I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there is a rule of thumb about mounting a bear in a standing position. I understand what and how to square a bear's hide, but how does that translate to a standing mounted bear?

So, will an 8 foot bear stand 8 feet tall in the mounted position?

Sorry if this is a silly question.
Thanks.

Not silly question at all...my bear standing mount looks a lot smaller&skinny compared to the size it did when alive,,I think the taxidermist that done mine got the manikin that was close but smaller,and just sewed up the hide to fit,,for sure not exactly the same size...iam fairly sure they come in just a few limited size anyway...not unlimited sizes..
hope this helps& good luck

The biggest problem with bear measurements is the fresh bears skinned hide being pulled out, across and all over for all its worth for the largest tape measure measurements possible. Most 9 ft bears are maybe 8 ft and so on down. Most guides measurerments of bears is about the ego of the client and future bookings heavily factored in. Measure the head from tipof the nose to front corner of the eye and then the length of the head to the back of the skull only, you can feel for it, with the hair on. Measure the skinned carcus from the base of the tail to the back of the neck and the middle of the chest from the center of the back to the center of the chest and double that. That is the size of your bear which is WAY smaller than what anyone can make the raw fresh hide measure. Good taxidermists can fudge some but not not whole 12"s here and there.

A bear measured nose - tail, will measure close to the same, when mounted standing.

n-t.....72"

top of head to base (standing)....72"

TRL,

Are you referring to a green hide or an already tanned hide measuring 8'. As Jim (Sculptor) stated you can take a green hide and stretch it as far as humanly possible, from nose to the base of the tail, to make a smaller bear measure 8' but the abdomen will be 2' across (you can also stretch the abdomen to 6'+ and then have a 4' nose to tail measurement). Green hides are like stretching a rubberband, they have alot of give in any one direction stretched.

Once a hide is tanned you will not get stretch like that, you will get some but not alot. You will lose a small amount of length in the tanning as the process of tanning tightly grabs and sets the hair folicle permanently.

There are oodles of forms on the market. If there isn't one that fits the measurements of your bear exactly (which trust me, there probably won't be) an experienced taxidermist will be able to go larger or smaller and alter the form to fit your bear skin by adding on where need be or taking away where need be. If your taxidermist isn't able to alter a form then I would strongly suggest looking elsewhere to have it mounted. Altering a form is a must know how procedure, as most of your forms, regardless of what they are, need a bit of alteration to fit the specimen skin properly.

Measurements should hold true ONLY on a already tanned skin.

To answer your question as it is posted, "So, will an 8' bear stand 8 feet tall in the mounted position?":
If we are talking about an 8' (nose to the base of the tail) tanned bear skin:
Possibly and maybe even a bit taller, with the legs extended from standing, they could compensate for the distance of the head naturally curved over.

Kind regards,
Mary

My Black Bear squared 6'6" in the field (no stretching). I think it measured 6' from tail to nose.

In this mount, he stands 5'5" from sole of foot to top of head. I hope this helps.

Thanks everyone. All the information was helpful. I was really asking about the future more than anything. With just a little luck, I hope to go Brown Bear hunting this fall. I'm not one of those guys that carries a tape measure or worries about scores, but I always wanted a standing Brown Bear mount. I just wasn't sure if an average size Brown Bear would fit in a house with 8 foot ceilings. I'm talking like I've already shot one )
I was really just wondering if it was even feasible, if I got one. Thanks for all your help. RRease, nice Black Bear! Where did you shoot that one?

Thanks. Northern Alberta.