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Bears - Trophy Rooms

Man I’m loving this thread! Bears are so fun to hunt and there’s so many ways to present them as a trophy.

A couple years ago I shot this Montana spring bear. When I checked him in with FWP the game warden had to go get a biologist to confirm that it wasn’t a griz 😂 I guess maybe the length of claws and overall size threw him off. There was zero doubt in my mind what he was when I pulled the trigger. 6’ 8” 19 12/16. 7379CD63-9F35-4693-BA62-DAD66CC2F6A0.jpeg
 

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Man I’m loving this thread! Bears are so fun to hunt and there’s so many ways to present them as a trophy.

A couple years ago I shot this Montana spring bear. When I checked him in with FWP the game warden had to go get a biologist to confirm that it wasn’t a griz 😂 I guess maybe the length of claws and overall size threw him off. There was zero doubt in my mind what he was when I pulled the trigger. 6’ 8” 19 12/16. View attachment 176398
That must of been a pack-out. Great bear
 
Man I’m loving this thread! Bears are so fun to hunt and there’s so many ways to present them as a trophy.

A couple years ago I shot this Montana spring bear. When I checked him in with FWP the game warden had to go get a biologist to confirm that it wasn’t a griz 😂 I guess maybe the length of claws and overall size threw him off. There was zero doubt in my mind what he was when I pulled the trigger. 6’ 8” 19 12/16. View attachment 176398
Absolutely awesome bear!
 
As a person that is about to bear hunt for the first time (or at least hunt them seriously for the first time), I would really like to hear from some of you about skinning them out well, especially if not to be mounted (just a flat skin I think), and getting them home (from SE Alaska) without slipping. Do you salt them before you fly?
 
As a person that is about to bear hunt for the first time (or at least hunt them seriously for the first time), I would really like to hear from some of you about skinning them out well, especially if not to be mounted (just a flat skin I think), and getting them home (from SE Alaska) without slipping. Do you salt them before you fly?
I have never skinned my own. If it’s not frozen absolutely salt.
 
AB1A2827-96E4-48D1-BB24-DD9FB7D4E14C.jpeg
2006 Montana brown phase. I was Pronghorn hunting near Ringling, never thought I would see one in the sage basin. It was my first season as a resident of MT, I sprinted back to the truck to check the paper regs (before smart phones), as it turned out, the season was open, and I had a tag.

6 foot nose to tail, beautiful and delicious.
 
As a person that is about to bear hunt for the first time (or at least hunt them seriously for the first time), I would really like to hear from some of you about skinning them out well, especially if not to be mounted (just a flat skin I think), and getting them home (from SE Alaska) without slipping. Do you salt them before you fly?
I've taken 3 bears in Alaska over the years. 2 blacks and 1 brown. On all of them I skinned them out really well. I think I worked on the brown bear hide for over 2 days getting as much fat off as possible (Fall bear). Salted them all really well and when ready to fly home they went in those big fish boxes that have wax on them. Then just flew them as additional luggage. All turned out great with no slippage.
 
I've taken 3 bears in Alaska over the years. 2 blacks and 1 brown. On all of them I skinned them out really well. I think I worked on the brown bear hide for over 2 days getting as much fat off as possible (Fall bear). Salted them all really well and when ready to fly home they went in those big fish boxes that have wax on them. Then just flew them as additional luggage. All turned out great with no slippage.
No slippage is great. Any "drippage"? When I salt a hide, it pulls a ton of moisture out of the skin and makes a mess at times.
 
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No slippage is great. Any "drippage"? When I salt a hide, it pulls a ton of moisture out of the skin and makes a mess at times.
Not that I remember. However on all 3 bears I had several days after the kills before flying home so alot of the moisture had been pulled out. If you were flying home soon after a kill, you might have some drippage.

Another option is to have the hide tanned up there and shipped down when done. Haven't done that on bears but have done it on moose, sheep, and goat capes and that worked well too.
 
I think he's taken bud. ha
Haha. I was going for the “old “ guy joke. I guess I did it wrong. I hope I have half that many bear hides at whatever his age, but I think I’m getting a late start. How many have you got now Snowy? And how long have you been hunting them?
 
I got it, just giving you a hard time. I started about 12 years ago, killed a half dozen, and like many things started out being thrilled with finding any bears at all. Now I let more walk every spring than I saw the first few years of hunting them all put together. Those nights when the stars align and there's 5-6+ bears doing bear things on a hill are magic.
 
I got it, just giving you a hard time. I started about 12 years ago, killed a half dozen, and like many things started out being thrilled with finding any bears at all. Now I let more walk every spring than I saw the first few years of hunting them all put together. Those nights when the stars align and there's 5-6+ bears doing bear things on a hill are magic.
Well I’m certainly at the point of being thrilled just to see a bear at all. Seeing 5 to 6 on one hill?!? I think I’m a ways off from that. I’ve only seen 6 my whole life, assuming the first bear I missed out on 10 minutes before I shot mine last year was in fact a different bear. Looking forward to getting to this season and getting (I hope) at least a couple more sightings under my belt.
 
Man I’m loving this thread! Bears are so fun to hunt and there’s so many ways to present them as a trophy.

A couple years ago I shot this Montana spring bear. When I checked him in with FWP the game warden had to go get a biologist to confirm that it wasn’t a griz 😂 I guess maybe the length of claws and overall size threw him off. There was zero doubt in my mind what he was when I pulled the trigger. 6’ 8” 19 12/16. View attachment 176398
Really nice rug. What taxidermist did this?
 
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