I'd like to hang some black bear guides

[*]

30 years dealing with their IGNORANCE, I'd had enough. I have seen ever conceivable WRONG thing done by these black bear guides over the years. I do believe that most have an IQ that you could count on your two hands.
6 in today and I turned everyone of them back out the door. They smelled so bad it still stinks in here. All wanted lifesize so $18,000 lost. I want to thank those *sshole Bear guides that think they even have a clue what they are doing. The clients weren't so excited about their bears when they left here to try another taxidermists, good luck to that guy or gal if he doesn't puke his guts out trying to stop the handfulls of hair sliding of those bears. Guide had his money,I hope they choke on it.
Bears were skinned head left in and paws left in them, 50lb bag of salt rubbed into 3 inches of fat on the hide and then they were left out to "DRY" for 4 and 5 days.They each had maggots totally filling the throat. Guide told them "he has experience on how taxidermists want it done".

No more!, new policy as of today and I don't care if I don't get any bears, if they are not salted and prepped correctly by the outfit that takes them hunting I'm showing them the door.

[michael p.]

I very rarely get bears here in Texas, but do have quite a few elk come in. The same similar thing as you say happens more than most would/could expect. The head is left in the elk but there is salt on the rest of the hide!  They drive back to Texas from Colorado & the damn eye balls are about to explode from the heat & the SOB stink's to high heaven. Some are individual hunters, but alot are from guides. I just don't understand either one of their thoughts. How are you gonna think something is gonna be O.K. when you've salted the hide but left the whole damn head in above the neck & then drive 18 hours in 80+ degree through Texas with it in back of yur truck!

[George Roof]

HEAR! HEAR!
I've said the same  thing here before.  The worst all seem to be east of the line along the Mississippi River.  I sent a scathing letter to a big time bear guide in Maine last year telling him that he and his guides were damned crooks for stealing from their customers and sending POS bear hides back here.  I got two of them that were green inside.  There was 2 inches of fat, with heads and feet still inside.  A bag of rock salt had been dumped inside the rolled up hides.  I , too, sent the hunters on their way.  Fall bears are bad enough when they're given proper field care, but to have to put up with the crap from some of these jerks is just sad.

[Wolfwoman]

Makes me very glad I clean skulls and sew TANNED fur   instead of taxidermy!

[catman]

 I don't care much for that crap either. Everything I get is shipped. It's rare but every now and the I get maggots. That is why I have implemented a "zero tolerance policy" on maggots. If they are on the skin and you want me to try and save it $1500.00 just to unroll it if they are on the skull I charge $35.00 per maggot to remove. I suppose it really isn't zero tolerance, but somebody's gonna pay if maggots hit my doorstep.
 I had an expediter out of B.C ship a tote with unfleshed but salted cougar, lynx and bobcat plus uncleaned skulls. It was going through Ron's wildlife but he sent it with no permits so it sat around at Ron's for 73 days. When I opened the tote the nuclear green tapioca waste was coating everything. cha-ching That's a thousand dollar vomit violation. I managed to sort through it and save it , but that guy got practiced up on his ability to take a 3 alarm A$$ chewin'.

[300savage]

I like the vomit violation policy lol

[Dan Gill]

We had a few deer capes that were nasty, not to the extent you are taliking about, but slimey. we threw them in krotan, didnt turn anything. We only lost one. So it may be worth a try on borderline stuff, if you want to try it.
   Dan

[Richard C]

It got so bad with local , Maine , New brunswick and at the time New Hampshire  spring bears that I STOPPED taking in spring bears. I also didn't take in fall bears until the 15th of Sept, they were bad too .
 The other thing with bears is the outfitter tells the hunter the bear is alot bigger than it is , gets the big tip for the "big bear and we get the blame for the finished size.
 Good story, I took in a bear from a Lawyer, his wifes bear.  He tells me how big it is ?
  I process it and have all the measurements , have the tanned hide back now. He keeps calling to see if it's done and keeps telling me how BIG it is. Everytime he calls me I dig it out and measure it again, didn't get any bigger, I'm getting  acid stomach every time I go through this. So I chose to not do it and one day he calls and wants his bear back, good.
 
  I meet him at a store one day a year later, hi how are you and all that BS, them before we part I ask , "did you get your wifes bear back from the taxidermist" ?  He says YES and he F'ed it all up "it's half the size it was when we shot it". As I walk out the store I look up to the sky and said "thank you god".

[Cecil]

Before I decided to specialize in fish I did a few bear rugs. It was always some of the biggest black bears the guides have seen in years well over 6 feet blah blah blah. Yeah right. What a bunch of B.S. I told myself these idiots can go somewhere else. I'm not getting the blame when the rug is not as big as they said it was.

[Rich H.]

I know what you mean Dennis......I have turned down 9 so far this season for the same reason you mentioned, some of those guides dont care what happens after the animal is taken.

[rgkittle]

I had a similar experience with a bison my cousin shot with a bow. The outfitter / guide didn`t skin the head and must not have gotten in a big hurry to freeze it, while he hunted whitetails . My cousin drove straight through all night from Kansas to here in Georgia with it . It was still partially frozen but turning green . I saved it by putting fleshing it and putting it in a 15 gallon solution of Krowtan in a 32 gallon trash can . I left it in the Krowtan for a week and it tanned up okay . I was afraid to try salting it and sending it off . I just knew it would slip . My cousin saw the green spot and got to experience the smelll , so he knew if we lost it , why we lost it . He thinks I am a miracle worker now and Krowtan is a miracle liquid . I did lose a whitetail cape with Krowtan , but it was bad also and there was no saving it . I tried anyway . I have been lucky on most of the other western game as the hunters got them to me in good shape. Krowtan is pretty awesome stuff in my opinion. I don`t think I want to tackle another bison with it though . I worked my tail off shaving it on my Quebec flesher . I think I will leave that up to the tannery next time.

[mrdux]

I've been very lucky concerning bears brought or shipped back from Canada. I got 3 in that looked like a very good taxidermist had caped and fleshed them before salting. Pretty nice to not have to even turn them to send them to the tannery!! I got one in a month or so ago that had been killed in Man. last fall. It came into my shop in a sealed 5 gallon plastic bucket. I told the client that if I smelled anything bad once the lid was cracked, it was going back into his truck. He had not opened it after it had set in an outfitters' camp since the hunt. Once I opened it, I pleasantly found it to have been fleshed, salted and turned every bit as good as I'm capable of doing. Guess I've just been lucky.

I can't say that about WT capes that I get often from local processors who think they should be stacked in piles on the floor of coolers in a few inches of blood and water.

[John C]

Get the same from Elk guides and those damned hig fence ranchs in Texas. Hell most of those  dont know how to skin or cape a head.

I too like the Vomit violation idea, I have a cast iron stomach in that repsect but the other two working in the shop don't!!

[(Michael R)Nyona Lake Taxidermy Studio]

i can't say i've ahd that happen to me as of yet but i asume it will most of the outfitters i book hunts for have a taxidermist skin flesh and salt the hides and capes before sending them and they have permits.

[1stManna]

Removed per request