fiddlinduke
Member
where do y'all take bear hides to be tanned, hair on? How much do they charge?
I took my bear to Wildlife Taxidermy in Lawrenceville to have a shoulder mount done. He is sending the rest of the hide to California for hair on tanning. He's only charging me $150 for the hide.I am going to spend this winter learning to do my own. I already have the right fleshing knife and plastic drums at my disposal. Trophy Taker ships his hides and outsources them. $350.00 for a 135 lb bear seems like an insane price to me. I have 4 hides lined up to practice on now. I think I can do one for $75.00 plus labor. It requires a TON of work to get one right, but if I can do one for $75.00, I will never even think of sending one to the taxidermist again.
I'm hoping to practice on these hides this winter and hopefully be able to offer them to forum members here for a far cheaper price. If you take a hide to a tazidermist, I can easily expect you to pay $350.00 or thereabout for a soft tan.
Just to clarify one thing. Chris at Trophy Takers told me they now do their own hides in house. Hence the four month wait. They did used to ship them out. I thought that was pretty neat!I am going to spend this winter learning to do my own. I already have the right fleshing knife and plastic drums at my disposal. Trophy Taker ships his hides and outsources them. $350.00 for a 135 lb bear seems like an insane price to me. I have 4 hides lined up to practice on now. I think I can do one for $75.00 plus labor. It requires a TON of work to get one right, but if I can do one for $75.00, I will never even think of sending one to the taxidermist again.
I'm hoping to practice on these hides this winter and hopefully be able to offer them to forum members here for a far cheaper price. If you take a hide to a tazidermist, I can easily expect you to pay $350.00 or thereabout for a soft tan.
Just to clarify one thing. Chris at Trophy Takers told me they now do their own hides in house. Hence the four month wait. They did used to ship them out. I thought that was pretty neat!
As of late September he already had 30 bears up front! He said this is the largest bear harvest he's ever seen likely do to the poor acorn mast and the deer baiting law. He said he has never seen a year like this.Really 4 months even when paid up front? WOW!
Hey Kyle if you ever get any extra hides you wanna send this way I'm up for it as a practice thing myself id just hate to ruin my first hide. So hence anything else that isn't going to be a rug is do myself. Rug prices are crazy!! I can figure out out how to sew felting on once i get the tanning part down. I really don't like how some rugs are felted..
Gotta start practicing on more deer hides an cow hides an see how that works to learn more.
I used these guys because they are close to the house and there work looks good, impressive show roomRug prices seem cheaper, but the others a bit higher then Trophy Takers. Mount looks good. My first year having work done by a Taxi. So seeing the prices is good. Sometimes its worth the little extra drive when you check prices out. I only checked out two prices before I dropped mine off with a taxi. But for next season when I get the big one I will definitely be price checking when it comes time for a rug.
Not sure if it will work but thought about trying it on a deer hide. On my alligator I used a pressure washer to flesh the hide. I have a small pressure washer that could possibly do it. I actually had to borrow my neighbors gas one for the gator cause it was over 3000 psi.I am going to spend this winter learning to do my own. I already have the right fleshing knife and plastic drums at my disposal. Trophy Taker ships his hides and outsources them. $350.00 for a 135 lb bear seems like an insane price to me. I have 4 hides lined up to practice on now. I think I can do one for $75.00 plus labor. It requires a TON of work to get one right, but if I can do one for $75.00, I will never even think of sending one to the taxidermist again.
I'm hoping to practice on these hides this winter and hopefully be able to offer them to forum members here for a far cheaper price. If you take a hide to a tazidermist, I can easily expect you to pay $350.00 or thereabout for a soft tan.
4 months is a short time, Alligator is like 8 monthsReally 4 months even when paid up front? WOW!
Hey Kyle if you ever get any extra hides you wanna send this way I'm up for it as a practice thing myself id just hate to ruin my first hide. So hence anything else that isn't going to be a rug is do myself. Rug prices are crazy!! I can figure out out how to sew felting on once i get the tanning part down. I really don't like how some rugs are felted..
Gotta start practicing on more deer hides an cow hides an see how that works to learn more.
Nice, I think the difference is that I told him I'm looking for something 300 plus now. My first bear that I shot and found went right at 175. I shot one earlier in the bow season made that one look like a baby and we never recovered it. But next one I get like that will go for a full shoulder. I will pay if it looks good. That mount you have there is a very good lookin mount for the cash sir congrats!Shoulder mount for $750?! maybe I got lucky, but my half body mount on a 150lb bear was about that much, maybe $800. I thought it looked great too, but maybe im crazy?
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I used these guys because they are close to the house and there work looks good, impressive show room
Oh yeah, I'll post some pics sure it will be awhile though with the season that was had this year. Rug makers making money this yearThats good to know they got good work may be worth me giving them a call next round on a rug. Let me know how yours turns out on the rug love to see some pics when you get it back.