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Bear hide prep

I'm going to be hunting bear in early June with Plum Lake in Manitoba, and should I be successful I will be open skinning the bear and tanning it, with paws one. Once I flesh the hide and skin the paws, should I stretch it on plywood with with nails like a beaver before salting, or just open it up and salt it as it lays flat. I'll be sending it to a tannery and just want to make sure I'm taking care of the hide correctly. I know once I get it back I'll have to block it to get the size back, as they shrink some during the tanning process.

I have just fleshed them out completely and tacked them up, much less than I would if I were doing it for a beaver to sell. Just pinned it up enough to ensure there are no folds etc trapping moisture. Salt it well and make sure the liquid can drain off of it and not pool up. Resalt as needed until dry and ship.

Turn the ears, eyes, lips and nose, then just salt it if going to a tan. Let it dry and roll it up. No need to tack and stretch it.

After turning everything be sure and flesh the lips and face as well and not just the hide. Do you want the pads to stay on the hide? If just tanning and not mounting the bear then there is no reason to keep the pads attached. They are even removed for a rug. Definitely don’t stretch it out and salt. Just lay it out flat and salt. Fold the head in at the neck and cover the head with more salt. It only needs to to be salted for 3-4 days. When you pick it up then unfold the head and run more salt in at the crease where it was folded. Let it air dry for an hour or so then fold it up with the face on the inside and all the hair on the inside. This is how tanneries will want it but many won’t accept hides from private individuals. It will need to be shipped from a taxidermist that has a punch code already assigned to them by the tannery.

Thanks for the advice!

Figure out where you are going to have it tanned and ask them. I have sent around 50 bears to the tannery I use and ive never stretched them, just fleshed and salted. It's going to take some time to get all the moisture out so you'll have to finish drying at home.

I'd ask the tannery you plan to send to what they prefer, some may not want it salted and just frozen and shipped overnight. What's the going rate per foot at a tannery for bear? I ended up going through my taxidermist on my sons bear so they could handle and ship since they have a better relationship with them. I worry about losing stuff at the tannery and this was his first bear. I skinned the bear, they caped the skull, skinned paws out, fleshed, and did whatever prep was needed for tannery. I also had the skull done so figured do it all at once.

I use Sleepy Creek Tannery out of Iowa, they do a great job. They charge $150 to tan a bear.

Good to know. That's a great deal!! They don't mention anything about salting, just freezing and packaging. May have to try them out in the future, especially for coyote.

No need to tack out and stretch.

One cautionary note though: Do not salt AND try to freeze. Do one or the other or you will invariably have problems. Salted hides do not freeze well.

Pete

150$ for a black bear tan (assuming it's been fleshed prior to them getting it) is about average for a 5-6' bear in my experience.

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