Yes bear meat is edible and actually very good, it is like pork in the respect that it needs to be cooked well done. The cost of processing depends a lot on what you have done with the meat, some bulk sausage products are just over 1$ per lb and it runs all the way up to $3.70 per lb for jalapeno cheese smokies. We prefer to cut all of the back and neck up our selves for stew meat (makes great stew) and use all the rest of the meat for some type of sausage, sometimes we smoke a large chunk out of one of the hams whole as well which our processor charges .85$ lb for. So as I said it depends a lot on what you have done with the meat, the other variable is the size of the bear you are processing.

The size of the bear will also determine the cost of having the hide tanned, the last quote I got for getting a hide tanned was $60 per foot (nose to tail) so a 5' bear would be $300, 6' bear would be $360 etc. For a finished rug with felt border etc cost was $180 per foot.

Shipping is once again going to vary on the size of the bear and also on which carrier you use but one thing is universal, they are all expensive. For this reason I recommend taking as much of it with you as possible and either processing it yourself or having it processed back at home. A tanned hide is not too expensive to ship since it does not weigh all that much so if you will be flying out for the hunt I recommend taking as much of the meat as possible and leaving the hide here to be tanned even if it means paying the airline for an extra bag. We had a client who was able to put a hind quarter and both back straps off of an elk in 1 big cooler and paid like $50 extra to the airline, that is a lot cheaper than sending it Fed Ex or UPS.

I hope this helps, I know it isn't a real definite answer to all your questions but it gives you some kind of an idea what you are looking at. As with many things there are a lot of different ways it can be done so if you're on a tight budget there are ways to trim the cost down.