How to keep black bear hide once harvested?

[Huntingtyler123]

Everyone’s stoked for bear season and so am I! I’ll be heading out mid may to a location to get my first black bear. Everything’s set and all planned out. Question is, once you have a black bear down and skinned, what’s the best way to keep the hide? I will be doing a rug out of it. What do I bring on my trip to keep hide from spoiling?

i will have my camper on the back of the truck, hunting for 5 days. I’m going to have two big coolers filled with ice. If I shoot bear day one or two is it safe to keep in the cooler for that long until I can freeze it once home?

As as I understand you either salt hide or freeze ( keep cold) hide, can’t do both. I’m going to leave skull and paws still intact with the hide so the taxidermist can deal with de-boning.

Thsnks for the help ,

[Drillbit]

You'll need a pretty big cooler for a hide with everything left in it.

If you keep it cold, I don't see why there'd be a problem other than getting it wet with ice which is preventable.


With you wanting to leave everything in it, I'd say trying to keep it cold would be better than salt. Salt is best for hides with everything skinned out of them.

[Huntingtyler123]

You'll need a pretty big cooler for a hide with everything left in it.

If you keep it cold, I don't see why there'd be a problem other than getting it wet with ice which is preventable.


With you wanting to leave everything in it, I'd say trying to keep it cold would be better than salt. Salt is best for hides with everything skinned out of them.

I just don’t really want to mess with the paws and de-boning them. The skull itself I could do but it’s the lips and eyes and ears I don’t want to mess up. Could I remove skull and keep everything else in cooler no problem until I could freeze?

[tigrr]

Talk to the person who will process the hide for you. They have special techniques for the eyes, ears and lips. Cool the entire hide don't just roll it up and shove it in a freezer. The inside will start to rot and then the hair will slip. Some cool videos on what to do with a bear hide for a mount or rug.

[Wild one]

If you leave the head and paws in it is much harder to cool the hide to avoid slipping. If you don’t want to skin out face and paws be prepared to end your trip early or talk to the nearest taxidermist to your hunting area and pay them to skin it out ASAP

The head is at way higher risk of slipping so I recommend at least learning to skin the head out. I would not concern about splitting the lips too much because they will be thin enough to cool

Personally if I was relying on cooling a hide with ice/cooler I would not do it for any length of time. First moisture increases decommission of the hide big time. With a bear hide rolled up in a cooler it is not going to cool down well. Spring bears can have basically a winter coat that is meant to hold heat so they don’t cool down easily

Call a taxidermist for the best advice but odds are you will hear if you cannot freeze it or salt it bring it in ASAP

[Huntingtyler123]

Ok thanks guys. I will just take my time and skin out the head and do my best. I’ll call a local shop where I’m going and tell them if I get a bear lol I’ll be bringing it in to them.

So so if the bears skinned out completely sounds like it’s better to hang it up to keep cool then throw in cooler for a day or two at most?

[Wild one]

Salt it heavy first day in all the little folds. Spread out the hide to let the salt draw out moisture. Next day remove old salt and re apply. A heavily salted hide keeps 100% better then a cool one. Most important keep it dry and that is where ice is an issue it melts making the hide wet

The best advice is talk directly to a taxidermist for advice on these issues. They will provide you with the best advice because they want hides to come to them in good condition

Remember if you wreck the hide you can’t replace it with another exactly the same

[Huntingtyler123]

Salt it heavy first day in all the little folds. Spread out the hide to let the salt draw out moisture. Next day remove old salt and re apply. A heavily salted hide keeps 100% better then a cool one. Most important keep it dry and that is where ice is an issue it melts making the hide wet

The best advice is talk directly to a taxidermist for advice on these issues. They will provide you with the best advice because they want hides to come to them in good condition

Remember if you wreck the hide you can’t replace it with another exactly the same

thanks wild one. I’ll do that then. I’ll lay a tarp out next to camp and salt it heavily. I’m calling a couple shops today to figure out what they want me to do. Thanks for the help

[bigbuzz]

I have fleshed a few bear hides and that is best done as soon as possible. A salted hide is alot more work, especially ears, lips and paws. Freezing the hide works best. I have washed a few hides that were very dirty, bloody and that was a little messy but better to clean it up while it is fresh. If it is not fleshed carefully the hair will slip and look bad. Thats my 2 cents.

