what to do with bears

[Iowabowhunter]

Hey folks,
wanting to get an idea as to what I can do should I be successful in bringing a bear home from my upcoming trip to Stickflingers.

I don't have space for a rug, and my taxidermist moved to Kansas so I don't have a great option there.

Being in Iowa, I the taxidermists around here usually specialize in deer. Plus the last one I used did a horrible job (anybody in Iowa that has a taxidermist that does good work & is taking new clients, please let me know)!

I was thinking of doing a shoulder mount & then euro mount for the skull.

Just not sure how that would look

[Stringwacker]

I have bears with a half mount, a rug, and with last years Stickflinger bear...I'm doing a deep shoulder mount and Euro. Some shoulder mounts look good; though I think most look bad (to me). We will see how this one turns out.

I really like the half mount, but the wife doesn't like bears very much and a half mount takes up a lot of space.

In regard to taxidermist, I had the first two done in Canada, but the excise taxes etc makes that very prohibitive now. I'm having a local taxidermist do the last bear...even though he has never mounted one before. I will take the chance on the evidence of how well he has done some of my other mounts.

Well will see how much I like his work (and the mount I selected) in a few months when I get it back.

[BruceT]

[mnbwhtr]

If you have room for a 1/2 mount I'd do that, they look nice. I did taxidermy for over 40 yrs so I have 2 lifesize one black and one cinnamon, a rug and 2 shoulder mounts in my house. You might ask yourself how many bears are you going to shoot and then decide.

[Tim Finley]

Look the taxidermy over good on who evers going to do it  bears must be hard to do I have 3 rugs a half mount and a bunch of tanned hides and Im not satisfied with any of them . I would look for a taxidermist in bear country you might look one up in Winipeg on you way home they usually they do a better job when bear as their main animal to mount .

[Iowabowhunter]

Doing some checking around, some of the mounts cost more than the hunt 

Worst case I'll euro the skull. I'd really like a nice half mount, it's just way out of the budget unfortunately.

Hoping I can talk my wife into at least a shoulder mount!

[LookMomNoSights]

Taxidermy...... especially REALLY GOOD taxidermy,  has gone through the roof over the past 10-15 years it seems,  like many things these days. 

[Terry Green]

Taxidermy...... especially REALLY GOOD taxidermy,  has gone through the roof over the past 10-15 years it seems,  like many things these days.

I agree. Believe it or not, in 2005 I paid only $1150 for this guy to get mounted... and yes, pedestal included.

[LookMomNoSights]

That seems like a steal Terry seeing as though I paid $1050 for the last buck I had mounted 2 years ago (fantastic work though)   ..... in the ball park of $1000 is the going rate around these parts for a quality shoulder mount whitetail. 
I do realize it is a tedious task and true artistry AND,  seems like there's not as many younger folks willing to learn the art and carry that torch,  at least around local to me anyway.

[Trenton G.]

I just did a skull mount with mine. The hide is in the freezer but I haven't done anything with it yet. Taxidermy has certainly gotten very expensive! I started mounting my own recently to cut back a bit on cost and wait times.

[Tim Finley]

I paid almost $500 just to have the hide tanned on my grandsons bear he shot last spring . Its getting so the cost of the hunt and then taxidermy is too much.

[Iowabowhunter]

I found a local guy that will tan the hide for a very reasonable amount, then I'm going to euro mount the skull.

Half bear on a pedestal would look amazing, but WAY out of my price range!