My 14 year old son killed a huge Arkansas black bear last fall, 512 pounds, 21 1/2 B&C. Absolutley beatiful coat, so I don't want to mess it up. I don't have much experience with bears so I was wondering if one type of tan is better than another in the auto tanner. I have been using the regular crystals that came with the machine but was thinking about switching to the Arrowhead, as I have heard several people say it was better. Anybody have any suggestions. This bear will be mounted not rugged.
Return to Tanning Category Menu
You will need to shave the bear first. not all the way but split everything out and shave 90% of the fat off.
Then degrease carefully, I really like Rittles SUper Solvent for BEAR!
Now I use Krowtann 2000 in mmy Auto-tanner, mix it a bit stronger than for a soak.
Run for two hours, pull the hide out finish fleshing and check for total penetration of the tan, by making small cuts in the thick areas.
If all seems fine, get the final fleshing thinning to get it ready to mount. run another 30 minutes.
Now wash with TIDE, 1/2 cup and lots of warm water, wash very well, rinse extermly well.
Now very carefully neutralize the hide to about 5.5pH and you are done.
Never tanned a bear before. Worked with a few but were com. tanned.
Been doing taxidermy for 30 years so understand the process. I just am not sure what would be the best tan in the auto for bear. This bear was over seven feet and the carcass measurments fit the biggest form McKenzie's makes so I would like to use something that won't cause a lot of shrinkage so I can maintain the actual size.
PS. Still sorry about that last name, but hold your head up man!.
Your bear will tan great in the automatic tanner. I do like to use the arrowhead crystal for all lifesize because the syntan ingredient will give you better stretch.
The extra can really come in handy when you need it to close on the lifesize form. An inch can save you hours of form alteration.
To me the critical step for a good tan on a bear is the thorough fleshing of all fat and removal of the grease.
After tanning for two hours in the machine to set the hair, I will shave, and then wash thoroughly (I use the "Scour" from Rineharts), rinsing several time to get the grease out. Then continue tanning as normal.