The Reality Of Getting Bears Tanned

[Wild Images]

The question arises every year " How much to get my bear hide tanned " and every year the answers come in that you can take it in and have it done for around $200
GOOD LUCK on that !
Here is reality, The tannery has several prices for blacks going up by size, the cheapest ( and this is wholesale ) starts at $200 for a small bear dry tanned
When the bear is brought in it will most times still have the head and paws in and still covered in fat. Time is spent ( this is not fun or free ) pulling the skull,
turning the ears, lips and nose and turning the paws. Then removing the feet refleshing the whole hide to remove the remaining fat, and salting the hide.
A couple days later shaking the salt off and resalting, a few more days and the hide is cleaned off and hung to dry out. When almost dry hide is folded up and
boxed for the bus trip to the tannery ( Not free ) Tanning is done plus taxes and bused back ( not free )
So now with tanning, taxes, shipping, salting, skinning the $200 small black bear is now up in the $400 plus range at minimum.

Hope this answers the questions

PS: I don't do bears

Ken

[showtime]

I'm not conviced that finding the cheapest possilbe guy to do things like, say tan a bear hide, or do laser eye surgery is the best choice. I guess we all make bad decisions in life from time to time.

[Spy]

So If i bang a 7 fooot black bear skin it out best I can, head paws still on & want a full size bear rug how much should I budget for ? $800 ? Thanks for the info, I have being asking these questions & have never got any clear answers! Have you got a telephone Number I have some other questions on work I need to have done ! Thanks in advance!
Spy:-D

[doubled]

Things are not free. Any time somebody tries to nickel and dime, I ask them what they do for a living and then proceed to see what type of "discount" I can get from them - usually shuts that conversation down real quick.

[reach]

So If i bang a 7 fooot black bear skin it out best I can, head paws still on & want a full size bear rug how much should I budget for ? $800 ? Thanks for the info, I have being asking these questions & have never got any clear answers! Have you got a telephone Number I have some other questions on work I need to have done ! Thanks in advance!
Spy:-D
I spoke to a guy here in PG just yesterday and he gave me a ballpark of $1200 - $1500 for a completed rug depending how much skinning he had to do. Tanning alone (no head or paws) ballpark $500.

[rides bike to work]

Last year I got my first bear tanned it was a small bear with a nice brown coat I skinned out the paws and head my self doing the best I could on lips and ears I even skinned out the pads on the feet it took along time about a 26 of crown and a 8 pack of bud with me and my cousin but it wasn't a bad experience .It was a spring bear and had almost no fat so we didn't really have to scrape the hide. I salted it and 2 days later drove it myself to pacific tannery in Vancouver the guy there took a look and said I did a fairly good job fort first time and gave me some pointers on the lips and ears. It took them a little over 6 months for them to get it back to me but my bill after tax was 250$ they called me and I drove in and picked it up they would have biased it for 20$ but I made a day of it with the family and saw some sites in van. I am happy with the product I got the fur and hide are soft and clean . I wasn't making a ru g I just wanted to utilized as much of my havest as I could in aresonable price range.I'll save my money for that full mount pumpkin head I'm waiting for. In the end doing the work myself make the hide a reward in itself . Plus I love scaring the crap out of the wife and kids jumping out at them with it over my head

[Stone Sheep Steve]

That's some good info Ken. The amount of work involved getting a bear hide to the salting stage makes a person get reeeeaaaal fussy on which bear is worth knocking an arrow for ....or pulling the pin.

I've got 3 good bears tanned so far so the rest will get sold to pay for fuel (we eat the meat) until I finally get that "really special" bear that I will finally get mounted(or rugged). Cost and space are major factors for rugging.

SSS

[Krico]

I had a griz done at Northgate Fur Tannery out of Kamloops a few years ago, it was somewhere in the $50/foot range if I remember right. Hide was salted with lips, ears, paws all done before sending down on the bus. Pretty cheap if you just want it tanned to hang over the railing or whatever. If I remember right he charges a little more per foot for grizzlies than black bears for some reason - I'm guessing because he can.


Plus I love scaring the crap out of the wife and kids jumping out at them with it over my head

This is one of my wife's favorite things to do too.

