Bear Paw Mountains rancher Micky Kane had an idea one day.
Kane was a very good hunter and loved the trophies he could bring home from his various hunts.
But his house was filled with trophies and there were seemingly more to come because that is the way of a trophy hunter, there are never enough and there is that one full mount of a record breaking moose or a Kodiak bear ready to attack, again another record breaker.
What to do with all his mounts was his question?
Then it came to him. Add onto his house and make a special room just for his mounts. That he did and before long, that room was filled too with some 16 or so large and wonderful trophy mounts of everything from bears to moose to a wonderful wolverine gotten just before hunting them ended.
Kane's trophy room became full as well and as he got older, the question remained unanswered. What to do with all the mounts?
I faced that same question when the Lou Lucke Company closed in Havre. I found myself the caretaker of a large and valuable collection of mounts, some trophy mounts and some just plain wonderful. One Audubon sheep and a caribou went to MSU Northern and after the museum in Havre turned down the rest of the collection a funny thing happened. At Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park a part of their big game mount collection had been stolen. I offered them the Lou Lucke Company collection and they took it and there the heads are to this day, giving me a great deal of relief for I didn't have to be caretaker to that great collection.
Meanwhile back in Big Sandy, Kane was getting older and knew he had to move to town and was faced with the same question, what to do with his room full of trophies? He contacted Marie Jappe and asked her if she would like to display the mounts in the back room of The Mint. Jappe thought that was a great idea so in June of 2017 the mounts were brought into their new home and by the end of July, they were on display and added greatly to the historic collections of many things in and around Big Sandy.
Micky Kane wanted his wonderful collection to be enjoyed by everyone so this is the perfect place for his mounts. His collection is seen by many who come to Big Sandy just to view those mounts.
Marie Jappe said that Micky Kane told her a lot about the mounts themselves. Read what she says and make it a point to visit The Mint and see that collection for yourself.
Mickey shot four big bears. His first bear is currently not on display at the Mint. It was taken in King Salmon Alaska sometime in the sixties. It is mounted as a rug. His second bear was taken in 1979, in Kodiak AK, Uganic Bay. The bear is mounted on all fours. That bear was taken in King Salmon Alaska. The biggest upright bear was taken on the Coast of the Bering Sea at Cold Bay Alaska on May 16, 1992. His Mountain Grizzly is the other upright mount. Mickey shot him in the Ogilvie Mountains of Yukon, on May 24, 1996. He said this grizzly made the record book. There was a lot of hiking and climbing involved in hunting these bears. Mickey said it was a lot of work. He also said the bears weren't quite as dangerous as everbody thinks, if you hit them in the right spot.
Mickey went on two moose hunts. He and his guide would fly into King Salmon Alaska and hunted the moose in the swamps on foot. The big moose on the wall was taken in 1985.
Mickey shot his wolverine on the same trip as his second moose. The day after shooting the moose they went back to check on the remains of the moose hoping to find a bear. Mickey crawled about 300 yards and when he looked up he saw the wolverine coming toward him. He said the wolverine seemed out of breath too, as his tongue was hanging out. When the wolverine spotted Mickey it took off. Mickey missed with his first shot, but he caught his breath and he shot the wolverine
while he was running away. Mickey said that was the last year wolverine hunting was allowed.
The mountain goat was taken in lower British Columbia, in October of 1990. Mickey said it was a short hunt, however he was not impressed with hunting on the cliffs. They went after them with horses.
Mickey's Doll Sheep was also an easy hunt. It was taken in the Yukon in August 12, 1998. They also used horses to get up the mountains.
The black bear was just an "accident" and was taken in British Columbia. They had put out some bait which attracted him.
Mickey trapped the bobcat and said they are not hard to trap.
The rest of the collection includes a nice elk from Arizona, a big mule deer from the Bear Paws, and two caribou. There is also a lynx, wolf, and artic fox.
Mickey's last trophy is the musk ox. It was taken in 2002 above the Artic Circle, Melbourne Island, in September. He said they did a lot of running around in boats.
