You Bear Slayers

[elksnout]

Heading out soon for Oregon spring bear. What do you guys do with the rug, claws, etc. if you have zero plans for taxidermy work? I don’t have enough room for another rug. Skull yes. Meat yes. Claws?? Curious.

elksnout

[bearhunter99]

My wife uses the leather for crafts.  Bear leather is really cool looking.  She uses some of the claws for crafts and necklaces and we have some that are just in a display case with other trinkets.

[JakeLand]

Take the claws for sure small slit up the claw base to the joint and run your blade around it and they come right off and clean them up . Drill small hole through each and you got a necklace to hang up

[bowman]

Usually leave the hide, skull, and claws on the hillside next to the gut pile.

[dilleytech]

A guy only needs so many bear hides laying around. If I ever shoot a really Nice cinnamon I’ll get it tanned but I wouldn’t get another rug done, one is plenty.

I keep all the skulls. Currently at 22 and working on a really weird collection.

I took the claws off my biggest bear to have 1 set but might never keep another. Just not that cool on a black bear.

[87Ford]

A guy only needs so many bear hides laying around. If I ever shoot a really Nice cinnamon I’ll get it tanned but I wouldn’t get another rug done, one is plenty.

I keep all the skulls. Currently at 22 and working on a really weird collection.

I took the claws off my biggest bear to have 1 set but might never keep another. Just not that cool on a black bear.

22 bears and not one was a "really nice cinnamon"?

[Boss .300 winmag]

I’ve gotten three, no color phases, one with a perfect white V on the chest, the other two pure black. My first one wasn’t that big so I did a shoulder mount since it had the white V. The second one I got I was going to do a rug, till I killed a much bigger one a month later, which I had a rug made out of it. The one I didn’t rug I gave to a Boy Scout Troop to tan, so only kept the meat.

I’ve seen all the color phases in one area that I scouted, I think that’s pretty rare. Just never got a bear there.

[Kingofthemountain83]

A guy only needs so many bear hides laying around. If I ever shoot a really Nice cinnamon I’ll get it tanned but I wouldn’t get another rug done, one is plenty.

I keep all the skulls. Currently at 22 and working on a really weird collection.

I took the claws off my biggest bear to have 1 set but might never keep another. Just not that cool on a black bear.

22 is damn good guy! Congrats! If I could only tell you all the stories of all the opportunities I messed up... I missed a blonde cinnamon during muzzy elk one year on a snap shot I should've made on a dead run at 54 yards... A huge chocolate in the Pasayten at 308 yards... Lost a fatty jet black in Forks in the reprod... There's more... The pain is real... I had 6 nice hides... All black/jet black... That I was going to get soft tanned... And my uncle had his Bronco in my garage to work on it and unplug the freezer to use an extension cord and didn't plug it back in and wasted them all with a bunch of meat... There's other's too... But those sting the worst...

[jrebel]

It all depends on the hide (how nice it is) and how big the bear is.  Meat and FAT (for rendering) is the priority.  Skull is the second priority.  Swizzle stick is the third priority.  Claws and hide are the last priority. 

We have three bear rugs, a full mount on a smaller bear, and one tanned hide.  Though cheap.....I'm not sure I would tan another hide.  The tanned hide is my least favorite.  I would like a half wall mount with our next really nice bear.  Between me and my hunting party we have had decent success over the last 10 years (give or take).  My son is the bear whisperer and has more bear than me at this point.  I am of the mindset, there is no such thing as to many bear rugs.  If you have the money and hide is prime......I love the rugs.  The cost is obviously a detractor and they do take up a lot of room.  One of my favorite rugs is my son's first and smallest bear. 

If you don't plan on doing anything with the hide, I would just leave it in the woods (assuming Oregon doesn't require you pack it out).  Meat, Skull and Swizzle stick are a priority in my opinion. 

[Sliverslinger]

I take the skull and claws. Do my own euro on the skull, boil the claws and then drill and hang them on a piece of 550. They hang in the shop, whenever kids come over they love to look at them. I’ve got a trapper tan of my largest bear, probably would only do another if it was a giant chocolate.

[dilleytech]

A guy only needs so many bear hides laying around. If I ever shoot a really Nice cinnamon I’ll get it tanned but I wouldn’t get another rug done, one is plenty.

I keep all the skulls. Currently at 22 and working on a really weird collection.

I took the claws off my biggest bear to have 1 set but might never keep another. Just not that cool on a black bear.

22 bears and not one was a "really nice cinnamon"?

Surprisingly no. I hunt an area that is almost completely black and chocolates. I have had a few on trail cam but that’s it.

We have one shoulder mount, one rug, and 4 tanned hides I think. I like the tanned hides specially when you put a broadhead through it. A couple of 4 blade holes in a hide is dang cool.  but at the price they want to just tan a hide anymore it’s just not worth it. I do also keep the swizzle sticks but have left a few in the field on accident. I have posted this before but I love showing the suffering I saved this animal from 😂 last year a I rattled in a bear in October that had a completely busted knee but no bullet holes. That leg was half fat.

[Kingofthemountain83]

That's crazy...

[Rugergunsite308]

I've shot a good number of bears and been present for probably over a dozen other bears killed. Most of the time the hide gets packed out, but most of those generally end up in a freezer till the freezer dies and the hide gets tossed. Skull are almost always done up. I have a couple skull in the freezer that I was thinking of putting in a crab pot and letting the ocean clean them up. We always talk about bringing/selling bear hides to Moscow Hide and Fur (they take only WA and ID bears), but never seem to make it over there.

[dilleytech]

I've shot a good number of bears and been present for probably over a dozen other bears killed. Most of the time the hide gets packed out, but most of those generally end up in a freezer till the freezer dies and the hide gets tossed. Skull are almost always done up. I have a couple skull in the freezer that I was thinking of putting in a crab pot and letting the ocean clean them up. We always talk about bringing/selling bear hides to Moscow Hide and Fur (they take only WA and ID bears), but never seem to make it over there.

How much do they offer for a hide? I have looked into selling hides raw but it always seemed like it would barely cover gas. Just a lot easier to throw it in the bushes. I had a young Taxedermist doing hides for 600$ for a few years. But she stopped doing it. Paying 1k plus for a soft tanned hide is crazy. The rug I had done 7 years ago at the time was 1,400. I think they are closer to 2k now. Cleaning up a skull is basically free and a couple hours of work.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Wow! I didn't realize it was $1k for a soft tan... That's all I want done with my next good one... I got cow elk soft tanned $200 each... My dad and I doubled one year we both drew tags... The few bears I had soft tanned there were $150-200 each... 2008-2012