How are bear ,elk,and others measured when people say so many square feet?Is it length times with ?
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Linear Footage is Tip nose to Tip Tail
there are three general ways hides are measured. taxidermists use two of these. One measurement or group of measurements is used for choosing the manikan that will best fit that particular hide or cape. These measurements usually include a nose to eye measurement, a nose to tail measurement, a chest measurement and a belly measurement. Tanneries use the nose to tail measurement on animals such as bear and mt lion to determine the cost of tanning. They use a square footage measurement - actually find out how many square feet are in a hide for pricing such things as cow, deer, elk, and moose hides. This measurement is also used by retailers who sell leather from these animals. The other method of measuring a hide is most often used by bear hunters. this is called squaring out the hide and is done by adding the length of the hide nose to tail to the width from claw tip to claw tip (on the front legs) and then averaging the sum. I never did understand the reason for squaring out a hide except that the average is usually a larger number than if the measurement was simply taken from nose to tail.