Someone probably found the fur of an animal, (pelt is the fur of an animal that has been stripped off).
Then knowing that someone had reported to the local authorities that they had seen a bear in the area, that person went ahead and classified it as a bear, rather than a wolf or cougar or whatever.
It could be read like this: With just a pelt and the knowledge that someone had reported seeing bears in the area, he classified the pelt as a bear pelt.
