Bear rug tan

[Mike M]

I sent 5 bears to the tannery and this is my first time using a tannery.  I got them back and was only happy with 4 of them.  The other of the bears has a nice strip of fur down the spine and the legs, but the whole thing in between the armpits is see through and bairly has any fur left on it.  Also the hide is paper thin compared to the other 4.  Now who is to blame for this big loss in hair?  The hunter, me, or the tannery?  The other 4 turned out nice so i'm not sure what happened to this one.  Any opinions is much appreciated.  Thanks.

[Mike M]

Also what can i do to fix this?  Nothing?

[Felpy]

I manage a small tannery in Alaska and occasionally we get similiar outcomes.  We can do a batch of bears that all look to be in good shape, they all get treated the same, but occasionally one will come out as you described.  Since they were all treated the same it tells me that something was wrong with the one before it was turned over to the tannery.  One thing we have noticed is fall bear hides are thinner and require very little shaving.  Earily to mid-spring bears have thicker hides and require more shaving.  The hides on late spring bears are noticably thinner than earily to mid-spring bears.  This may explain the thin hide.  Thin hides tend to want to slip in the armpit and groin or belly region.  Just some possible causes.

[Mary]

Mike,
 Looking at your other 4 bears you can see that the armpit area and the flank area is very thin haired to begin with. That is normal on all animals. Ther could be many variables from genetics to time of year harvested, that could have caused the pattern if indeed it is beyond normal. If the bear is to be mounted lifesize, you can simply dye the area before or after you mount the bear.If it is to be rugged, that area is cut out to some degree under the armpits, to help the skin lay flat. A good rugmaker will also dye that area, making it virtually unnoticable. If indeed it is very bad, you can always patch the area.
 Now as far as where does the blame lie. Do you know how it was handled in the field, was it handled properly and salted in the shop, and lastly ..good luck getting a tannery to admit they are at fault..LOL!!! That rarely happens!
 We had a customer 3 years ago , bring in a bear that was handled well in the field, taken excellent care of in the shop , yet came back from the tannery with a huge slip spot on the chest. Later the customer brought an after the hunt, trophy picture in and lo and behold, the bears chest was propped up on a rock for the picture. Now, our fall bear hunts in Arizona can have you hunting in 100+ degree weather,, and I am sure that rock was alot hotter than that, so we are sure that skin was cooked and it did not become evident until after the tanning process. We would have never known had we not seen the photo.
Kindest regards,
Mary

[rgswildlife]

Mike
In regard to repairing the rugs that has been covered above. Try using The Wildlife Gallery in Blanchard Mi web page is http://www.TheWildlifeGallery.com  I feel they are the best around and there service is top notch, they are a couple of bucks more but the end result is worth it. I can loosen a bear skin with a misting bottle.

Rich

[Mike M]

Thanks for the input.  I'm not sure what i will do yet but i do know i will try dyeing the skin and hope that helps some.  I think the fur is too thin for that but i will try it to see what it looks like.  Thanks again.