Brown Bear Hide Tanning for Classroom

[Teacherman]

I'm a science teacher in the Matsu Valley and I've been working with fish and game and I'm lined up to get a brown bear hide from them for my classroom and I'm wanting to get it tanned. This will be out of my pocket even though it's for my school so I'm wanting it to be as cheap as possible. Does anyone know a taxidermist that would be willing to cut a teacher a deal. I can give them some really good advertisement with it in my classroom. If not what do you think it would cost to get it tanned? I have a 6' black bear rug in my room at my school now. I would love for the students to be able to see the difference between the two species.

thanks

[stid2677]

The going rate for tanning is about $50.00 a foot.

Steve

[ibohnt]

check out moyle mink on the web. they do good work. www.moytown.com

[sayak]

Gosh Teacherman, judging by the run-on in your first sentence, it's a good thing you are teaching science instead of English!

Hope you find a good tanner. That would be a great visual to get kids interested in hunting.

[BRWNBR]

talk with tim at trophy tanning and taxidermy, he's a nice guy and might be willing to work with you. does all his tanning on site.

[Teacherman]

Gosh Teacherman, judging by the run-on in your first sentence, it's a good thing you are teaching science instead of English!

Hope you find a good tanner. That would be a great visual to get kids interested in hunting.

I was expecting this comment, you are correct. There may be a little too much
country in me but the kids love it and if you talk to them they love my classes Yes
you’re correct I would fail the system if I had to teach grammar or English. It killed
me in college, but I made it.

[sayak]

I was expecting this comment, you are correct. There may be a little too much
country in me but the kids love it and if you talk to them they love my classes Yes
you’re correct I would fail the system if I had to teach grammar or English. It killed
me in college, but I made it.

I'm betting you're right! It was just some good natured ribbing.
I have taught Science before, but definitely it is not my forte'. Keep up the good work.

[270ti]

check out moyle mink on the web. they do good work. www.moytown.com

+1. That's the only place I use anymore.

[Stickeen]

HAve you considered trying to tan it yourself? Some cool stuff you could do with chemistry, pH, etc. Just depends how nice the end product has to be. I had a student of mine do an excellent job on a seal hide using a battery acid tan. When I was in college I did my bobcat and javelina with a citric acid tan. Granted, a bear may be a bit more challenging...

[Teacherman]

+1. That's the only place I use anymore.

With shipping each way at $12 a pound that could get really $$$ really quick. I use them for my fox hides. Plus I played on the site a little tonight and could not find bear prices??? I did find an article in an Idaho paper how they got raided this week by fish and game from multiple states! Didn't give much info but makes you think. I have a feeling it was for a poching ring from the article, not there fault just caught in the middle.

[270ti]

I ship black bear hides down to them from POW, and it's never more than $50 for a salted black bear hide crammed inside of a wax fish box.

[Teacherman]

Yes I have, we are in the process of cleaning and whitening a couple bear skulls. I just don't know if I have the facilities to tan a bear. But yes I have REALLY been thinking about it. I would just have to read up on it, never done it.

[Teacherman]

I ship black bear hides down to them from POW, and it's never more than $50 for a salted black bear hide crammed inside of a wax fish box.

I just got the $12 a pound off of their site. I thought that sounded really high. Can anyone find the cost of a bear on that site?

[270ti]

This is what I came up with. Give them a call tomorrow.

http://www.moytown.com/services-taxidermy.html

[bushrat]

Teacherman,

I opened this thread expecting you would be tanning hide as a classroom project. Would be a cool thing to show the students, only problem is that once you take the hide from the tanning solution and rinse, it has be worked pretty much continually until soft, a pretty major undertaking requiring a lot of elbow grease hours.

Is the hide dried, salted, rolled up or what? A properly stretched and air-dried hide wouldn't go bad, would just be stiff, but if it was tacked out and dried right you could tack it to the wall if that is what you intend to do anyway, save some money.