I just got 3 Brown Bear hides back from the taxidermist. Two of the hides had numerous places on the FLESH side with hairs sticking out.
I found a local Professionsl hide flesher who did the hides. I think one of his helpers fleshed to close and cut the hair folicles (sp). I usually do them myself but my back won't take the abuse anymore!
My camera is down at the hangar or I'd show pics.
My question, can the hides be repaired? Can I coat the flesh side with some glue and keep the hairs from falling out?
I hope so, my sons first bear is in the bunch.
Thanks.

Not sure about coating it with something but it is a interesting idea.
You may can put some Preservz-It on the spots. It will harden the areas where you see the hair so it want be as easy to pull out.
Have you tanned them yet?
Depending on how bad the spots are you may not have a problem if you handle them easy.

Best wishes to you
Steve

Steve;
The hides are tanned. I always like to get them tanned before having rugs made. If I don't like the hide I don't spend the money on a rug.
Would you say that I am correct, the flesher cut to close?

quote:

Two of the hides had numerous places on the FLESH side with hairs sticking out.
I found a local Professionsl hide flesher who did the hides

TJ

When were the bears shot? That sounds like the skins weren't prime yet, I've seen this a number of times woth Black bears where skins were not prime yet. Did you ever see a small fur bearing animal when the skin isn't prime yet, it's a blue color.

I know that's the situation with your bears, they are not prime!

I had the same situation with my wolf I shot in October. You could actually see the hair roots on the flesh side of the pelt. The taxidermist pointed it out to me and said that was normal for an animal whose pelt wasn't prime.
Grizz

Hair on the inside of a tanned bear skin is completely normal and zero problem. I am quite sure that you can not see any quality problems on the hair side because of it. A taxidermist completely ignores this. The cause is that the hide was not all the way prime as a fur when killed and when the tannery drummed it to soften it some of the under fur pulls back thru the hide. It means nothing bad. www.jamesmarsico.com

Exactly - The bear was not "prime" when it was harvested. "Prime" deals with the location of the hair follicles within the skin layer. In the summer the skin is actually at its thickest point of the year with the shortest hair length. The hair follicals or roots are imbedded very deep into the skin layer. As we get closer to winter and the animal sheds its summer coat for a new thick winter coat the the hair follicals actually migrate closer to the surface of the skin. This allows the tanner to properly shave the skin thin enough for it to be soft and supple after tanning. As long as the hide is dry do not worry about the hairs. If you rehydrate it for mounting just treat it with care and do not put undue pressure on the hair side. This is completely normal for any mammal. That is why trappers only harvest "prime" animals.

I can only support what Jim and Coues said, the hair poking through is not a problem. It will rug up or mount up just fine. If it was a problem, youd see patches of skin on the hair side devoid of hair.

The first time I ever got a bear back that had hair roots sticking out, I cussed out the tannery only to have them explain the process.

Too bad wisdom comes so late in life!!!

Thanks for the replies folks.
The bears were shot in Alaska the last part of Sept. If they weren't prime, I guess no Alaskan fall bears are prime. Years ago I trapped a bit so I know what a "blue" hide is.
Let me see if I can get some pics.



This is the best one.



This is the bad one.

Better pics.

So when is a bear "prime"?

I have a pretty big pile of bear skins from Mn. All were shot in Sept. All of them have the hairs sticking out on the inside. My taxidermist said no bears in Mn. are prime till November, and then they are in the den. That is why spring hunting produces the best pelts. They are prime then for sure until they start to rub.

Those photos prove exactly what I said in my first post. Unprime hides and it means zero and has zero to do with the fleshing and/or tanning job. Very common. Elkmanz post is also correct.

Both Bears were killed within a week of each other in the same area. One has no hairs out the back side and the other does. That's why I figured it was a fleshing problem.