My first bear rug

[Agross]

Great looking rug. I typically don’t care for the open mouth rugs because they aren’t as natural looking to me but yours turned out great. He did a tremendous job.
For those wondering why taxis do open mouth, it’s the customers decision.
As far as open mouth being cheaper , I’ve never heard of that. Maybe the form I guess but All the places I’ve talked to or dealt with, it’s more for the open mouth.
I’m waiting for my first rug. Guessing it will be late summer before I see it. Was a small bear but a colored bear so pretty excited. Again great looking rug and bear.

 

[waspocrew]

Great looking bear!

 

[hunthikecamp]

Awesome looking rug, getting me excited for mine to come back later this spring. It's crazy how long the tanneries can take. According to the taxi that's the longest part, his work is relatively quick.

If you don't mind sharing, how much do that set you back monetarily?

Fwiw, on the front range in CO i was quoted anywhere from $250-$400/linear foot. I ended up paying $250/foot for mine, closed mouth.

 

[doc holiday13]

Awesome looking rug, getting me excited for mine to come back later this spring. It's crazy how long the tanneries can take. According to the taxi that's the longest part, his work is relatively quick.


Fwiw, on the front range in CO i was quoted anywhere from $250-$400/linear foot. I ended up paying $250/foot for mine, closed mouth.

Dang.. Might be cheaper to buy my wife the sewing machine. I have a guy here on the east coast that does a good job on garment quality tanning

 

[hunthikecamp]

Dang.. Might be cheaper to buy my wife the sewing machine. I have a guy here on the east coast that does a good job.

Yeah it was ~$75-100/foot for just tanning. One nice thing I didn't expect, there is a checkin after the tanned hide comes back. So if anything goes wrong at the tannery or it doesn't come back looking right I have the option to bail on the extra rug cost if it's not worth it. Hoping that will be around May (early Sept bear)

@Andrewdk was the 1yr+ the quoted time from your taxidermist? That seems like a long time, I'd be chomping at the bit...

 

[Grizz208]

Looks awesome!

 

[Andrewdk]

If you don't mind sharing, how much do that set you back monetarily?

1300, rate was $225 a foot

 

[Andrewdk]

Yeah it was ~$75-100/foot for just tanning. One nice thing I didn't expect, there is a checkin after the tanned hide comes back. So if anything goes wrong at the tannery or it doesn't come back looking right I have the option to bail on the extra rug cost if it's not worth it. Hoping that will be around May (early Sept bear)

@Andrewdk was the 1yr+ the quoted time from your taxidermist? That seems like a long time, I'd be chomping at the bit...

That’s about his standard time frame. He’s a one man operation working from home.

 

[Andrewdk]

Dang! That was a fun story. I gotta get up to SE Alaska...
You do any hunting targeting them now or just if you happen to come across one?

First Black bear... An unplanned day of chaos in SE Alaska.

I had a bit of an interesting day on November 2nd in Southeast Alaska. Woke up early to hunt a muskeg behind my home, it’s about an hour walk/climb through some rough terrain and thick brush. I didn’t have high expectations and hadn’t had any luck with blacktails so far. A minute into the...

rokslide.com

They’re easier to target in the spring when they’re feeding along the coast. I didn’t get to go this past spring, I’ll be after another one this year.

 

[Jenks11]

Looks awesome. I’m hoping to bag one this spring worth doing the same thing to.

 

[twdjr]

Congrats!

 

[ianpadron]

That's a great rug

 

[Mtns2hunt]

Nice rug! Glad I killed mine about 10 years ago. Only cost a bit over 600. 1300.00 is a big increase.

I will think very hard before I shoot another and if I do will tan it myself. It's not really that hard and I have done two.

 

[Butcher44]

I really like the rug! Most have felt sticking out around the perimeter, never cared for that. My taxi quoted me $200 per ft also. But he doea his tanning in house.

 

[Yung6ix]

Very nice.

 

[Buckpr]

Bear looks stunning! Nice

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

Looks great! Love bear rungs and mounts

Sitting here and looking at mine just made me wonder how you skinned it? It seems very square. My rug is very wide in the back and narrower on the front shoulders. Sow vs boar maybe?

 

[Scottf270]

It's where they made the cuts and if the bear was heavier like in the fall before hibernation. Depending on where cuts are made, you can bring the belly skin come out to the side or the rear. I have seen brown bear skins on outfitters sites where they bring the belly skin back under the tail by nearly 2 feet. It gives the rug a squared off look and gives a false length measurement when outfitters "square" the bear for the client.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

Nice bear, but for the life of me I don't understand why taxidermists always seem to do an open mouth. Not very realistic imo.

Mine is eyes closed and mouth closed at the request of my wife lol. I’m very happy she wanted it that way now because I really like it that way. It’s very peaceful looking.

 

[Longranger81]

That is very nice