There seems to be some question as to where it is legal to sell bears and bear parts. To my knowledge in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Washington it is illegal. Wisconsin has some restrictions.
Please feel free to ad your state to this list if you it is illegal. Correct me if I am wrong with any of the above listed states.
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In Washington state it is completely legal to sell the hide of a bear; it is currently illegal to sell the skull or claws of a bear that aren't attached to the hide, and it is illegal to sell the gall bladder because they have such a high value (around $10,000), although undercover agents seem to have extreme trouble finding anyone to pay over $50.
You cant sell anything from a black bear in North Carolina.
No bear or parts in Tennessee
For those of you in states where the sale of bear skins or bear parts is illegal. Can you BUY bears from states where it is legal? Or is it illegal for you to even import bear(legally taken) to your state?
PA I if recall a lisc taxidermist or fur buyer can buy a PA taken bear within xx days after taken. Otherwise bears( and parts) from canada or whatever can be bought and sold so long as tagging/lisc info is with them ( to prove they are not PA bears).
The MD DNR( permits coordinator) told me that one can import a legally taken bear hide but cannot resell it with MD.It is for personal use only. You cannot sell claws or other parts either.
No bear sales of any kind; hides, claws, gall bladders, etc. in Oregon. Check their website.
Virginia doesn't allow the sale of bear skins or parts!
black bear is a no no
Like Craig said, in NC it is not legal to buy or sell bear anything. I wanted a display bear so I checked with the enforcement officer- funny how they can never seem to give you a straight answer. After some days I was told as long as it was legally taken and legal to sell "there" and I kept a record it was ok. Now, that's what I was told and that's what I did but nowhere in the laws that I have read do I find any exception other than the part that states nothing in these laws prohibits a licensed taxidermist from buying for "taxidermy purposes". Anyone thinking of buying these illegal here/ legal there critters probably would do well to ask before getting into something that could result in big fines or loss of license. - Aaron H.
It's illegal to buy or sell bear or parts in Georgia.
There are a lot more states prohibiting it than I thought. I am still curious if the finished product(bear rugs or mounts) can be sold into some of these states. Thanks George for the correction on Washington. Years ago I sold some skulls to a dealer in Washington, but I do remember that he had me ship them to his Idaho address. That was at least 15 years ago.
I had hoped for a better response to the original question. I have tried to look it up on various state websites but the information is very hard to locate. I guess the states don't want you to know some of this stuff. Thanks again.