Hunting Washington Forum

Community => Taxidermy & Scoring => Topic started by: trophyhunt on December 02, 2015, 08:13:05 PM

Title: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: trophyhunt on December 02, 2015, 08:13:05 PM: Having trouble deciding on my bear rug, I know the traditional way is to leave the mouth open. But I have always felt it looks so fake, I've never seen a bear with it's mouth open in the woods snarling. I think the more natural way is with it's mouth closed but, I also know it's the traditional way to leave it open!!! Curious what you guys think or would choose.
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: jrebel on December 02, 2015, 08:19:39 PM: I chose to have my rug done with mouth shut. When I get it back, I will gladly post pics. I thought mouth open looked fake and like you pointed out.....never seen one in the wild with mouth open. :tup:
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: lokidog on December 02, 2015, 09:40:34 PM: I've had my two rugs done mouth open (1980 and 1984), but would probably do it closed if I did another.
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: BlackRiverTaxidermy on December 02, 2015, 10:23:11 PM: Trophyhunt,
Something to keep in mind is that there is a 'relaxed pose' that is available with rugs and mounts when it comes to bears. Everyone's opinion is everyone's opinion but I tend to agree with you, the open mouth always looks a little un-natural, no matter how good the taxi work is; plus it gives them an 'angry' look. On the flip side, the close mouth sometimes looks a little too much like Boo-Boo Bear unless its a specific type bear like a sow or a younger bear. Again, this is solely my opinion and I have customers that choose either closed or open mouth on a regular basis.
The flip side is a fairly new pose called the relaxed or 'slack-jawed' pose which displays the bears mouth at a slightly open pose displaying the canines but keeps from the typical open mouth/angry pose. Take a look at it on several websites, and I will try and pose a pic if I have one. Take a look at this pose though, kind of the best of both worlds.
Best of luck!
Joel- BRT
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: BlackRiverTaxidermy on December 02, 2015, 10:26:15 PM: Not a pic of my work, but a pic of the type of pose that I was referring too.
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: jackelope on December 02, 2015, 10:43:50 PM: That's what I'd do. Right there.
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: lokidog on December 02, 2015, 11:00:46 PM: I like that as well. :tup:
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: trophyhunt on December 03, 2015, 08:44:00 AM: I forgot about the relaxed look, my full mount has that same mouth. I do think it's a good alternative, I wonder how it looks on the rug though? Thanks for the input guys.
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: jjdavis2222 on December 03, 2015, 08:57:20 AM: I struggled with this decision also. I ended up going with the open mouth. It turned out better then I was expecting. Not all that fake looking not over the top aggressive looking. I just got it back last week. Here is a pic.

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi225.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fdd150%2Fjjdavis2222%2FIMG_1382_zps092l1jiu.jpg&hash=a3192b153a0ce95f6bb6d227075f95556cc95010) (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/jjdavis2222/media/IMG_1382_zps092l1jiu.jpg.html)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi225.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fdd150%2Fjjdavis2222%2FIMG_1383_zpsgjllvgyy.jpg&hash=39341d5e563dacfa613c7c0f296ed98683959d0a) (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/jjdavis2222/media/IMG_1383_zpsgjllvgyy.jpg.html)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi225.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fdd150%2Fjjdavis2222%2FIMG_1385_zps8shrpgov.jpg&hash=769cefbfbb1dfbee59edb7ad002c3e6054b0a75d) (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/jjdavis2222/media/IMG_1385_zps8shrpgov.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Poll: Bear rug, mouth open or not??
Post by: PolarBear on December 03, 2015, 08:59:09 AM: Partially closed with a cigar hanging out.