I have a gentleman who wants me to tan his bear hide, but it has been in the freezer for 3 years. he also told me when he set it up for throwing into the freezer, he hung the hide out and poured salt on it for three days. Inbetween saltings he hosed it off. He said the fat was very runny and that it would not soak out so he put a whole bunch of salt on it and put it in the freezer. When he told me all this, I was worried about slippage and rot as well as freezer burn. I dont get many bears in, and usually the ones I do get are right off the bear. So I dont know what to charge the guy if the bear is salvageable. He wants to make a rug mount. On the other hand, if it is a big mess (its a cream colored black bear) should he toss it out? That really would be sad. He is going to bring it to me next week and I am going to look it over thoroughly. I need som opinons on black bears and any freezer burned or rotting material on the hide. I want to call the guy instead of having him drive 100 miles to drop it off only to find out it is no good.
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Tell this silly ass to take his bear hide down the road to someone else. He's set you up for failure and likely looking for someone to blame for his own stupidity. I wouldn't touch this one with a 10 foot pole.
not worth the trouble dont do it
I agree with Georgey. When it turns out bad there will be nothing but bad mouthing.
...stay away from this nightmare! Two words you never use in the same sentence, salt and freezer! A salted hide does not readily or quickly freeze. No telling what the temp was when this man was salting, hosing, half heartedly defatting, dripping and whatever else he was doing to this hide in his little ritual. What a shame to ruin a blonde phase black bear.