Cabela's!

Anchorage's first Cabela's store opened two weeks ago. We heard from numerous sources that they had an impressive fish tank and a lot of wild game trophies (AKA mounted animals preserved by a taxidermist). I took the children over there last week to check it out.

I had never been to a Cabela's before so I was not prepared for the incredible number of mounted animals. I thought they'd have one of each type of animal, but they had multiple examples of many animals: wolves, Dall sheep, sea lions, caribou, moose, walrus, bears etc. I wish I had counted how many large game trophy animals were on display, but I didn't think to do so while there. We'll have to go back and do a more thorough job of checking out the dead wildlife!

I called the store to see if they had a head count. The store operator said she didn't know the number, but the cost was $1.5 million in taxidermy. When Cabela's decided to build in Alaska, they contacted local taxidermists and asked them to offer money for their trophy animals to local hunters with nice trophy animals coming in to get them mounted. A friend of my nephew's sold his Dall sheep to Cabela's for $500 and then Cabela's had to pay the taxidermist to mount it. (What does it cost to get a large animal mounted?! $1.5 million is a lot of money!) 

The operator asked another employee how many mounted animals they thought there were in the store. They guestimated over 100 not counting the smaller animals like fish. (Where were the mounted fish? I only saw the live ones in the two huge tanks at the back of the store.)

The operator also commented that for its size (100,000 square feet--a mid-sized Cabela's) our new store had a larger than usual collection of mounted animals. The main aisle of a Cabela's store showcases local game and given that this store is in Alaska there are a lot of big game animals to showcase.  When you enter the store the first thing you see is two large bull moose in fighting stance. Definitely an eye stopper. Which gets me thinking...did they have a Kodiak bear on display? Maybe they are still building their collection? 

At the back of the store was a small hill on which was displayed small and medium sized animals (not necessarily found in Alaska) that hunters like to hunt--mule deer, turkeys, etc. The children enjoyed our field trip to Cabela's.

Dang! I just read online that there is a fudge shop at the Anchorage Cabela's store. (I am not joking.) We are definitely going back...soon!