a shame to not use the whole hide, (feet and head)off a large bear.
Why not practice on something smaller and more manageable like a coyote.
Once you learn how to flesh that down then flesh down and salt the bear hide.
A properly fleshed and salted bear hide can be stored that way for a long time.
That way you can leave the tanning until you are ready to tackle a large hide.
Even a small bear takes a lot of thinning of the hide after the pickle.
If not thinned properly you will have a hide with the softness of plywood.
Not an easy job without a fleshing wheel.
A beaver is a good critter to practice tanning.
If you can get them thinned and soft tanned, then you are ready to attempt a bear hide.

[parfleche]

My friend, You have chosen a tough project!. I have tanned a couple bear hides . I dont know how long the hide was left out before you froze it? THAT would determine IF the hair will slip on the face of the bear. They are greasy as heck. BUT if you do go for it , You should make a solid frame out of 2x4,s and stretch the hide on that , Then make sure you take ALL the fat and crap off the hide. THAT is key to having a successful tan .
Try to do this when the weather is mild and keep it out of the suns rays , Hair slip again Stay in the shade , Give yourself a lot of room to work and make sure you can keep it out of the weather IE: Cover ,Then get a good tanning solution to do it with I used chrome tan , It lasts forever, But again the hide will only be as soft as the work you put in it ! And you are in for a education .Google a good recipe or get a good book on tanning , Edmonton has a good store for that in the north east section of town.

[curtisb]

I'm talking about removing all limbs and the head and neck.
Cutting as big of oval as i can and working with that. Make it into a throw for the couch or something...

Based on what I've read so far i'll be doing a acid pickle.

I'm most worried about the fleshing more than anything...No one has tried the pressure washer for fleshing bear?

[Battle Rat]

Based on what I've read so far i'll be doing a acid pickle.

I'm most worried about the fleshing more than anything...No one has tried the pressure washer for fleshing bear?[/QUOTE]

There no such thing as a non-acid pickle.
On using a pressure washer, that's a hard NO for anyone that knows anything about tanning.
Initial fleshing is the easy part.
Have you thought out how you are going to thin the hide after the pickle?
You will need a knife and a beam for that so might as well get that what you need and use that for fleshing.

[mulecrazy]

It is for this exact dilemma why the AFGA has a motion out there to allow people to harvest bears for food and not have to worry about the hide. Not sure if the resolution passed at the conference yesterday but it passed our local meeting with full support.