[Sportster]

Question. Never shot or skinned a bear, but it's definitely on my bucket list. Do they not use borax to preserve bear hides any more?

[srupp]

Hmmm huntertyler123..PM SENT
Salting requires head done completely
Or freeze. .cold wont buy you enough time by itself..
I have only ever done the salted method in hunting camp for bears.
Borax was never used on hides.that I recall going back to the 1970 era.
Sent you a PM.
Steven

[Boner]

I would look for an opportunity to do a practice bear. Even if you muck it up, you can make a tanned hide out of it and gain valuable experience for another bear.

[wideopenthrottle]

buddy suggested to practice on a WT (or MD if you get an LEH) doe head a few times as a way to practice doing around eyes lips etc...sounded like a good idea

[Huntingtyler123]

Thanks all. I got off the phone with a taxidermist near where I’ll be just now. I’m going to stop by his shop and he’s going to show me the way he prefers it to be done. Also said to leave skull and paws in after cooled out in cooler with some ice in bottom making sure doesn’t get wet and to run to town to drop it off no later then the next day.

Appreciate all the help from everyone! It’s so fun planning what to do but FIRST sneed a bear to do so lol

[AnthonyF]

I'm a butcher in the Fraser Valley and when we used to sell our beef hides to a taxidermist he used to want the shit salted out of them and put In the cooler, we would roll the hide like a bed roll to save space. I'd recommend that you ensure there's no meat on the hide as it will go rancid. And if your not able to see your local taxidermist anytime soon throw the hide in the deep freeze !

[.264winmag]

It's a real PITA to flesh a hide that's been salted. Keeping cool and getting in the freezer asap is fairly desirable for a taxidermist. Fleshing and salting is next best thing, but if cooled down quick and frozen shortly after salt is unnecessary. If you have a taxidermist in mind maybe see what their preference is.

[Wild one]

Don’t really need to get crazy about fleshing as long as it is thin enough for the tanning solution can soak in. Tannery will use a fleshing wheel to flesh/thin the hide and it makes quick work of things. When I did this in the past you actually had to be more careful thinning a hide someone fleshed vs one with fat ext on it

There is a reason I always recommend talking to a taxidermist because each one likes things a little different.

[Wild one]

If you are fleshing by hand I would agree but if you have ever used a fleshing wheel you would understand it does not matter

Splitting lips, turning ears, and turning eyelids is also still simple as long as it has not been in salt so long it’s dried out. It is actually nice when it’s firmed up a little and less slimy. Salting a hide on a hunting trip and bringing it to a taxidermist within a few days is not a dried out hide

I fleshed/thinned hides, did some skinning, and tanning on the side for a taxidermist in the past so I am talking about a lot more then a few personal hides.

Again everyone has a preference that is why you talk to the person who will be working with that hide

[Huntingtyler123]

Great to know ����

[Wild one]

Like I said go with the taxidermist first because they are the ones working on it

I know what I always did and what is possible but I am not going to be working on your hide so in the end I am only giving my opinion

[.264winmag]

Spent a summer working for a taxidermist, I'd rather leave it to someone that does it for a living and make it easiest for them. I don't even bother touching the ears and lips, not worth my time or potential cost of stitching HA

[Wild one]

Spent a summer working for a taxidermist, I'd rather leave it to someone that does it for a living and make it easiest for them. I don't even bother touching the ears and lips, not worth my time or potential cost of stitching HA

The extra work does not bug me but I do have a finger tip that is just a little flattened off from a fleshing wheel lol

I know 3 taxidermist fairly well and they all do things a little different and all have different things they don’t like to see with hides