I am having this spring's black bear rugged and am undecided on whether to go mouth open or not. While the mouth open certainly gives "the look" it also seems odd to me on a black bear given their general demeaner. Views?

I think on you first black bear rug, especially if it is a fairly big one, go open mouth.

If it is not a big one, go closed mouth, saving the open mouth rug for a bigger one.

I say that sitting here looking at 3 of my black bear rugs [I have 4 of them].

My first and biggest[squared 7 ft 2"] is open mouth, the others are closed mouth.

Open.

my 2 rugs both have mouth open but only about 1 1/2 inch- no wide gaping jaws.

I personally like the closed mouth on a black bear. One of my favorite mounts is a closed mouth black bear. Just seems more realistic and a better representation of the animal. With this said, I have seen some closed mouth forms that do not do the animal justice. My two cents...

i have come to like the close mounts best. if I ever have another one done it well be closed

I have an open mouth rug and a closed mouth lifesize. I don't think you can go wrong on the rug but I would not do open mouth on a black bear lifesize.

As a taxidermy rugmaker I must confess I do prefer the closed mouth bear rug although 90% of the bear rugs I do are open mouth. I feel a closed mouth is a more realistic appearance of the animal as one would see it in the wild.
For reasons of practicality, I feel a higher percentage of bear rugs displayed on the floor are mounted open mouth as the ears are laid back (the anatomically correct position for an open mouth bear). Laid back ears are less apt to get kicked, tripped over or invite the pooch over for a nibble.
Closed mouth bear rugs ears should be erect, as that is the anatomically correct position.
Like Jerry stated, a slightly open mouth rug mount is very attractive. They also give that natural breathing appearance as seen in the wild live animal. We do a few of our lifesized bear mounts, shoulder and 1/2 lifesizes with a slightly open mouth.

Either way, whatever makes you feel comfortable looking at your trophy daily.

reference:


Kind regards,
Mary