Share your mounts and stories from past seasons

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Nature Boy

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Post some pics if you have some from last season. If you’re lucky enough to have gotten yours back already from this season let’s see it

Edit: and since the thread has shifted lets include any taxidermy you’re proud of and the memories they invoke

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Yeah my wife has pretty much shut the door on me too. Two deer, a european moose, and a full bear mount. I'm having a rug made from the bear I got this year. I'll probably end up hanging that on the wall in my man cave or put it in a box somewhere. My taxidermist is pretty slow so I won't have to worry about that for awhile.
 

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Yeah my wife has pretty much shut the door on me too. Two deer, a european moose, and a full bear mount. I'm having a rug made from the bear I got this year. I'll probably end up hanging that on the wall in my man cave or put it in a box somewhere. My taxidermist is pretty slow so I won't have to worry about that for awhile.

Love that bear mount. My wife would probably draw the line on a full mount. I had a Canadian bear hunt planned last year but COVID took care of that. If successful, I was going to have a rug made.
 
It was my kids that talked my wife into the full mount. The holy grail in our bear camp is to shoot one small enough (excluding cubs, which are legal in PA but bad juju in our camp) to make a full mount, and that one fit the bill perfectly. 1 1/2 year old 150#er. I didn't think that she'd go for it, but she surprised me.

She's been testing the waters to try and get rid of some of the wall mounts, but I've been able to hold my ground so far.

Hopefully the border will open up this fall, and good luck.
 
Haven't had any taxidermy done for several years, been doing my own European mounts instead. If something bigger comes by than what's already on the wall will probably it get mounted, but starting to run out of room. Taxidermy prices $$$$ have been going up, so it'll have to be something pretty decent before going to that expense.

These are from last year....

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Oooops......mis-read the part about being from "last season", was looking at the thread title 2019-2020. All were all taken in 2019 on our farm in Iowa.
 
Post some pics if you have some from last season. If you’re lucky enough to have gotten yours back already from this season let’s see it.

Very nice mount; looks great on that stone wall.

Haven't had any taxidermy done for several years, been doing my own European mounts instead. If something bigger comes by than what's already on the wall will probably it get mounted, but starting to run out of room.

No mounts here in recent years, either...running out of room. In fact had to knock out the front living room wall, add a foyer and build another corner to make room for the Eland. Since my wife always wanted one, incorporating a bay window in the foyer didn't hurt the sales pitch any though and also made a home for my bobcat, right behind the Gemsbok on opposite wall. I think she gets as attached to them almost as much as I am; she names them all.
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She enjoys decorating the deer at the opposite end of the room for Christmas every year but had to talk her out of putting the red stick on bow on "Regal" (aka Rudolph's) nose, though.:D

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This 8pt whitetail was taken in October 2020, my 12 yr old son's first deer.

Very nice mounts. Excellent job on the son's first buck!

Love to see all the great mounts, thanks for starting the thread Natureboy. Some real artists out there doing taxidermy!

Regards,
hps
 
The young man who did this Pintail for me is a truly gifted artist. He enter this mount in the Oklahoma state taxidermy show in 2004 and won the overall

As well he should. That is absolutely gorgeous! Love the display in front of the mirror, as well.
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Nice job on the European mounts! What method did you use to clean them, chemical, maceration or dermisted?

The first few I did w/chemicals were a disaster. The last one (Gemsbok next to the Eland above) is better but still not quite right, but at least got it out before it crumbled.:)

Scimitar on the right was done by professional and I figured there was nothing to that so did my first VVV, and then dropped it! :what:

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Plaster of Paris covers mistakes pretty well. ;)
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Regards,
hps
 
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My brother decorates his mounts for Christmas also.....uses Christmas neck ties. :)

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Nature Boy, Love that pin tail....nice!!!


hps1 ......are the Gemsbok and Eland from Africa or a game ranch? (very nice) Great looking deer mounts.

My European mounts are not as nice as using beetles, use the speed method.....boiled out then pressure washed.

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My brother decorates his mounts for Christmas also.....uses Christmas neck ties.

hps1 ......are the Gemsbok and Eland from Africa or a game ranch? (very nice) Great looking deer mounts.

My European mounts are not as nice as using beetles, use the speed method.....boiled out then pressure washed.[/QUOTE]

Like your brother's style. Sure glad I don't have to have a ladder to get to mine, though. ;):)

Too old to make a trip to Africa; the Eland, Gemsbok and Scimitars (as well as the deer) are from a south Texas ranch. Since 2003, I have been fortunate enough to be a lease member of three family owned cattle ranches which cover a combined 22-23,000 acres (not contiguous). The smallest ranch is 5500 acres, the largest, I believe, is 11,700. Each is high fenced and the owner maintains various species of exotics on each ranch (free ranging within the outer boundary fences). They employ a game biologist to make recommendations as to harvest of the various species based on two helicopter game counts/year to assure the various species reproduction maintains a healthy population. Great place to hunt as well as a photographer's paradise. Just some of the species:
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Do you add detergent when boiling them? I've heated a peroxide solution and tried bleach, but never boiled in water. I like the idea that with water you can actually cover bases of antlers without discoloring. Looks great!

Regards,
hps
 
Do you add detergent when boiling them? I've heated a peroxide solution and tried bleach, but never boiled in water. I like the idea that with water you can actually cover bases of antlers without discoloring. Looks great!....

Added a little soap and peroxide to water, principle works just like a roast in a crock pot. After about 6-to-8 hrs the meat falls right off the bone. Keep the water temp just below a full boil. After the meat softens up you can blow it off with compressed air or power washer. There are products from hair salons that will whiten skulls further if desired.
 
Speaking of the young man who did my pintail mount I posted above, he also did this snow goose that came out fantastic.

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Another thing that separates the good taxidermist from the others is their work tends to last. Both of the brids he did for me look as good today as they did the day he finished them, and that was 17 years ago. (Now that I think about it, he’s not a young man anymore)
 
Another thing that separates the good taxidermist from the others is their work tends to last. Both of the brids he did for me look as good today as they did the day he finished them, and that was 17 years ago. (Now that I think about it, he’s not a young man anymore)

Yeah, he is......compared to what?;) Compared to 84, he's just a pup.:D
Does he do mammals as well? He sure has the birds down well!

Regards,
hps
 
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@Nature Boy The angle of your photo (on the pintail) and how it's placed in front of the mirro makes it look like a double as you see the white breast in the mirror rather than the color on the back.
 
Does he do mammals as well?

He did some deer but didn't enjoy them as much as the birds.

Quick story on that pintail. I unloaded my shotgun on a late morning flock of pintails and didn't cut a feather, or so I thought. As I watch them fly off I see one just fall out of the sky for no apparent reason. I make my way over to it and it was dead as a doornail. Not a mark on it and no apparent sign of mortality. It was a pristine specimen in full plumage.

So I took it to this (formally) young fella to mount. He lived way out in the boonies in a trailer with an OSB shack on the side where he did his work. When I got there he was in the process of mounting a pair of beautiful wood ducks that he intended to enter in that year's state taxidermy show, which was in a couple of weeks. He studied my pintail for a few moments and said, "I have a change of plans, do you mind if I enter your pintail instead?". Of course I had no objections, and as a bonus, I got it back a lot quicker. I also asked him to do some forensic analysis and tell me what was the cause of death. As it turns out it was struck with just one pellet, which went clean through the heart.
 
I also asked him to do some forensic analysis and tell me what was the cause of death. As it turns out it was struck with just one pellet, which went clean through the heart.

You probably walked out of that shop that day thinking about how great a shot you are and dusted off your shoulders...:p

Neat story to be able to tell on such a beautiful mount.
 
Actually, I was lucky I saw it fall as it didn't act like a cripple usually does. it was in fast flight getting the hell out of there right up to the moment it folded and fell out of the sky ~150 yards away. I've never seen anything like it.
 
Finally, a true "golden BB" story, verified by an official necropsy!:thumbup::)
That is the most beautiful pintail I've ever seen.

Regards,
hps
 
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