What would you do?

[Bwana]

I'm truly confuzzled as to what to do with my bear so have been asking friends and this morning I got to thinking that sometimes you dufes have some pretty good ideas so...what would you do if it was your bear?

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Definitely going to have the skull cleaned if I can find someone who does that sort of work. ;) But not sure what to do with the hide. Do I just get it tanned? Shoulder mount? 1/2 body?

Given this is my first bear, even if it is small, the cool coloration of the muzzle, the chevron on it's chest, and the fact that it is well-furred, all of this makes me think I should "honor" the bear by preserving it somehow. I don't want the ferocious bear pose that many get, just something natural looking and the other biggie is that I don't want to pay more to get it mounted than what the hunt cost me.

So, what would you do?

[Chicken Dinner]

I’d definitely get the skull done if it were me. As for mount vs. rug, I’d say personal taste and whether you have a spot to display a rug or not. I went with a mount on my first (and only) bear and would likely go the rug route if or when I get another. I think around here taxidermist charge about $150/linear foot for a rug. So, that can add up fast if cost is an issue.


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[Thumper]

I did a (shoulder?) mount on my first bear. I guess that was what you referred to as a "ferocious pose". Head and front legs/paws type of thing. I guess I had a crappy taxidermist as I could NEVER get rid of the smell. Of course this was in the early 80's if that makes a difference. The taxidermist sent me some sort of spray (?) or something, can't remember, but nothing helped. It ended up in the garage for many years ... until I sold it for $25 at a garage sale (the bugs got to it and it was pretty sad looking)!

My next two, I had rugs made ... but how many bear rugs can you have in a house? They never really fit in with our decor and I finally sold one to a friend for his cabin and the other I gave to a buddy. All I have now are pictures, but I've killed 12-15 bears (lost count), so I have plenty of pics.

That's a round-about way of saying I have no clue what you should do. ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Full body mount with his head stuck in a trash can.

BKB

[LJ3]

I thought this was gonna be a John Quinones thing and I'm pretty disappointed.

Also - I ain't never shot a bear.

I'll see myself out.

[Chicken Dinner]

Don’t leave, Len. We all know the reality is that Posthole would have shot the nuts off the bear and there’s no way he could do a full body mount.


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[Thumper]

I thought this was gonna be a John Quinones thing ...

Ha! I thought the same thing when I first saw this! ;)