I’m experiencing a little cabin fever and starting thinking about past experiences and things I wish I could do over again or learn from past mistakes. Maybe we can help others with a discussion about hair slippage.

In 1994 I tried my hand with bear baiting. I set out as I always did, looking for a place the average person wouldn’t be. A place you had to work for. After a 3-1/2 hour drive, a 2 mile hike thru a gorge and up a river another 1/4 mile I found my place. It was hard at first to recruit friends to help build, haul bait and maintain the stand. That was until my success with many many bears, some that friends tried to encourage me to enter into record books but I never did. I ran that stand for 22 years. But my most proud and memorial hunts were with my wife and daughters. One that still bothers me today was my oldest daughters first bear. This would have been in the spring 2007. That little 11 year old girl spent many long drives, many logged miles baiting ( added up to 31 miles), many shivering, buggy nights in that tiny stand. As a dad, all that hard work and many hours together, was the real reward. But then it happened. Everything lined up. We heard the slow crunching of a big bear coming in one night, around 10:30pm if I remember correctly. I did all the usual, telling her to be calm, breath, no sudden movements, check the rifle, wait for my whispers. I then look at Kayla and she amazed me at her calmness. I didn’t have to tell her any of this. All those drives and talks on the hike in sunk in. She was ready. Once the big bear walked under us, stopping every few feet, sniffing the air, he ended up at the bait pile. When I got ready to coach Kayla for the shot, suddenly a shot rang out and the big bear ran off about 70 yards. After a bunch of crashing and a very loud, deep death moan, I new it was over. Kayla didn’t need me to coach her, she took the shot on her own when she was ready. We quickly climbed down the tree, hugged, cried a little and started to go over an admire the bear. This was a 6’ plus black bear. Huge scarred head. Beautiful white “V” on his chest. Some of the biggest claws I’ve seen on a black bear to date. I was pretty experienced in skinning bears by now and in a half hour I was struggling to put the load on my back for the long hike out. After getting to the car that night I couldn’t wait to drop that thing off my back and into the trunk. The drive home was one my proudest moments. Looking over at Kayla curled up sleeping on the seat , I felt on top of the world. We got home at 4am and I had to work that morning. I left the bear inside that frame pack, inside that trunk until my first break that morning to rush it up to my taxidermist. I dropped off the bear and preceded to wait for the call in 6 months to come pick up the bear rug. But I got a call in 3 months. My taxidermist gave me the bad news after he received the tanned hide back from the tannery. He told me Kayla’s bear had major hair slippage all around the neck and top of head. I was bummed. I went and picked up the tanned hide during my lunch and was disappointed at myself. How was I going to tell Kayla? I have taken and hiked out many many bears before this and never experienced this. Why now? I learned a very important lesson that day. Or so I thought. Since that day, I have made great efforts to cool an animal on the trapline down correctly. But every once in a while I was still getting the slippage. Always on special catches or special animals. And always around the neck and head. I don’t catch great numbers of any one species on my line. But I do catch a very nice variety and some very nice animals. So I tan and keep my prize pelts for retirement fur sewing and sell off the excess. Maybe because I tan most everything, I have experienced the occasional hair slippage. When trappers send off to auctions or sell dried skins, they may never be aware of hair slippage on their catches. Now a days, I take great care in cooling animals down. Laying them on backs on brush with bellies up and legs spread with sticks until I’m on the way back from checking the rest of the line. Havnt had the slippage bug get me in over 10 years now but I sure would like to go back and re do a few animals. Kayla’s bear, my first wolverine, a gorgeous evenly colored cross fox. Anyway, just a Sunday read. Maybe chime in on your past mistakes or methods you use to cool your animals down. It might help salvage a great memory or great animal for for someone else. Good luck to all you trappers on the season “whine” down..