[835]

I cant remember what taxidermist i asked last year but he was a member here, im sure he said 200 bucks a foot as a ballpark guess to have a rug done.
I think! Just postin' it to see if someone concurs

[300wsmXboltKiller]

50$ foot for tanning only approx 150$ per foot for rug is what i was quoted nobody likes doing bears say to much work to little $ my bear squares 6 foot 4 and im looking at 1200$ easily

[hunter1993ap]

i make sure i turn the lips do the paws and skin out the head and most of the fat comes off when i skin the bear so it is prety much ready for the tannery. i remember my last bear i had done was about 250 for a six footer. might be a good project to try and tan one on your own. nothing is cheap like i hear things used to be:confused:

[300wsmXboltKiller]

i make sure i turn the lips do the paws and skin out the head and most of the fat comes off when i skin the bear so it is prety much ready for the tannery. i remember my last bear i had done was about 250 for a six footer. might be a good project to try and tan one on your own. nothing is cheap like i hear things used to be:confused:

i think your right im gunna shoot a practice bear /pepperoni id hate to ruin anything over 6 feet lol

[boxhitch]

Thats a good reason for having two tags a year, more to practice on.
Guys really get shocked when they save some time themselves and drop a whole bear off at a taxidermy shop for a rugging. Time is money to everyone.

[proguide66]

I got 'burned' years back. I had two bears , both 8 ft, one black and one grizz. I cleaned em both 'clean' myself and dried .Basically VERY ready for the tanning process.
. At the time I wasnt familiar with the tanning process and what you 'could or couldnt do' I wasnt 'sure' what I had wanted to do and asked the people at the tannery if i could get em tanned to hang and is it possible to make em a rug later or full mount if I wished ( innocent question) The little pric ( some tannery in Vancouver , asian owned) said ' no problem , no problem , YES you can do that.
He dry tanned em and I went to pick them up and he slapped me with an $1600.00 bill..WTF!??.few years later after befreinding the Ganders , Rick stopped by the house and showed me how the toes had shrunk and turned to basically 'little rocks' and it would be " impossible" to soften for mounting. They hang to this day , still cool but I would have liked to have made that blackbear into 'something' as it was an unreal specimen.( I was waitting for a full mount grizzly to come home at the time so wasnt sure what I wanted to do with them yet).
Anyway , make sure you ask solid dudes like Ken and a few others for 'knowlege' before trusting some ass that see's your lack in it and bends you over for a 'stab er two'.......:neutral:

[MattTse]

Furs and feathers in surrey costs 210 a foot. They told me it takes about a year.can't wait to pick up mine in sept.

[GoatGuy]

I got 'burned' years back. I had two bears , both 8 ft, one black and one grizz. I cleaned em both 'clean' myself and dried .Basically VERY ready for the tanning process.
. At the time I wasnt familiar with the tanning process and what you 'could or couldnt do' I wasnt 'sure' what I had wanted to do and asked the people at the tannery if i could get em tanned to hang and is it possible to make em a rug later or full mount if I wished ( innocent question) The little pric ( some tannery in Vancouver , asian owned) said ' no problem , no problem , YES you can do that.
He dry tanned em and I went to pick them up and he slapped me with an $1600.00 bill..WTF!??.few years later after befreinding the Ganders , Rick stopped by the house and showed me how the toes had shrunk and turned to basically 'little rocks' and it would be " impossible" to soften for mounting. They hang to this day , still cool but I would have liked to have made that blackbear into 'something' as it was an unreal specimen.( I was waitting for a full mount grizzly to come home at the time so wasnt sure what I wanted to do with them yet).
Anyway , make sure you ask solid dudes like Ken and a few others for 'knowlege' before trusting some ass that see's your lack in it and bends you over for a 'stab er two'.......:neutral:

Saw a hide tanned by a company that fits the same description last year. Hide was dark yellow and felt like cardboard. Definitely not on the 'reccomend' list. He was shipping it off to Vernon tto see if it coulld be tanned a second time to losen it up.

[proguide66]

Saw a hide tanned by a company that fits the same description last year. Hide was dark yellow and felt like cardboard. Definitely not on the 'reccomend' list. He was shipping it off to Vernon tto see if it coulld be tanned a second time to losen it up.
Yah , I fantasised about mopping up their parking lots with his ass after hrs for a while after that...especially once i realised just how deep he stuck me...little fackers....

