What did/do you do with your bears?

Bwana · Jun 22, 2018

Recently got back from my first bear hunting trip where I had an absolutely AWESOME time! Met some great folks, caught my first fish on a flyrod, saw some amazing country, listened to the loons, got to check cameras & baits every morning, and on and on and on. To put the icing on the cake I also took a bear! It isn't a big bear, but it has a cool white chevron on its chest, is well furred, and most importantly, it is mine.

I never really thought about it before going, or at least not very hard, as I didn't want to jinx myself by counting my eggs before they hatched. Now the question is, how do I want to preserve this wonderful creature and the amazing memories that go with this hunt?

I'm leaning towards either a shoulder mount or a 3/4 (which looks a lot like a 1/2 to me but who am I to question the name ;-) )in order to show off the chest area but questioning the intelligence of spending as much money on the taxidermy as I did on the hunt. Not sure if I will ever get the chance to go bear hunting again or not. Therefore, wondering if I should do something with this one, other than just have it tanned and the skull cleaned, with the knowledge that there are a lot of bigger bears in the world or just be thankful for what I have and deal with any future critters IF the time comes.

What have you folks done with your bear? (pictures please if you are willing to share)

Sask hunter · Jun 22, 2018

Bears are my favourite animal to hunt. But the taxi bills can get outrageous. I have shot 7 so far so I speak from experience. I have a couple half mounts done and two rugs. Honestly I am at the point now here brats over 20” get mounted and the rest are tanned. Tanned bears look really good and are fairly cheap to get done.

Sask hunter · Jun 22, 2018

Should mention rugged my first two bears which were small and half mounted the next 2 one of which was small and one was over 20”. The last four have been tanned. Always something special about your first bears

shaffe48 · Jun 22, 2018

I'm having mine done in a rug. I used to think I was going to get a shoulder mount. Those make more sense with a deer where the key is the antlers. With a bear, the key is the actual animal and what you are getting is the size of the fiberglass form.

elker · Jun 22, 2018

Just got a bear similar to yours, not the biggest, but at least diy with baits on a solo. I hope you saved the meat. Bear burgers are the best. Decided to tan myself w/o head and put on felt for wall hanging. Just finished. Bought a tanning kit from Cabelas and picked up some felt today. Not too much work and for less than $60, can't go wrong. Also, going to boil the skull. Here are some pics. Congrats!

shaffe48 · Jun 22, 2018

That's a little cheaper than $1k for a rug. I did a deer hide as a kid but the hide side wasn't glove like as a pro would do. I need to try it again sometime. But my deer hide was 40 hours of work.

elker · Jun 22, 2018

shaffe48 said:
That's a little cheaper than $1k for a rug. I did a deer hide as a kid but the hide side wasn't glove like as a pro would do. I need to try it again sometime. But my deer hide was 40 hours of work.

Probably a little easier these days, although I had about 25 hours into that one. Doesn't need to be like a glove if going on the wall. This tanning kit makes them soft. Trying a red fox next week that I got a day before getting the bear.

shaffe48 · Jun 22, 2018

Those days weren't that long ago...I'm only 30. I used an old alum salt recipe but fleshing was definitely the hard part. If I did it I would tan without felt and hang by the nose. See how yours has the baldish spots near the armpits and groin? That's one thing I wanted to avoid Taxidermist can fix that somehow but I don't know how.

The Hedgehog · Jun 23, 2018

elker said:
View attachment 83995

Where’d his head go?

GlockZ · Jun 23, 2018

my first bear i had done in a rug. now that i have the first one under my belt, i'm a bit more picky, next bear i harvest, will have to be a color phase, either blonde, chocolate or cinnamon, and then i will decide how i want it mounted, bur am leaning towards a full mount.

elker · Jun 23, 2018

Yeah the fleshing is messing work. I watched some youtube on fleshing with a power washer. Made it easier. Still used alum, salt. etc. Sorry about the thinking it was a long time ago, you're still a young buck. Being semi-retired, I have a lot of time on my hands. There were some spots on the hide that came out too thin, holes I should have repaired, might try to fix myself.

el unit · Jun 23, 2018

Rugs for the 2 bears I got. Still waiting on the blondie to get back from the taxidermist. Should be any day now.

NV_ARCH3R · Jun 23, 2018

Just took my second bear to the taxidermist. After talking with him I went with another rug, The fur is the primary when mounting a bear. If the fur is all good a full body or rug (rug cheaper). No sense in throwing away good fur. If its been rubbed, so there bald spots then maybe consider some sort of shoulder or 3/4 mount.

Tinner2216 · Jun 24, 2018

I currently have one rug and one 3/4 mount. If it is a small to average size bear, I would lean heavily towards a rug or tanning the hide. Rugs turn out looking awesome on an average size bear. In my opinion, it takes a bigger bear to make the 3/4 mounts look good. Congratulations on the bear!!

elker · Jun 24, 2018

Greenhorn said:
Where’d his head go?

Didn't have a head, must have been why I was able to bag him! Actually head is in the freezer, just going to boil and bleach.

Cheater · Jun 24, 2018

Never killed a bear, but I prefer a rug or full body mount. For some reason shoulder mounts seem odd with bears. I don't care for half mounts on anything.

Atla · Jun 25, 2018

I've become a big metalized skull fan lately.

Here's one place that does it.

http://www.ironcladmetals.com/skullworks

Not bad priced, and I'd say a lot quicker turn-around.

neilmoore406 · Jun 25, 2018

I like the look of a tanned hide over a rug. It's a lot cheaper and I believe has more flexibility in uses, plus you don't have that felt coming out the sides. A tanned hide can easily be hung on a wall or draped over the back of a couch. That's what I have done with my two bears and the goal is to have 4-5 different color phases all tanned and hung on a wall together. Oh and of course beetle clean the skull - thats my favorite part to display.

Cav1 · Jun 25, 2018

My last bear went about 5-1/2 feet. My local taxidermist did the rug for just a tad over $400, which I thought was reasonable, and he was able to preserve the little white patch on the chest while doing it. This is on a king-size bed; now it hangs on the wall in the living room.

Gunner46 · Jun 25, 2018

Well, so far, my one & only black bear was 7' 3" and scored 21 5/16" B&C. AZ state record that year. That earned a full body mount. $1200 back in the early 80's, which cost about equal to the hunt itself !

After dragging that mammoth around for too many years I donated it to the NC Children's Museum after Hurricane Floyd flooded it completely out.

If I tap the trigger on another bear I'm going with a rug. That was the plan back then, but........

A rug is A Lot easier to deal with. Hang it on a wall, drape it over the lounge, use as a blanket, or just lay it on the floor in front of the fire place.

What did/do you do with your bears?

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