I usually skin in the woods and as soon as possible. Except of course for things that are frozen in lethal sets. One thing about skinning immediately is that they skin much easier when warm, but another is the cooling aspect. I used to do a lot of camping out and cat hunting away from home and things like freezers. Still do spend a couple weeks doing this every year but not like I did before I was married. I learned that getting hides cooled out fast is particularly important if you aren't going to get it in a freezer right away. I had a few cats slip around the ears years ago, I had skinned these fairly quickly, but then stuffed them in bread sacks and tied them closed. Weather was freezing or close to it but not particularly cold, 20s to maybe low 30s in the afternoon, and those hides rolled up and stuffed in bread sacks didn't cool out like they should have. Now when I skin a cat I toss the hide, skin side out in the snow and kick snow over it and leave it set for a couple minutes while I put stuff away. Then I turn it fur side out, shake the excess snow out of it, and put it in the bread sack, but leave the top open until I get home to put it in the freezer. (I usually put all my hides up at the end of the year, so they go into the freezer until I go to putting up fur).
If you have frozen whole animals, hang them up to thaw, and skin as soon as they are thawed enough, I usually end up skinning when they are still a little frozen between the front legs. Predators with a full belly are especially prone to green belly and hair slippage if you don't have them hung up. Also if you have an animal that is gut shot, skin it as soon as possible and flesh any gut juice away from the hide.
I guide hunters so I've dealt with all sorts of shot up critters, and sometimes in some warm temperatures. Unless specifically asked by the hunter not to, I always skin out the head on bears and cougars nowadays, when I am skinning the animal, to aid in cooling the hide. Also I cape deer and elk the same day unless they want to show them off to their buddies, and then if it is warm out I warn them that if they wait too long they may be buying a cape to mount the horns on. Also I may pack out a hide stuffed in a backpack, but I don't put them in plastic bags until they are going in the freezer, that plastic really retains the heat, and I take them out of the pack and try and spread them to cool when I get to the rig.

Not a big fan of lethal sets unless they are in the water (drowning sets or bodygrips set in water) or the weather is cold. The first wolf I ever caught in a snare, I'm pretty sure was waiting up on the hill until it heard my snowmobile go by, then ran down the hill and stuck its head in a snare. Three day check, weather in the upper thirties, and a wolf with a belly full of meat. She had a patch the size of your palm slip on her flank, and that was just boarding and drying her, I'm sure a lot more would have slipped going to the tannery. As it was she had mild case of mange, but a buddy was wanting one to hang on the wall of his new house, I glued the hair back down and gave her to him dried. To this day she is still hanging there, but she doesn't look the greatest. Always am glad she wasn't a really nice wolf, because she wouldn't have looked it after going to the tannery. I see pictures of wolves and coyotes on the internet that guys snared and are blown up like a balloon, and always wonder how much slips after they are tanned.

Another tip, if you have green belly or a questionable hide or cape, spray it down with Lysol, it will kill the bacteria and stop the decay where it is .

Dang Steve that’s a huge disappointment to have those special animals hair slip.

I have always completely skinned everything out as soon as possible and got it cooled off or frozen. Then fleshed and dried or fleshed and salted and eventually tanned and sent back to me. Always used Moyles or local taxidermist and so far been lucky with everything. I do have a red fox from Kodiak that the skin is actually falling apart on but no hair has slipped. Moyles tanned it 10-12 years ago so not sure what has caused the current issue? This was shot at the start of a 2 week bear hunt and sat in the rain at close to freezing temps for the entire time, so that might be a contributing factor to the current issue.

I guess I have been lucky over the years. The only thing I have ever had slip was a red fox. It only slipped in a small spot on the rib cage where I had "compressed" it with my heel.

I usually use Stop Rot on things like wolf & wolverine just for insurance.

Ken when using stop rot are you just putting it on the feet and stomach area? The green bellies always worry me.

I usually paint it on the entire hide..especially the ears once I get everything turned and fleshed. I like to pack some salt in the feet once it is turned fur out

I've never trusted the smell of green belly but I've never had one slip either

Always important to get all the blood out of the hair too just because of bacteria.

This year I didn’t put salt in the feet on wolf. I separated the webbing between the toes similar to turning ears and found the feet dried out real quick. Previously I have used salt and paper towels in the feet of wolves and bears.

Yes splitting that web makes a great difference ! I usually salt dry my wolf and wolverine rather than stretch them. It's less work and likely it's safer. Besides I had a buyer who wanted them salt dried. Handy too if you're just going to have them tanned.Don't have to mess with turning them

The only bear I have done was in salt & acid.

I need to start practicing turning hides in case i ever start selling them. Never sold any so I just leave them skin side out and mail them to moyles. Good point about salt drying verse boarding them depending on what you are doing with them.