More Of OW's Dead Critters

[Outdoor Writer]

Very impressive! Where is the bear from? Also is that lion rug from AZ?Thanks again for the pics

 

The lifesize bear is from British Columbia, as are the hides that are in my old trophy room. The rug on the wall in the old room is an AZ bear, however. I killed the latter during a spring hunt for turkey on the White Mt. Reservation near Cibecue in the 1960s.

 

I guess you mean the lion hide on the trunk in the old room, no? If so, it's from AZ. I killed that on a horseback hunt many years ago with Josh Epperson's dad, Randy, in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area.

 

Here are some photos of the BC bears and the lion.

 

This is the one I had mounted lifesize. Killed in 2003 just north of Prince George. Spot-&-stalk; one shot with 140-gr .264 Wmag.

 

 

This is a better pix of the mount after I had just got it home. I built the roll-around base to match the woodwork in the house, and the mount and landscaping were done by Marc Plunkett at Wildlife Creations.

 

 

The next two are bears I killed on my first hunt in the same place. The green hide of largest was 8'1" from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. The other was 7'6". Both killed with .338 WM 225-gr. bullets from a Browning A-Bolt.

 

 

 

This is the lion in the tree, and the 2nd is Randy Epperson with my lion.

 

 

[josh]

Yeah I thoughtI remember Randy talking about that big old lion you guys caught what a toad!

[elmergoo]

Awesome pictures tony. That cat is huge.

[Outdoor Writer]

Awesome pictures tony. That cat is huge.

 

Yup, it was a VERY big cat. Hide measures nearly 9' from nose to tail tip. Not sure where it stands now, but I think it was the largest Randy had ever taken. The sad part is I never got to have it mounted and even lost the skull to a somewhat unscrupulous taxidermist.

 

After I had the hide tanned, I stored it -- along with a bunch of other hides -- in black plastic trash bags in a closet until I could afford to have them mounted one at a time. I had the life-size lion and two black bears (in the pix above!), whitetail & blacktail deer capes, a 1/2 javelina and a life-size blackbuck. BUT...I kept them that way too long, so the tanning oils dried out. When I had Marc Plunkett mount the whitetail, the hide tore to pieces when he wet and stretched it. So he found me a replacement. He tested the lion hide by wetting a foot and trying to stretch it -- same result unfortunately. So now it's draped over a coffee table in my trophy room rather than the trunk as in the photo in the other thread.

 

I had given the skull to the first taxidermist so he could have it "beetled" for me. He kept it in his freezer for a long time, then went out of business. He did give me a frozen and wrapped skull, but it was from a much smaller lion -- likely the one his son killed just months before. I didn't realize that until months later when I went to clean it myself. It was quite easy to tell because my lion had a chipped tooth and that one didn't. By then, getting any satisfaction would have been fruitless. -TONY

[DesertBull]

8' black bear! WOW! That's awesome.

[Outdoor Writer]

8' black bear! WOW! That's awesome.

 

Here's snippet from the article I did for Petersen's Hunting about that bear hunt. I had killed the smaller one on the first day. -TONY

 

On the second day of the hunt, Pattison and I checked an area where he had seen a big bruin during the previous week. The bear had been feeding on a winter-killed moose close to the edge of a logging road. We arrived about two hours before dark and parked the truck about a half-mile away. Of course, because the road was gravel, Pattison insisted we leave our boots at the truck. This time, however, I was ready; after the experience of the first day, I wore two pairs of heavy socks.

 

We walked about 200 yards before I saw a movement in the brush a short distance from the road. I stopped and grabbed Pattison's arm. He saw why almost immediately.

 

"Geez, that's one of those chocolate grizzlies. Shoot him."

 

I dropped to one knee and looked through the scope. "It's a black," I whispered.

 

"No way," Pattison countered. "He's too big for a black. Shoot."

 

The boom of the .338 shattered the eerie quiet, and the bullet penetrated through the willows, striking the bear behind the shoulder. The animal wheeled around and bit at the spot.

 

"Shoot him again before he gets into the trees," Pattison yelled.

 

I already had worked another cartridge into the Browning's chamber, but getting a good shot at the spinning bear was nearly impossible. I aimed at the middle of the whirling blur and fired. Again, the bullet hit with an audible "whap.".

 

Pattison already had started toward the spot at a slow trot. "He's down, let's go."

 

I chambered another round just in case and caught up to the guide. When we got close, we slowed to a careful walk. I held the rifle ready just in case the bear decided to be beligerent. But he was quite dead.

 

Pattison looked at the motionless mound of fur and shook his head from side-to-side. "You were right. It is a black. Look at the size of that son-of-a-gun, though!"

 

We skinned the big black the next morning. The hide measured 8 ft., 1 in. from the tip of its tail to the nose. Pattison estimated its weight at 500 pounds.