I got in my first bear tonight. Everything went pretty smooth, excpet for the paws. I referred to this site while turning the feet, but I wanted to post this to see if I can get soem ideas for the next time.
I tubed the legs down to the joint by the foot, and cut the leg off at the joint, leaving only the skin and paw hanging, with the bones still in the paw. Turned lips, eyes, nose, then went back to the paws. With he scalpel, I cut down to the first joint of the toes..so basically, only one piece of bone left between the claw and the joint..(an inch or so). On the pads, I cut along the edges, about 1/8" in from the sides, and peeled it back..to remove all fat etc. On the toes, I pulled the tendon through, snipped it by the claw, and trimmed away what I could, then salted the whole bear down and hung it up.
For you guys/gals with experience on bears, does this sound like it will work out, or did I mess it up? Thx much, Justin
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The claws should be cut off at the last joint leaving only the core of the claw with the claw. I do not cut along the pad for mounts. I simply turn the leg inside out to the claws, and flesh well. on rugs I remove the pad all together. After salting roll the hide up and allow to drain overnight. shake out and re-salt and allow to drain again overnight. Then dry.
On bears, remember that you can sew skin much more easily than you can sew cheese. That's just what the pads on the feet are and they're NOT going to sew easily. When you split a toe, you've really created a job for yourself.
Why were you concerned about tubing the legs? A simple incision from the elbow down to the pad would have freed up the leg form issue while allowing you to peel the foot out of the hide.
I split my bears that haven't been rug cut just like that. I cut off the leg above the wrist bones. I use a strand of parachute cord and make a loop to suspend from the ceiling. Looping around the wrist bone, I cinch it down and then peel the paws out right down to that first joint. You have to pull the hide and you need a good sharp scalpel, but it can be done. If it gets hairy, then split the foot pad down to the toes but never any farther. Those toe "tubes" are the most important part so that you can pack them with clay during the mounting process.
On "rug cut" bears that you intend to mount lifesize, you invert the hair inside and sew the bear back up completely. Then you lay it down on its belly, make a waterproof marker mark down the center of the back, and then make cross marks ever 3 or 4 inches. Then you split the hide from just behind the ears to the base of the tail. Now you can slip the hide over the standing form much like putting a child's pajamas on. The incision allows you to clay the ear butts through the top of the hide and the long hair hides all your incisions. I actually prefer this method for lifesizes as I can be sure that the hide is aligned as I sew it. A dorsal cut bear had no index markings and you have to continually check to see if your seam is even and you don't get a big pucker at the base of the tail.