How long should it take to dry a bear skin? I have salted twice for 24hrs, shook off and hung over a ladder flesh side out. It has been 10 days and it is still not dry. The temp. is around 75 and the humidity is not a problem. The head, legs and about 6" in are dry but the rest is not. I placed a small fan on it today but I am concerned. Should I salt again? I spoke with my tannery 10 days ago and was told to leave (1/16-1/8") of fat on the hide so that they would have something to shave and to prevent burning of the hide as they shaved. Of coarse the hide is very oily where it is not dry. The hair is tight as I can not pull any out.
Thank you for any help.
Kraig
Return to Beginners Category Menu
Last year I took in a big bear and fleshed all the fat off of it and with a fan it still took 4 to 6 weeks. I'm suprised the tannery told you to leave fat on the skin. It's hard for the salt to penatrate through the fat. I sent mine to Carolina Fur Dressing they do a great job with bears. If mounting them lifesize get them wet tanned saves having to soak up the whole hide. Rich
Thanks Rich.
I had also read in the archives that you don't want to remove all the fat as a bear hide is so thin that some of the hair roots are actually in the fat? My tanner stated that bear hides have a tendancy to grease burn during the shaving process if all the fat is removed. I was surprised also about this remark but I also was under the impression that salt will penitrate approx. 1/4 of fat? I have done a few deer but this is my first bear so it is all a learning experience. Could I rub the skin down with saw dust to speed up the drying,( all I have is soft pine, no hardwood)?
Thanks again for your reply. This site and most of the people are very helpful and I want to say thanks to all.
And the ONLY time I ever had anything of a grease burn was when the tannery used an alum tan. I no longer use that tannery.
Another bear I got in a couple of years ago was fleshed and salted by an outfitter. A few spots wouldn't dry out and when I looked closer those were areas he didn't get all the fat off. Once I removed the fat those areas dried out. Now I'm wondering if your hide will dry out at all. If I were you I would scrape the rest of the fat off. Fall bears are a pain because like you said some of the hair roots are in the fat but there's nothing you can do. When I get my bears back there is hair coming through the flesh side of the hide. Thats just the way fall bears are. Spring bears usually don't have this happpen. I don't think saw dust will absorbe enough of the fat. I always want the salt on the skin next to the hair roots to lock in the hair. Sure is a mess and hard work getting all that fat and meat off isn't it?