The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Taxidermy bear skin having a "bad hair day"Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I have a life-size black bear mount that has an area on the side, perhaps a square foot or so, where the fur is very disheveled in appearance. The rest of the mount is perfect, very natural looking, but this one small area is in a glaringly obvious location and is quite distracting. It came from the taxidermist this way, and I really hate the idea of carting it back for him to look at it. Is there anything I can try that may straighten and flatten this hair? I'm looking for a zero-risk option...if there's any significant chance of damaging the mount, I'll just bite the bullet and take it on the road trip. Thanks for any tips. John | ||
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Bear hair shood not be flat. If I were you I would take the bear outside, off the base. Spray the entire thing down with a waterhose, scrub it down with Pantene just like washing your own hair and then rinse all the suds out. Immediately blow dry the entire bear and fluff all the hair. | |||
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I hope you will excuse me if I wait for a few more opinions. | |||
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John, first I would comb the area starting with a wide tooth (large) comb. Second, repeat with a smaller comb. You need to pull out any residue from tumbling such as fine sawdust, etc. Your also checking to see if the hair is stuck together with tanning oils. Once the hair is found clean, see if you can comb it into position, if not, you may need to wash the area as smarterthanu suggests. You won't need to use a hose, rather a wet cloth that you squeezed the water out of. You'll need to work down to the skin as best as you can, and go an inch or two beyond the rough area. When all hair is damp, comb out and use a blow dryer set to cool air. Shouldn't be too hard to do unless you find the hair is clinging together; a sign it has oil in it. If that is the case, you'll need to shampoo the area as previously suggested. As long as you wash and dry right away, you shouldn't have any problems. Have you asked your taxidermist about the problem? David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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I will recommend that you ask the taxidermist who mounted the bear. The water hose and shampoo is actually a good way to go IF the bear was actually tanned and a good hide paste was used and all painted areas were sealed well. You need to know the facts about how the bear was mounted.. If a shoddy job was done and the hide was only "preserved" with borax, no hide paste or cheap glue was used and painted areas were not sealed you could have major problems if you saturate that skin with water. If the taxidermist who mounted it says shampoo it then go for it. Use only enough water to shampoo it and rinse it out. try to not saturate the skin. Completely dry the hair with a hair dryer on a no heat mode and back brush the bear to fluff it up and groom it to the look you want. Do not use your hands as you will be adding oils to the hair. If the problem area is oily you can lightly rub a rag across it with acetone on it to remove some of the oils and blow dry (air only, not heat) and comb/brush the area to your liking. | |||
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Another case that a few minutes with a steamer and a comb will fix easily. | |||
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I understand if you are scared. I was the first time I did it.If it falls apart it wasn't that good of a mount to begin with. But I can tell you this. If I was taking a bear to the world championship compettion, he wouldn't go without a shampoo and blowdry. | |||
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Thanks, guys. I am going to try the steamer idea first, just seems a little more "low impact" to me. If that fails, out comes the shampoo. Grafton, I checked with the taxidermist before starting here. He is well-known for quality work up here in Ontario, and has done some uniformly beautiful pieces for me over the years. The skin was properly tanned, but beyond some gentle cool-blow-drying and combing, he didn't want to commit to a course of action without seeing the mount again. It was a royal pain getting it home, and I wanted to avoid repeating that trip if possible. Smarterthanu, sorry if I seemed sarcastic, although at the time that was my intention. When I read your response, my first thought was "Yeah, right! Just what I need...a comedian!" The idea seemed so outlandish to me that I assumed you were kidding!  John | |||
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I understand a lot of people on the forums believe I am a little bit of an asshole. However in the taxidermy section I try and give good and accurate advice to the best of my ability, even to people I may have had disaggreements with in other areas of the forums. To me people have a lot of both money and time in these trophies and it is my profession. SO I put asside all childishness and try and give the best solutions to anyone who might need help in this field. I hope your bear works out and it ends up being all you dreamed it could be. Ben | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Taxidermy bear skin having a "bad hair day"
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