Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: ICEMAN on July 31, 2013, 03:09:25 AM

Title: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: ICEMAN on July 31, 2013, 03:09:25 AM: I am a bear novice, only two bears under my belt.

For the guys who have already placed enough bear rugs on the wall, what does it feel like to claim your bear meat from a kill, and to walk off and leave a hide behind....?
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Machias on July 31, 2013, 03:53:52 AM: Couldn't do it. Lots of taxidermist will buy your hide for $100+. No reason to walk away from the hide. I have two rugs and two shoulder mounts. Someday and the right bear I'll get a 3/4 mount, but until then I like to have the hides tanned. I hope it's not common practice to walk away and leave the hide.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: RadSav on July 31, 2013, 03:58:04 AM: I've never been able to leave a bear hide behind. Even ugly bear hides have made it home. Back when there were quite a few hound guys I'd give hides to them for collars. Guess it's super tough stuff they like for that. Used to also have a drop off at the local elks club where they raised money tanning hides. Haven't seen one of those for a while. Not sure if they still do it.

I still have about two dozen bear hides in boxes and laying around the house. Given a few away to guys starting out as taxidermists needing some to not worry about while they learn. Given quite a few to traditional archers for making quivers and whatnot. Even made bear hide pillows for Christmas gifts some time back. It's starting to get dang expensive to tan then just to give them away. But I feel a stronger respect and connection with bear and their hides than deer or elk. Probably why I still haven't been able to leave one in the woods. At the price and delay for tanning these days I should probably learn to tan them myself.

Sometimes wish I could do it. Just doesn't seem right to me, but I have no issues with guys that can do it.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: huntnnw on July 31, 2013, 04:44:42 AM: left 1..it was horrendous! almost just skin :yike:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: boneaddict on July 31, 2013, 04:54:40 AM: I usually pack the damn thing out then shove it in a freezer for 5 years or so until Momma gives me the sharp stick.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: billythekidrock on July 31, 2013, 05:29:10 AM: Quote from: ICEMAN on July 31, 2013, 03:09:25 AM
I am a bear novice, only two bears under my belt.

For the guys who have already placed enough bear rugs on the wall, what does it feel like to claim your bear meat from a kill, and to walk off and leave a hide behind....?

I have never felt bad about leaving one (or 10) behind. Meat first, then think about the hide if it is in good shape.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: h2ofowlr on July 31, 2013, 06:25:19 AM: I don't need anymore bear rugs, so I don't have any issue leaving the hide. Just packing the meat out. Same for deer and elk.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on July 31, 2013, 06:34:28 AM: A guy would love to have them all but you only have so much room to get all your trophies and rugs take up a lot of room ...Sometimes if it is late in the year when they are fully prime I will pack them out and give them away ...you can always find someone who would love to have one :tup:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: halflife65 on July 31, 2013, 06:37:06 AM: Take it out and sell it to a taxi or get him to trade it for cleaning up the skull for you (bugs or however the guy wants to do it.) You can also just get the hide tanned for now and store it in case you ever want to use it for something later. Considerably less expensive and if you get a real big one or a unique color you might be sorry you left it.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: h20hunter on July 31, 2013, 07:32:35 AM: In a nutshell I'd say it is your bear. As long as you don't waste the meat intentionally I say do whatever you want. My first bear...I had no space for the hide nor the funds to have it worked over. In hindsight I should have offered it to the taxi in trade for work or simply given it to a newbie taxi for practicing on. However, once you shoot and tag it...it is your bear. If you don't want it, leave it.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: ghostshell on July 31, 2013, 07:49:02 AM: i have no money for taxidermy this year although if i am fortunate enough to shoot a bear or two the hide will be packed out. not one to waste... if i take a bear that is the one, my credit card will have ta do for my rug.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: 180-GRAIN on July 31, 2013, 09:22:43 AM: I have left 2 out of 12 hides in the woods. Took meat, head and claws. After tanning 7-8 and having a couple rugs done it starts to get hard to want to spend the money on them. I left one because i forgot my bone saw in the truck 3 miles away and had no time toget to it before dark, so made the decision to bone it out and take what i could get. The other was 350+ pounds 8 1/2 miles in the wilderness. I had to pack it myself so taking head and meat was all I could carry. my buddy had all our gear so his pack was equally heavy otherwise we would have taken part of the hide for a 3/4 mount. I do believe once the tag is notched its your hide to do what you want with though, if you dont want it dont feel bad about leaving it as long as you take the important part... Meat.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: shanevg on July 31, 2013, 09:58:14 AM: I've shot 9 bears and only packed out 4 hides. 2 of those 4 just ended up in the garbage can. Tanning hides is way too expensive to tan every bear I shoot and I don't need a box of tanned hides laying around. Plus, most the places I shoot bears, it's pain in the but to skin them (and keep the hide intact) let alone pack it out.

I'm hunting for the joy of hunting and putting meat in the freezer. I love bear meat but generally I'm not hunting for a hide anymore than I'm hunting for a deer hide. That's also why it doesn't make any difference to me whether I shoot a bear on August 1st or October 31st.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: bearpaw on July 31, 2013, 10:22:47 AM: When I first started hunting and fishing as a child we were very poor, hunting and fishing was about having fun and getting food, I can remember how happy my mom and dad were when I started being more successful because it meant more meat in the freezer and food on the table. I never had anything mounted or tanned until I was 18 or 19. I don't even have a lot of my early horns as my family moved one summer while I was away doing summer work and they were forgotten when they moved. But, I have accumulated quite a few mounts since then and now find it hard to let a bear hide go to waste because there are so many uses for them.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: seth30 on July 31, 2013, 10:25:03 AM: Are you skinning in the field or at home? I dont know if I would want to stick around too long out there all those darn yellow jackets. :yike:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Wazukie on July 31, 2013, 10:30:37 AM: I've never kept a one :dunno:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Hunt4ever on July 31, 2013, 10:38:54 AM: Quote from: boneaddict on July 31, 2013, 04:54:40 AM
I usually pack the damn thing out then shove it in a freezer for 5 years or so until Momma gives me the sharp stick.

