This is one of two Black Bear boars I took in Alberta this past spring and was squared 7'8" in camp and turned into a 6'9" rug. The second bear, a 7'7" boar will be mounted full body.







[ 10-30-2002, 21:29: Message edited by: DennisHP ]

VERY NICE!!!

That is a beautiful rug. Who did the work? Why do you think the rug ended up smaller than your camp measurements? What did it cost for the rug and what will it cost for the full body mount? I shot a black bear in May of 2001. Based on the girth it weighed about 375#. I measured 77" nose to tail and 87" across the front claws in the field for a squared size of 6' 10". The rug came out at 6' 6". Is it normal that the measurement across the claws would be more than nose to tail? Rufous.

Roufus, I had Jim August Taxidermy in Portland, Oregon perform the work on the rug and he is doing a full body mount (FBM) of a second bear for me as well. I used him mostly because I live in Portland as does he, but also because the Outfitter where I took my bears recommended him. Also, there's a couple guys in the office who use him for African game and he does excellent work.

It is normal for the shrinkage to occur during the tanning process and the subsequent stretching can't quite get it back out to the original size. The rug was priced based on the completed length and was $135.00 per linear foot. The FBM will be around $2,000.00 including the diarama.

I believe it is normal for the claw to claw to be larger than full length. At least that's how every bear I've seen measured came out.