Cabela’s!

I’ve lived in California, Oregon and Maryland. I’ve traveled to a lot of states in between. But until last week, I’d never been inside a Cabela’s. If the Mitchell, South Dakota store is typical of the breed, then if you live near a Cabela’s, you’re one lucky dude or dudette.

It’s not just a gun store (with the biggest selection of firearms I’ve seen in one place in my life, I might add.) No, I was excited about Cabela’s because of the dioramas! As a kid visiting the Smithsonian, my favorite parts were the life-size wildlife and historical dioramas in the Museum of Natural History. Well, Cabela’s has ’em too! (Warning: lots of pics below; click for bigger.)

The bear guarding the cafe:

A group of wapiti/elk.   (A “herd”? a “bugle”? what do you call a bunch of elk?)  

The “mountain wall” at the back of the store:

Wolves, cougar, coyote:  

You can tell the left-hand wolf’s shoe size would be BIG.

There was also an aquarium with live game fish, and also lots of fish mounted on the walls. Notice the size of these king salmon (they’re mounted above a rack of boat seats).

And of course, all along the walls and support columns are game mounts, both of North American and “exotic” species. Tucked away in a back corner (!!) was this collection of replica whitetail antlers, nicely mounted and displayed — the “Supreme Six”:

     

Lacey is on the way to Seattle. If Cabela’s comes to Lacey, Washington, I think that’s reason enough for me to visit Seattle, don’t you?