Bear Mount Odor ?

[redmag]

A friend of mine who does taxidermy on the side recently did a bear half-mount for me. He does this in his home so the hide is not sent away, etc. When he gave me the bear a couple of weeks ago he said the bear has an odor and I thought nothing more than a residual smell from his processing. It is not a rotting flesh or any odor of that sort just a smell like say a wet dog. Is there any spray or anything I can put on the bear to take care of this odor?

Thanks,
Jim

[Pope94/IA]

A friend of ours had a full bear mount down and he said it smells to. He had it mounted by some guy we use to go to but we dont think his work is all that good anymore. Well a good friend of ours started taxidermy and even though he hasn't done alot yet he still does really good work. I actually had my buck this year mounted by him. Our friend with the bear was wondering what the smell was from so we asked our taxidermist and he said there is a type of deoderant or spray that your suppose to put on before you put the hide on the animal. Whether or not your taxidermist put it on might have to do with the smell. As far as what to put on after the hide is on? Im really not sure since im not a taxidermist.

[redmag]

Thanks for the reply. Did your friend's bear ever lose the odor? I was hopeful of hearing of something I could use to kill the smell. Maybe a taxi will have a suggestion.

Jim

[mncarphntr]

The bear hide wasn't properly degreased. They are tough to get completely clean. Masking sprays will help and the odor should fade but probably wont dissapear.

[redmag]

Thanks Crphuntr,
I do believe that you are correct as the bear smells of bear as I have skinned some of them. Just seemed odd to have the odor with only the skin after fleshing, washing, etc. I'll try some cover sprays and I guess hang the thing. Right now I havew it on the front porch airing out.

Jim

[Kosherboy]

Buy Nilodor from van Dykes Taxidermy supply and spary the bear.

http://www.nilodor.com/shop/index/ca...Pet_%2526_Home

[finfeathr]

The reason it smells, is that it was not commercially tanned and degreased...thats a real big step that was skipped, and an important one. You can put deoderizers and such on it, but you will only be masking the problem. Anytime it gets humid out, it's gonna stink again..there is no spray or deoderant that has to be put on an animal's cape prior to mounting. Some mounts will have a residual odor from commercial tanning, but that is a chemical odor that dissipates over time.
The problem with this particular bear is, it was not professionally tanned first, so there really isn't a miracle cure.
Sorry for the bad news, but thats the real deal
Rich