[Brett]

Proguide.. So tanning first and rugging at a later date is NOT doable then?? I was thinking of doing the same thing

[yukon john]

Proguide.. So tanning first and rugging at a later date is NOT doable then?? I was thinking of doing the same thing

In theory it is possible but I believe its dry tanned if you just want to throw it on the back of the couch and it is wet tanned for a rug. In some cases they can re-hydrate a dry tan and make a rug but its not ideal.

[yukon john]

Yah , I fantasised about mopping up their parking lots with his ass after hrs for a while after that...especially once i realised just how deep he stuck me...little fackers....
About 8 years ago dim sum lost my deer hide if you catch him in a dark alley give him an extra for me

[moosinaround]

Proguide.. So tanning first and rugging at a later date is NOT doable then?? I was thinking of doing the same thing
Shouldn't we kill that bear first? Jumping ahead in the process??;) Moosin

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Proguide.. So tanning first and rugging at a later date is NOT doable then?? I was thinking of doing the same thing

It depends on the quality and/or type of the tanning used. There are good dry tans that can be rugged up to and past 10 yrs. "Easy 100" is one of the better tanning agents out there.

My taxi told me that "lutan" is good to about ~3 yrs and "easy 100" 10 plus yrs ...minimum. Of course, there are crappy tanners using all processes which may be limiting.

SSS

[untilthelastbeat]

That's some good info Ken. The amount of work involved getting a bear hide to the salting stage makes a person get reeeeaaaal fussy on which bear is worth knocking an arrow for ....or pulling the pin.

I've got 3 good bears tanned so far so the rest will get sold to pay for fuel (we eat the meat) until I finally get that "really special" bear that I will finally get mounted(or rugged). Cost and space are major factors for rugging.

SSS

you can sell your bear hides?

[proguide66]

you can sell your bear hides?
You can sell any hide/antlers of any legally taken game .

[mr604]

Heading up the Dillard FSR area north of Princeton on the annual fishing trip but i got a new rifle and a bear tag this year. I am a newbie at this and i am not confident in more than field dressing the bear if i take one. Is there custom cutter close in that area that can butcher and skinthe bear for rugging for me?

[SHAKER]

Heading up the Dillard FSR area north of Princeton on the annual fishing trip but i got a new rifle and a bear tag this year. I am a newbie at this and i am not confident in more than field dressing the bear if i take one. Is there custom cutter close in that area that can butcher and skinthe bear for rugging for me?

I can do it for ya if you bring it twards Keremeos....

To the rest of the topic, Good post Wild. Funny how many people think that tanning cost is the only thing to factor on a finished price and they want it back in 3 weeks LOL.

[mr604]

Shaker thanks i sent you a PM

[Geo.338]

I got my first bear hide tanned in 1999. It was a 6'2" blackie . It cost $250 all in . In 2008 I had a 7' grizzly tanned .It was $450 .

[pappy]

Good thread topic, Its funny because I was driving home yesterday thinking about getting my next bear tanned (if I let the air out of one) so later I can get a mount done. Its family first for me so alot of my $$ is going on my house down payment so extra money for taxi work is not what I would normally spend.

[Junorr500]

How would I go about selling a raw frozen bear hide head and paws on. Just a small one nise jet black fur no rubs. Spring bear. Just don't want it to end up in the dumpster.

[warnniklz]

I got a 5'5" bear that needs tanned.

Needs fleshed, ears turned and nose turned.I think the eyes are alright as I just want it tanned. No rug needed. Paws have been turned already...

[bccanadian]

I'm a newbie at this myself. Can anyone reccomend a GOOD DVD on how to treat a bear after it's down? Either for tanning or for a rug. Something that will show what to do and what not to do so you don't ruin the skin and or waste a lot of money or get ripped off by that Asian fellow.

[steelballs]

400 is a reasonable price its alot of work

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Good time to bump this thread............


SSS

[VancouverSkiBum]

Thanks for the bump good info.

[two-feet]

So a little off topic, what do you mountain hunters do with sheep capes in the early season? Pack salt up the mountain? Wont the hair slip (bears included) if the hide is not carefully taken care of right after the shot, in warmer weather in particular? Please enlighten a taxidermy newbie

[BCbillies]

So a little off topic, what do you mountain hunters do with sheep capes in the early season? Pack salt up the mountain? Wont the hair slip (bears included) if the hide is not carefully taken care of right after the shot, in warmer weather in particular? Please enlighten a taxidermy newbie

Yup. You want to clean up the hide and get salt on it within 24 hours if warm out. 5 lbs of salt will do a life size cape. Once I split and turn everything and hit the salt to it I can relax and enjoy the next week or more in warm weather with little worry other than the pesky wolverines wanting to chew on it! The warm weather helps dry it out quicker and lighten the load. Fully dried salted cape with hooves is less than 7 lbs. Salt and sun and a breeze are your friends.

[44inchStone]

People complain about the price of bear tanning.......Try a Life Size Buffalo! hahah It's a second mortgage but when its on the floor of the man cave you appreciate the HEAVY lifting, lugging and fleshing the tannery has done. We continue to pay for a sport we ALL love. No matter the cost!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I spent close to six hours on my daughter's bear hide/skull....and endured close to 20 ticks moving from the bear to me:shock:. A few made it into the house and the wifey was not impressed:-D.

Salted 3 times and now ready for the tannery.

All part of the adventure!!!

SSS

[VancouverSkiBum]

is there something i can use or do to the hide before i take it home in regards to the ticks? I asked this somewhere else and was told by a bunch of people that ticks were never a problem for them? I dont want any in my house.

[mungojeerie]

Last spring I had a 6'7" black bear rugged. I skinned it out as best as possible leaving the head and paws on and had it to the taxidermist that night. I ended up paying just shy of $600 for the finished product, the skull I took to do myself (that was an additional 70) The rug was done with an open mouth and the only thing that was not included was felting as he doesnt do that anymore. Im not sure if I will ever look at getting it felted or not, looks great as is. Did a fantastic job and it looks awesome, only complaint if I was to say (which im not to upset about) is the head seems narrower than in real life. Im not sure if that is due to skull form restrictions or what... the bear did have a huge pumpkin on him. In any event I was awfully happy with the product I received with a turn around time of about 2 months to boot and I can't complain about the price.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

is there something i can use or do to the hide before i take it home in regards to the ticks? I asked this somewhere else and was told by a bunch of people that ticks were never a problem for them? I dont want any in my house.

Freezing won't help. This bear was in the deep freeze for several days. A few that were imbedded in the bear's skin died as they were probably full of blood and ruptured on the hard freeze.
You can put the hide into a plastic bag and spray it with Raid then stick into the freezer right away. Haven't tried it that way myself but it might work.

SSS

[BiG Boar]

Last spring I had a 6'7" black bear rugged. I skinned it out as best as possible leaving the head and paws on and had it to the taxidermist that night. I ended up paying just shy of $600 for the finished product, the skull I took to do myself (that was an additional 70) The rug was done with an open mouth and the only thing that was not included was felting as he doesnt do that anymore. Im not sure if I will ever look at getting it felted or not, looks great as is. Did a fantastic job and it looks awesome, only complaint if I was to say (which im not to upset about) is the head seems narrower than in real life. Im not sure if that is due to skull form restrictions or what... the bear did have a huge pumpkin on him. In any event I was awfully happy with the product I received with a turn around time of about 2 months to boot and I can't complain about the price.

Was the name of this taxidermist Erik by chnace?

[mungojeerie]

Was the name of this taxidermist Erik by chnace?

Yes sir... he did a great job, and has done some great work on some of my friends animals... super nice guy to boot!

[BCbillies]

Yes sir... he did a great job, and has done some great work on some of my friends animals... super nice guy to boot!

Hmmm . . . does he live in Maple Ridge, last name starts with a "K", mounts lots of birds, older fellow?

[mungojeerie]

Hmmm . . . does he live in Maple Ridge, last name starts with a "K", mounts lots of birds, older fellow?

yup, that would be him

[BCbillies]

yup, that would be him

Eric is my uncle . . . he did a great job on some bears for me and a Stone's. Didn't think he did bears any more since his sister (my aunt) retired from doing the felt.

[mungojeerie]

Eric is my uncle . . . he did a great job on some bears for me and a Stone's. Didn't think he did bears any more since his sister (my aunt) retired from doing the felt.

Oh, Very cool... ya He's done a few deer, a bobcat, birds, bear head and a couple rugs for some friends of mine, he told me that he would do the bear but no felt... I think I recall him telling me me doesnt really like doing bears anymore... I know birds are his thing... I have been trying in vain for 3 years to bag a nice drake pintail... If I ever manage to it'll be going straight to Eric!

Super nice guy your uncle, very much enjoyed both dealing and chatting with him.