I am planning a trip to Kamchatka and trying to get the shipping for the hide worked out before I go.
At the moment they are trying to charge me nearly $2,200 to go from Petropavlovsk - Moscow to Milan which is absurd!

Assuming that it weighs around 150lb I'm pretty sure I can take it as excess baggage for less.

Does anyone have a figre on what a green salted brown bear hide plus the skull might weigh?

Thanks.

of course it all depends on the size .... and how wet it is ... but if the head is all fleshed out and the salt is all shaken off ...

I would not think it would exceed 150Lbs ... but could very well be close to that mark.

if it's dry i would thin 100 would even be on the big size. if its at all wet or anything on the skull i don't know if they will let you on as excess

a 10'6" bear off kodiak, salted for a week and shipped..so it was pretty dry, had a shipping weight of 125lbs..did not include skull.
a 9 foot bear is ALOT less...

I have had only one bear that couldn't be taken as luggage in Southeast weighted 104 lbs and they wouldn't take anything over 100lbs on the plane. Might want to check if there are weight restrictions on luggage.
James Phillips

Thanks guys, I may have solved the problem with a company called Trohy Rus Consult who are quoting me from €720-€820 instead of the original €2,550 ($3,400USD) I was looking at previously. The price in the first post was a typo and supposed to be in Euro then I discovered another charge...

We'll see how it goes.
My advice to anyone booking a hunt in a far away foreign land is to be sure you know what all the shipping arrangements are going to be and cost before you go, because otherwise you WILL regret it.