I was given a fresh road kill black bear. There was no external damage (liver was completely destroyed) the hide is really beautiful and he was fine looking bear.
I skinned him out and he is 64" from tip of tail to nose and then froze him. I would like to do a rug mount for the front of the fireplace, but I was quoted a price of 120$ a foot plus $100 for open mouth by one guy and 90$ a foot from another.
Now I have done my own deer hide tanning and I know the labor involved so I don't begrudge the guys trying to make a living ---- if I killed the bear - I wouldn't hesitate to have it done. BUT seeing it was a road kill what are my options to still get a beautiful rug out of it.
Can I just send it to the tanner without the head, but claws attached and then have a a professional "rugger" mount the felt to it. How does it look without the head? Does anyone have pictures of such a thing.
OR.. the taxidermist said that I could easily sell it for the $700 I would have into it when I shoot my own bear. I've got the $700 - but my wife would kill me if she found out!
Looking for opinions.
Thanks
ed
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as I see it to get a "beautiful rug" made you have two options
1) take it to a qualified taxidermist and pay what they charge
2) don't
I really do not see any other options. As far as getting 700 dollars for a raw bear hide... good luck
If it really is a great hide I would strongly advise you to take it to several shops and make your selection based on what kind of work they produce, not on price. Price will be forgotten, but poor work will stare at you every time you "light" a fire in the old chimney.
Dave
Take it to a professional.
The rug will not look good without a head on it.
You get what you pay for. Or you could take a chance had have it come back looking like a pig instead of a bear!
thanks for your opinions - BTW Dave the taxidermist said I could recoup the $700 for the finished bear skin rug - if I decide to sell it when I get lucky enough to get my own.
I agree - I would rather spend the extra $ than have a "pig" skin rug ( I have seen them).
I guess more of my hesitation is from do I really want to spend the $700 on a bear that I did NOT shoot - and was looking if I could do something else (suggestions - please if any) worthy of my admiration of this fine animal.
Just finish shinning him out and send to a tannery and use it as just a tanned hide.
Send it to the tannery and have it wet tanned. Then when you get it back, rehydrate, install the head with mouth cup from Buckeye, stetch the hide and let dry. When it's dried, invert it and spray the hide with spray glue. Attach a quilt batting and then spray again. Lay a big sheet of felt over it and hemstitch/tack stitch around the edges and you're done. Then you'll see that even the high end priced guy was giving you a pretty good deal. You'd have about $300 in it and you'd have satisfaction of knowing how it was done.
HOWEVER, finding someone wanting a rug and willing to pay you $700 for us is not as easy as it sounds. They usually feel just like you do about a bear THEY didn't kill.
Dont you need some kind of permit to have this ? I know fish and game were checking all my records to make sure everything was legal .
Newbirdman - you are correct-I called the Fish and Game and they sent me a permit - no hassles at all. They were glad I took the bear because they were going to toss it.
George - thanks for the insight on how much goes into the bear rug - the question was never if I was getting a good deal for the 700-800$. I have seen that guys work and it is very good - the questions was more do I really want to spend that much money on a bear that I did not kill --- and I was looking more for different ideas on how I can preserve this animal.
Thanks for the insight on reselling the rug if I so choose.
Ed