What started out as a surprise birthday gift has ended up in a bear bigger than we bargained for. 

John “Bodacious” Beaudet loves to create art—everything from painstaking lady slipper orchids and local brook trout to the hand-carved hiking sticks he makes out of sourwood for those inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame each year. 

Early in 2021, he saw some large pieces of pine laying alongside a U.S. Forest Service road near our home in Flag Pond, TN. “I wish I had those for carving chainsaw bears,” he would mutter every time we drove past. 

So, for John’s birthday in July, I arranged to have these massive logs moved to our home. I had no idea that I was setting him up for the pressure of cranking out several bodacious chainsaw bears before the wood was no longer usable. 

A few months ago, John auctioned off the first bear with a cub in order to raise money for his new trail crew, East Tennessee Trail Association. Right now, we have this beautiful new bear sitting in our driveway and it is ready to go to a good home nearby. It’s too large for us to safely move it in our own vehicles so we need a buyer who can come and get her. The price is right: $3,200. 

You won’t find another chainsaw bear like this 9.5-foot-tall specimen carved from one large pine log. John imbues each animal carving with honor for the spirit of the creature, making it as anatomically true to life as possible. Let us know if you would like to take it home.