Very nice Ryan and good job Bobby you won't have anymore excuses for missing ducks or geese now ! Ha ha

Very nice put up on the wolves !

Ryan a few pic's back looks like you are leaving cartilage in wolf ear. Less work if that acceptable. Is that finished or are you taking cartilage out next step.

Had someone tell leave cartilage a while ago like your pic. Got me thinking. Had been peeling cartilage off bears and wolves all along. Decent prices but if can get away with less work then good.

Other people what you do?

I separate the back of the ear all the way,and trim all the meat off the bulb.I cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside the inside out ear,and when I turn the pelt fur out,I turn the ear back the same time.I wrap the dry cartilage with a damp rag(and the feet) and it makes them easier to turn.
If you know you are sending them to the tannery you dont have to turn the ears feet or even the pelt fur out after drying fur in.
I dont decide which will go to the auction until after I grade them all so I do them all the same,except bad damaged ones which I tan myself.

Yes do the cardboard too to keep the ear hollow and either side of the ear do not dry together. So I am getting leave the cartilage is the way to go. Seems saw so many references to removing it - takes time but can be done so just skin either side of the ear. If can leave in then a time saver and simply separate as in Ryan's pic.

The ear will dry perfectly same timeframe as the rest of the skin with the catilage just separated from the back of the ear and left attached to the front of the ear.
Just make sure the ear is inside out when drying-then turn back when turning the skin
Taxidermist like to see the ear butt intact so make sure you clean the meat off the earbutt to prevent problems after turning back fur out.
The cartilage in the ear will tan,the taxidermist will soak the tanned ear and remove the tanned piece of cartilage and insert earliners.

Quite clear and thank you to Boco and Ryan. Never too old to learn.

If you're sending to FHA I would follow their Pelt handling for profit
Manual. I was always told wolf wolverine and bear ear cartilage should be left in. Cleaned of all fat and meat then dried. I've smelled wolf ears that weren't done right and it gets pretty sour.
When I first started handling a lot of pelts I followed the manual step by step and even though I knew how to get fur done, by following the instructions on how FHA wants them done I increased my profit by a lot.
I won't even pay $1 for coffee that's not made the way I want it so i imagine the fur buyers won't pay much for fur that's not done to their liking.

Your coffee analogy is Right on the Money...! Good thinking!

Pete

Last bear thawing on some new 330 boxes

Like skinning a bear twice. Usually I'll clean skin a bear on the spot but for this one a few others over the years I had to get the hide off as bad weather closed or I was on the verge of exhaustion. Whiteout conditions and the start of a migraine made me skin this one quick. Scarred up bear with more gristle and scar tissue than smooth buttery fat. Couldnt get it done right on the beam so I ended up hanging it and doing it the long way
Heat wave in the delta this summer. Never seen it this hot before with such low water.

Besides the patch just above the head this hide is clean fleshed. All the red marks are scars
That much more room on my freezer for some fresh caribou and moose in a couple weeks

Long greasy job.


Tooth hole. A bear scar that looks like a bear

This wound is 100 times worst than the bullet hole. Surprisingly it had good fur with no obvious signs of damage or missing hair from being a scrapper.
I saved the best for last

That one had to hurt.

A lot of work on that hide. The bear was a scrapper.

Ton of wk there Ryan. You not lazy.

That bear literally went to the school of hard knocks.

Great job Ryan.

Looks like a good sized bear.

Haven't paid close attention. Which town do you live in? Gwichin is your native language? Are there Inupaq speakers in your area also?
Nice wolves. Apparently you don't have the parasite/skin problems that some places here have.

MT- Im from Aklavik but I live in Inuvik. I have both Gwichin and Inuvialuit ancestry along with a mix of European. Inupiaq are in Alaska. We do have the skin problems here too with our wolves.

7+ feet so decent size for here. I wanted to go further to find something closer to 8 feet but the weather was the boss and when i crossed this guys tracks I followed and took what was offered that day.

Its now mid august and im free to start hunting whenever i feel like it. Thinking to head out tomorrow for caribou. Weather forecast is predicting a warm day sunday so id have to get home asap if i get anything. Bobby gets home from Edmonton this afternoon so Ill see whats on his mind and maybe head out tonight or early morning. Bobby wont be bothering me for one of my tikkas anymore. If I can just keep it put away until his birthday now.

My mom sent me this picture and said Bobby didn't waste any time. He walked in knowing what he needed. 60" game bags he said. Has to be packs of 4. Made me think of the movie home alone where young Kevin McAlister asks the cashier if this toothbrush was approved by the American dental association. Maybe my boy will get another caribou tomorrow

Good stuff Ryan! I learned more in 5 minutes of reading about ears than an evening of google searching…..lol. So many people do it different. I find the feet the most difficult to flip fur out after a day. I thought my ears looked goofy but I think I’m doing it the same as FHA because they look like yours, takes a while to carefully get to the tips. I got the polar bear that I bought off Ian back from International Fur Dressers, after tanning it’s over 10’, they were impressed. Was mouse crap in the fur, but it turned out awesome!