Bear use conundrum

I have a situation that I believe is usually the opposite of others. My wife and I love the taste of bear meat but have no use for a bear hide.

I realize I have to bring out the skull for DOW tooth extraction as required by law but if it weren't for that law I'd leave everything except the edible meat laying in the woods to rot.

This matters because I've always followed that I would not hunt something if my wife and I did not like to eat it. While the hide is obviously not edible I still feel like I'm wasting too much of this particular animal to justify hunting it.

I'm guessing it's because the hide is the primary purpose most hunt bear (I admit I could be wrong in that assumption) and the root of my stance on eating what I hunt is about the wasting of it.

Any others here who found a way to balance this conundrum?

Thanks,
Andy

 

Yes, don't waste the hyde! You can give it to somebody who wants it or you can sell it to somebody who wants it. Do you not have any trappers in CO who sell to fur buyers? I'm guessing a bear would be worth a lot more than a muskrat or a fox.

 

Taxidermists are always looking for hides. Or have it made into hats, gloves and/or a parka.

 

One could very easily give it away or sell it.

 

"...you can sell it..." You can in Colorado, but not everywhere. Anyway, one site sells tanned black bear hides from about $350 to $695 USD. It's a Canadian company operating in NYS. No mention of where they get stuff.
http://www.chichesterinc.com/index.htm

 

I observed an interesting transaction recently at a PA bear check station. The PA Game commission had confiscated an illegally killed bear. Apparently, a hunter with a nonresident license had purchased a resident bear tag (I can't figure how that could even be possible) and killed a nice 300+ lb. bear. They busted him when he checked it in.

Anyway, they gave the bear to a hunter for the meat. I saw a cluster of people and went over to see what was happening. That is where I learned the facts above. The interesting part, IMO, was that they offered the hunter the right to buy the head and hide. I remember that they told him it would be appraised to come up with the value, and it would be a minimum of $300. If he didn't want it, he could return it to a commission office, and keep the meat for free.

Of course, such a transaction the other way around would be highly illegal in Pennsylvania.

Laphroaig

 

Thanks for the info guys. I believe CO allows the sale of bear hide but will confirm with them first. If so, I'll see if I can track down a fur buyer.

Andy

 

I believe that selling bear gall bladders is illegal everywhere in the USA. That's due to poaching for selling the gall bladder (and sometimes bear paws) to the Chinese for a small fortune.

 

sell the hide on ebay

 

if you don't want to fool with it take it to your local taxidermist and see if he will give a couple bucks for it. If not just give it to him. At least it wont go to waste that way.