Great outdoors meets Great Beyond: Sportsmen and hunters now opt for the 'Camo Casket'

Business is getting brisk. Hunters, fishermen and sportsmen with an eye for camouflage patters, natural wood and 18-gauge metal are now pre-purchasing, well, caskets themed around their favorite activity. Yes, it's the "camo casket," lined with camouflage material and personalized embroidered panels of turkeys, bass, deer and pheasant - with special display features to show off a favorite rifle or shotgun.

"The subject of casket design may be a morbid topic, but more and more people are looking into customizing their final arrangements - and that means choosing the right casket," observes Danial Hu, a correspondent with the Outdoor Hub, a sports news site.

"It really gets popular this time of year - during hunting season - from September to February," Don Hall tells the Shreveport News in Louisiana, where he has operated a casket company for four decades. It is a very personalized business.

"A lot of people have a favorite gun. You can take the gun out before interment to give to the family," notes James Flurry, company sales manager, and a local city councilman. "In Arkansas they like to put a big gobbler in the back. We can sew a deer jumping the log in the background. Baby boomers really love the camouflage look."

For all its signature style, camo caskets are functional items, available primarily to licensed funeral homes through multiple manufacturers and suppliers around the nation - all ready to "celebrate the spirit of the outdoors," and those who love it. T’il We Meet Again, a casket company with locations in four states, features their version under a "lifestyle caskets" heading. Triangle Caskets offers "The Huntsman" in solid pecan, with a gun rack in the front. Some versions feature fine, hand-finished woods; a gunstock grain finish and custom carvings. Others use unfinished pine or 18- and 20-gauge metal construction; all are lined with carefully shirred camouflage fabric or material.

"Once the family sees it, they usually say ‘that's what he would have wanted,’ " manufacturer Mr. Hall notes.

Some companies don't forget canine companions. Family Pet Urns and Caskets - an online retailer - is among those suppliers that also offers a camo casket for the beloved hunting dog as well.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at [email protected].

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