Field Care in Preparation for a Bear Mount

[Mountain Man]

What you do in the first few hours after you kill a bear is very critical as to whether you will have nice meat to eat and a nice bear hide or cape to mount or spoiled meat and a skin that is too far gone to save for mounting. Typically bear hunts occur in warmer weather. The warmer weather and the insulating fat and thick fur of a bear are your enemy. You need to find your bear, get some photos taken, and get it field dressed – the sooner after the kill the better. Unfortunately a lot of bear meat and hides are lost because they weren’t cared for properly and cooled quickly enough (with the exception of a bear that was hit poorly and had to be left overnight).

If you don’t have an ATV or are in an area where motorized vehicles aren’t allowed you will most likely need to drag the bear out. Dragging a bear (or deer) can cause the hide and meat to spoil due to excess heat from friction between the animal and the ground, and clumps of hair can get pulled out or broken off if the animal is dragged over sticks, logs, rocks, etc. If you need to drag a bear it is best to do it with a sled or at least a tarp – something needs to be between the bear and the ground. Make sure no part of the bear is dragging on the ground. If you have enough help the bear could be carried out on a sled or canvas tarp.

After taking some photos near the kill site or at camp the bear needs to be cooled as quickly as possible. The best way to cool it is to remove the hide. The head and feet can remain intact and a taxidermist can skin those out later. It’s best if you or the guide can get as much meat and fat off the hide at this time as possible - that is within reason where you don't need to get every little piece off but enough to help get it cooled down. If you are confident in your skinning skills, after you get your measurements for the taxidermist, you could proceed to skin out the feet and the head, then split and turn the lips, nose, eyes, and ears and get it salted right away. The salt will help inhibit bacteria growth and draw out the body fluids which will also make the skin start to shrink which sets or locks the hair in the hide. If you are going to salt it right away you want as much fat and meat off so the salt can penetrate the hide quickly. If you don't know how to skin the head or feet, get the bear skin cooled off for several hours in a cooler or refrigerator and then you could fold it up and freeze it. If you can't or don't want to freeze it but you can keep it in a cooler or refrigerator, you still need to get it to your taxidermist within 1-2 days. If you trust your guide or yourself to skin the head that is fine – but that is something that should be determined by you well before you have killed a bear.

Skinning out a bear head is fairly similar to a deer head except the one big difference is that the base of the ears (ear canals) are set deeper in the head on a bear so you have to be careful to get to the bottom of the ear where with a deer you can pretty much follow the skull with your knife or scalpel and sever the ear canals. After the bear is skinned the hide should be put in a cooler or refrigerator. The best option is to have a space large enough that the hide can be spread out or if necessary it can be folded skin to skin on the meat side (after any meat and fat has been removed) and spread out that way to cool. Once the hide is cooled it can be folded up and put in a plastic bag and transferred to a freezer.

Check your state hunting regulations regarding the skinning of bears (including whether sex organs need to remain attached to the hide) and registration. If the state you are hunting in requires registration before skinning then you might have to put the whole bear in a cooler/meat locker overnight until you can register it the following morning. Once registered then start skinning.

If you will be hunting in Canada be sure to check the laws and procedures for importing a black bear hide and skull to the U.S. before going on your hunt.

I don’t have any pictures of field dressing a bear and skinning for a mount but I found this link on how to dress and skin a black bear. Some of the steps can be left for your taxidermist to do but this should give you a good idea of what needs to be done in the field or at camp.

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/blbcare.htm

[dan]

Great post Mountain man!

[Singing Bridge]

Great information for us bear hunters, Mountain Man!

[Hodag Hunter]

Another good post and nice to see the emphasis on removing the hide to cool the meat ASAP.

In my opinion, this is why some don't care for bear meat, taken care of properly, i know many folks you choose bear over venison.

[Mountain Man]

Bear season will be here soon. Here are some field care tips if you're thinking about or know you will have a mount done if successful.

[dan]

I made this a sticky till after bear season...