School me on black bear skinning cuts

[RobertD]

Bear guys, when you kill a black bear and want to tan it what do you do? Tube or rug? Something else?

Here at home I skin deer different ways based on my goal for the animal and the fact that I can usually get the deer somewhere hanging to skin/butcher him.

At work (taxidermy) I've skinned mammals whole (bobcat etc.) many dozens of times but I'm usually restricted to a dorsal cut/gutless method because of where we need the sewing seam to be on the mount. Obviously not doing that to a bear.

I think a tube skinned bear would look better but can you really tube them on a hillside somewhere without getting the meat dirty or just making life harder than it has to be? A rug cut seems cleaner and easier but I like the look of the bears @Greenhorn and @Big Fin have shared. I could always rug him and then sew him back up I guess.

Anyways, lay it on me, how do you personally skin a bear and why?

(Side note, I've skinned a lot of deer and a lot of small mammals but never a bear. Have fleshed bears, sewn bears, skinned out heads and paws, etc. but never skinned an actual dead bear.)

 

[The Hedgehog]

i've always just rug cut them

 

[Sask hunter]

i've always just rug cut them

Same here even for wall hanger. I’m sure a guy could do it like a big coyote but you would need to be in a garage or a tractor

 

[BackofBeyond]

Ya, without a way to hang them from the hind legs, I don’t think you could tube them.

Rug cut all the way for me.

More pressing question though, is where do you stop your cut, at the big middle pad, or go around it and head for the toes?

 

[ccc23454]

Ya, without a way to hang them from the hind legs, I don’t think you could tube them.

Rug cut all the way for me.

More pressing question though, is where do you stop your cut, at the big middle pad, or go around it and head for the toes?

I rug cut mine, tube neck cause i like the hide the way it hangs better and tan it that way. Leave skull in and cut to rear point of pad and seperate feet at joint. In camp or at house, i drape across a table then remove feet and skull. I have found i make fewer mistakes and do a much better job on hide while keeping it pretty clean.

 

[RobertD]

Ya, without a way to hang them from the hind legs, I don’t think you could tube them.

Rug cut all the way for me.

More pressing question though, is where do you stop your cut, at the big middle pad, or go around it and head for the toes?

Around it and head for the toes, for me anyways.

 

[RobertD]

I rug cut mine, tube neck cause i like the hide the way it hangs better and tan it that way. Leave skull in and cut to rear point of pad and seperate feet at joint. In camp or at house, i drap across a table then remove feet and skull. I have found i make fewer mistakes and do a much better job on hide while keeping it pretty clean.

This, along with everything everyone else added, tells me what I think is the ideal way to go about it. Thanks all.