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I just picked up my bull moose mount from the taxidermist, and noticed it really only has a small tuft of hair for a bell. This is a 4 1/2 year old bull. Has anyone seen this before? I have looked at many moose images online and saw none as small/nonexistent as mine has.
Hey Zim.
Interesting timing for this thread.
I killed a Shiras in Wyoming earlier this month. A local taxidermist and his friends helped me pack the bull out in exchange for the cape (I had no intentions of doing a shoulder mount...and the help was well worth it!). He said the bell on that bull was the longest bell he had ever seen. It taped out over 25". Said they normally freeze and break off much shorter than that. Wish I had taken a photo of that bell.
Paul
Hey Paul, How have you been? I've not posted much lately.
So how was your moose hunt? What unit? Did you post photos on here somewhere? The population out there was so low when I hunted by Jackson Hole 2 years ago. Lucky to get anything.
Ya this bell thing has me perplexed. I have very little moose hunting/scouting experience. Just 2 trips. I mostly just know what I see online. When I Googled to look for articles on no bells I found nothing! Go figure.
I would think it would be like some guys that can grow "ZZ Top" beards and some that look like "Beiber"? Some can an some can't. Don't see it breaking off though because it's skin and alive with blood vessels pumping warm blood through it. Nice animal BTW! Mike
The story the guides told in Newfoundland was the bells on old bulls sometimes freeze off and they don't grow back???
I was also told that some moose have shorter/non-existent bells because they freeze and fall off as well.
Congrats again on your bull, Paul! Up until I heard about your bull's bell, mine was the largest I'd ever seen. It's 18" from the jaw line to the tip of the bell.
Zim, congrats on your bull as well! Looks like your taxi did a great job.
did the bull have a bigger bell when you shot it, I have heard that sometimes the bell isn't prepared quite right at the time of skinning and storage until you get to the taxidermist and it deteriates to the point of it can't be saved....
I do not ever remember seeing any bell when I was in the field. But I had my hands full and did not go out of my way to look for it. I can feel the skin flap under there. It's not very big.
I think it's a combination. In Alaska, it seems few older bulls have large dewlaps. Likely, frostbite takes it toll. However, in more temperate climes, like CO, it's more physical variation. This is the Shiras' bull I killed in '12. The CPW aged him at 7 years old.
Here is another bull I was keeping tabs on. He has an exceptional dewlap. (Sorry the photo isn't better. I only kept it because it was the best shot I had of his bell). I think he is slightly younger than the previous bull, but I doubt the first one ever had a dewlap like this.
What did it have when you shot it??? Any field photos? They are all different but I suspect your taxidermist may have cut it off so he did not have to split it and fleshing it, or maybe it slipped while tanning?? Check for stitches.
Good lord that is a B&C dewlap!!!
No it had nothing there when I harvested it. I did feel a very small dewlap underneath, but very tiny. Keep in mind, mine came from New England so maybe the variation is different there.
My experience has been that older bulls up here seldom have long bells. The combination of low winter temps, rut (wallow) activity and wandering through thick brush all seem to result in them falling off.
When preparing a moose cape with ANY bell, you need to split and salt the bell. Otherwise it will slip. There is not any muscle tissue in there, but like ears, and lips (which DO have muscle tissue present) you need to separate the two layers of skin or it will decompose or otherwise not survive the tanning process.
Pete
Here's a great example of a younger bull moose beard/bell/tossel
Here's a few bulls I've filmed with healthy bells.
Meant a couple the first two parts are the same bull
