so, i shot a black bear this weekend, and while i want to have him done up, i don't have the funds at the moment, and it may be some time before i do. will the hide/head keep in the freezer, and for how long? i assume bear fat is similar to pig fat and never fully freezes and eventually rots...

what do the professionals here think?

http://forums.accuratereloadin...3411043/m/6951079811

Congrats on getting a bear!

For long term storage, until you are ready to mount, it would be best to have a taxidermist fine flesh, salt and send it to be commercially tanned, after tanned, keep it in the freezer until you are ready to mount. It will cost a few hundred dollars to do this, but that amount will be deducted from the mount down the road. This is by far the safest way to store any skin, esp. bear, for future mounting.

Kind regards,
Mary

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Hilliard-Krueger:
Congrats on getting a bear!

For long term storage, until you are ready to mount, it would be best to have a taxidermist fine flesh, salt and send it to be commercially tanned, after tanned, keep it in the freezer until you are ready to mount. It will cost a few hundred dollars to do this, but that amount will be deducted from the mount down the road. This is by far the safest way to store any skin, esp. bear, for future mounting.

Kind regards,
Mary

+1

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Hilliard-Krueger:
Congrats on getting a bear!

For long term storage, until you are ready to mount, it would be best to have a taxidermist fine flesh, salt and send it to be commercially tanned, after tanned, keep it in the freezer until you are ready to mount. It will cost a few hundred dollars to do this, but that amount will be deducted from the mount down the road. This is by far the safest way to store any skin, esp. bear, for future mounting.

Kind regards,
Mary

x2

Couldn't have said it better myself. I can add that I kept a commercially dry-tanned, lifesize African Lion skin double wrapped in large plastic lawn & leaf bags with the air pressed out, and sealed with duct tape, for nearly ten years before I mounted him. It was my own personal skin ... I don't keep customer work untouched like that! But the point is, get it tanned, double wrap it, freeze it in it's dry-tanned state, and it will keep.

John.

John,

Chris had this mountain lion tanned and in the freezer for 11 years (his personal cat). He mounted it just this past summer.

thank you all for your professional advice. What is the time frame to get the now-frozen hide to the taxidermist for dry tanning? a week? a month?

edit: also, the quality of work those of you on this forum put out is head and shoulders above the guy I've been using. he does a nice job, but it's not "stunning." how would a guy get a hide to you? i assume a dry-tanned hide would be best as opposed to it's current state...

PM sent ...

All of us would like to think our work is exceptional, but it still depends on the CUSTOMER'S taste in what we do. You have some exceptionally gifted artisans right there in your home state, probably within an hour's drive at the most. MANY taxidermist don't grace these pages or any others with their work because they have sufficient work to keep them busy. Not to say "window shopping" might give you the wrong impression, just saying if you're "shopping", why not start someplace you can actually see and touch the real deal?