Had the same problem until she found the frozen "good luck" pecker pole! She went out and bought us our own freezer that day! haha
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: woodman on July 31, 2013, 10:39:56 AM: Quote from: Wazukie on July 31, 2013, 10:30:37 AM
I've never kept a one :dunno:

Probably saved yourself a lot of money.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: xXLojackXx on July 31, 2013, 10:42:03 AM: I left the hide of my cinnamon bear in the woods last year. Unless its a damn near perfect hide I'm not going to pay the $1200 for a rug. I'd rather just bleach the skull in that case.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: trophyhunt on July 31, 2013, 11:29:34 AM: I've never left one, to each his own. After a full and shoulder mount I just do hair on tan now, it's not that expensive and some day ill have a cabin to hang them all in. :twocents:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: grundy53 on July 31, 2013, 11:35:54 AM: If I'm not going to use it l, I'm not going to waste my energy packing it out. I don't see them as any different then a deer or elk hide.

sent from my typewriter
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: CoryTDF on July 31, 2013, 11:40:53 AM: I left the hide on two bears last year. Hell, I left the meat and the air in their lungs as well. I think bear meat is freaking nasty!!! It makes good sausage but i have enough of that already. No point shooting something I don't want to eat. I have one rug made from the one bear I have killed. Don't think I'll shoot another one unless I find somebody who really wants the meat. I do buy a tag every year but I have let many bear walk. I'm not into killing them and letting them rot.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: NRA4LIFE on July 31, 2013, 11:49:44 AM: Since I already have a rug (1 is enough according to the CEO), it would largely depend on how far I had to lug the darned thing. It wouldn't be worth the $$ from a taxidermist to haul one out 2+ miles or straight up a canyon. I would be OK with leaving one.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Gringo31 on July 31, 2013, 12:15:10 PM: I think the "what am I going to do with it" question is real. The cost is high.

That being said, I'd pack it out as long as it wasn't WAY back in there. I didn't weigh it but the hide and head on the brown bear I shot was not a fun pack.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: CoryTDF on July 31, 2013, 12:19:51 PM: Quote from: Gringo31 on July 31, 2013, 12:15:10 PM
I think the "what am I going to do with it" question is real. The cost is high.

That being said, I'd pack it out as long as it wasn't WAY back in there. I didn't weigh it but the hide and head on the brown bear I shot was not a fun pack.

That little guy in your avitar? it's just a cub! :chuckle: :chuckle:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: alecvg on July 31, 2013, 12:31:51 PM: I kept my first and tanned it... doubt I would ever keep another unless it was a late season cinnamon, or a blonde. They are expensive and take up a lot of space!
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: beaslayer6 on July 31, 2013, 09:06:53 PM: I tan all mine.. love looking at them.. plus they make good planks in the winter...
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Machias on August 01, 2013, 03:48:54 AM: I'm kind of suprised so many leave the hides. It's like leaving a $100 bill laying in the woods. Most of you guys wouldn't leave $100 just laying in the woods, would you?
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: huntnnw on August 01, 2013, 04:01:33 AM: But not all taxis will buy them, and if I shot a bear a long ways in and can only get the meat out..the hide sure as hell isnt worth $$ to money unless it was an exceptional or unique.

Tanned hides are not good forever, to look at yes. To mount them they need to be done fairly soon
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: Machias on August 01, 2013, 04:10:16 AM: Not trying to give anyone a hard time, it's just the trapper in me, I CANNOT waste a hide. I'd lose sleep over it. :) It's pretty easy to call around before the season and see who will buy your hides. Not much extra effort for some extra money.
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: huntnnw on August 01, 2013, 04:55:53 AM: Very few in Spokane..I drive to Libby,Mt sometimes
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: bmonti76 on November 09, 2013, 01:26:17 PM: I wish I had all these problems! I'm a newbie I think I will strip down to my hide and cover myself with the bear hide and hike out like a friggin caveman!!!! Yeehaw spirit of the wild!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: ICEMAN on November 10, 2013, 08:53:09 AM: Quote from: bmonti76 on November 09, 2013, 01:26:17 PM
I wish I had all these problems! I'm a newbie I think I will strip down to my hide and cover myself with the bear hide and hike out like a friggin caveman!!!! Yeehaw spirit of the wild!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

Make sure and wear your orange hat on your tripout... :chuckle:
Title: Re: Leaving behind a bear hide
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 10, 2013, 08:59:17 AM: Quote from: bearpaw on July 31, 2013, 10:22:47 AM
When I first started hunting and fishing as a child we were very poor, hunting and fishing was about having fun and getting food, I can remember how happy my mom and dad were when I started being more successful because it meant more meat in the freezer and food on the table. I never had anything mounted or tanned until I was 18 or 19. I don't even have a lot of my early horns as my family moved one summer while I was away doing summer work and they were forgotten when they moved. But, I have accumulated quite a few mounts since then and now find it hard to let a bear hide go to waste because there are so many uses for them.
Happy to say I seen some of those mounts :tup: :drool: Some fine mounts for sure :yeah: