New Cabelas store.....

[eric]

If any of you folks get to the Ft. Worth area any time soon, then be sure and check out the new Cabelas store on 35W and Hwy. 170. The grand opening is next weekend, but they had a preview weekend this past weekend, and we went and checked it out. They have a huge walk through aquarium, with just about every sort of freshwater fish in there, bass, crappie, stripers, huge albino cats, channel cats and stuff. They feed the fish on Sundays and Thursdays at 1 pm. A diver goes in there and feeds baitfish/shrimp to the fish, and it's neat to watch them take it right out of her hand. The bass will just suck it right up! It's down a big long hallway, and the freshwater fish are on the right, from floor to ceiling, and the saltwater fish are on the left side, from floor to ceiling. Saltwater feeding is Tuesdays/Fridays at 1 pm.

They also have a huge African wildlife exhibit, with mounted animals. Everything from impalas, lions, tigers, all sorts of birds, even a humongous elephant with long tusks. That thing must be 15 ft tall. They have a mount of 2 lions which have just taken down a big water buffalo, and it's made up to where the waterbuffalo has a bloody carcass and the lions have a piece of flesh in their mouth. They have a rhino, some wilderbeasts, more water buffalo, heyenas, porcupines and javelinas.

There is another exibit of nothing but record setting mule deer, about 50 of them. Huge, complete full body mounts, not just the heads/antlers. Then there is another exibit room with only whitetails in there. Another room is set up with elk/moose from North America. Huge elk with massive racks. Lots of bucks and does of each species. Muleys/whitetail/elk/moose. You can kill 4-5 hrs in there very easily.

I always thought Bass Pro was first class, and it is, no doubt, but this place really takes it to another level. We were really impressed.

 

[CopeMan]

Wow, Ill have to check it out sometime. Ive been to the Bass Pr in Cincinnati and I thought it was cool, but it sounds liek it dont hold a thing to a Cabelas store. Something I wondered is with as many Cabelas stores as there are how do they find enough Record Animals for each one. It seems liek not too many hunters would wont to let somethingn like that go. Unless they are animals that have been hit by cars and found dead and then mounted to use for the stores? Some food for thought.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

We love to here about places like these. We will not be going soon, but we will keep it in mind. We might go there in a few years. We love to go on vacation and sometimes it's hard to find a good place.
Greenwillows wife

 

[eric]

Seems I read somewhere a while back that if can give a good taxidermist all the vital details, they can pretty much produce a lifelike replica of whatever it was you caught or shot. We were kinda wondering if these were real animals at one time or just very well done replicas, as I am sure the elephant had to be a fake, as it was probably 15 ft tall and 15' long and 6-8 ft wide. And I doubt if you could export one from Africa to here.

All the deer looked to be real, some even had holes where the bullet went in, but then its quite a difference between a deer and a rhino or a waterbuffalo. But if they were copies, they were extremely good ones.

 

[R.T.]

Cabelas opened a new store just south of Austin on I35 a few weeks ago.

 

[Beefy]

i wish they would open one in Tallahassee. there is a bass pro shop near atlanta that i used to go to alot when i was in college.

 

[CopeMan]

I wish they would open one in Knoxville, or Pigeon Forge. Maybe I can call Dolly Parton and have her think it over!! lol

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

My guess is that Cabella's purchased some very good reproductions. Anyone checked lately on HOW MUCH it costs to have a Taxidermist do any animal?? It's megabucks. It can run thousands (or more) if the animal is large. Just wonder how much these superstores will increase all of their prices to justify and pay for all of these "Destination" stores. Just the "facility" to house all of such exhibits adds hundreds of thousands of $$ to their store construction costs.

On a flip side, there is Viking Office Products...mega supply store. We purchase our supplies from them via internet, prompt delivery, no shipping charges. HOWEVER, some of their impulse items (for the lazy office purchasing person) are VERY expensive. Case in point, they sell 39 oz cans of coffee for between 12 and 20 $. Get real. My local grocery store sells the same for under $5. a can. Goes to show, "discount" stores discount many items, but are not at all competitive for "other" items. "Shopper & Buyer Beware"...lol. roflol!

 

[Rustler9]

There's a good Bass Pro Shop in Opry Mills in Nashville-don't get up there much but I can spend a day in there. They've got lots of fish in there too. Wish there was a Cabela's close by-maybe I can go to the one in Ft Worth when I go there In November.

 

[samm]

i got a flyer in the paper for the one opening up in Ft. Worth....it had everything in it....they must be huge stores...if we could ever have any extra time i would like to go look through it

 

[MULDOON]

They are very nice
I've been to one in Dundee Michigan , and both of the stores in Texas.I saw somewhere that the horns are synthetic(Replicas).
The taxidermist places the replica horns on a mount, and then uses a skin from a average deer.
Eric are you sure that they have salt water?
They also have a stream going thru the store that has live rainbow trout.
Each store has a massive bronze sculpture in front of the store.
very impressive.

 

[eric]

Muldoon.....now that you mention that, it gets me wondering. We got to the feeding tank right at 1 pm on Sunday, and there was a huge crowd and we could barely see the girl diver in there feeding the bass/catfish in the tank on the right hand side. I couldnt see the other side of the hallway at all, because of all the people, and so we went and looked around some more and were gonna go back to it, but then it got late and we forgot. But when I asked a guy what was in the other aquarium, he told me there was freshwater fish on one side, and saltwater fish on the other side. So I did physically see the bass/catfish/crappie/perch and such that were being fed but, no, I never actually got to see the saltwater aquarium because of the large crowds the entire time we were in the store.

Since you've been there also, what is on the other side of the hallway, across from the freshwater game fish? I do know that they feed the right hand side on Sundays/Thursdays...and the left hand tank on Tuesdays/Fridays. It never occured to me that I might have been misinformed. And if it was just one large tank, then they wouldnt need seperate feeding days. I definately want to go back in a few weeks, after the crowds die down some. It was really a madhouse the weekend we went.

 

[tg]

I wish they would open one in Knoxville, or Pigeon Forge. Maybe I can call Dolly Parton and have her think it over!! lol

CopeMan, do you live around Pigeon Forge? We just got back from there on Vacation. Really a nice place. Did the whitewater rafting trip and it was a blast.

 

[certherfbeef]

i got a flyer in the paper for the one opening up in Ft. Worth....it had everything in it....they must be huge stores...if we could ever have any extra time i would like to go look through it

Little slow on the take here guys, sorry.

On the way to Denver couple years ago we stopped at the Cabelas in KC. Nice place. I was a little dissapointed in the resturant though. Guess I expected a side of buffalo or a snake fillet, I don't know.

There is one that just opened in Wheeling, WV. Not been in there yet, but looks exactally the same from the interstate.

 

[cajun critter]

We're supposed to be getting a Bass Pro in Denham Springs, LA and a Cabella's in Gonzales, LA. Will have both stores within an hour of me - one to the west and one to the south