Hey, those critters didn't just jump up on the wall all by themselves...

[bogie]

So, what do y'all think of the whole taxidermy thing? (you shoot it - with a gun, then you stuff it).

Personally, I admire the whole "evidence of the hunter's prowess" bit, but I doubt if I'd do it myself, unless I lucked out and bagged something that set off a Boone & Crockett jackpot. Got chewed out by the guy who ran the local locker plant when I was a kid for bringing in a six-point buck - it would a been a 12 point, but since my .25-06 rounds were more amenable to use on groundhogs, I kinda went for a close-in definite-drop head shot.

 

[Khornet]

Personally,

I can't afford it. But well-done taxidermy is gorgeous. 'course, if I could afford it, in my house, that fabulous mount would soon have pizza sauce spilled on it, and half the rack knocked off by a stray basketball.

What's that? How do you get pizza sauce 'spilled' UP near the ceiling? Just come to my house, bud.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've always said that your only immortality is in the memories of your family and friends.

Sorta the same thing for critters. Whether a formal taxidermy deal, or just cutting off Bambi's antlers, I can sit back and look at them and remember the hunt, the campfire, the whole day.

There comes a time when about all that's left is memories. Best to have some good ones, right?

, Art

 

[Smoke]

I never have had anything mounted, but I ususally left the big ones for the paying hunters. I only shot does and spikes for meat.

Some day I will have that massive Elk on one end of my Living room and the Moose on the other. But that may be several years off yet.

I don't care much for the people that have mounted every thing they ever shot and have them scattered all over the house. Seems like an ego trip.

Let me qualify my opinion by saying most people around these parts are not deer hunters, they are deer waiters. They sit in a stand near a feeder and hope a good one walks by. Range less than 75 yards usually. Doesn't take a lot of skill. So I'm not impressed by local stories of the hunt.

 

[COHIBA]

i have a 60 pound bull dolphin that i caught off Islamarado key in 91 mounted. it was done by Grays in Ft Lauderdale and i swear, evertime i look at it i get butterflies in my belly just remembering the moment he broke water behind the boat. thats why i have some kills mounted.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I had my first pronghorn mounted about 18 years ago. Not a big one, about 12", but a beautiful cape. Since we moved to a small farmhouse 8 years ago, he has hung in the basement.

Still brings back memories of that first hunt though.

 

[Ikari]

I plan to just do a do-it-yerself antler mount of my first deer (hopefully soon!), and after that the only others I'd mount would have to be particulary noteworthy specimens (as was mentioned earlier).

 

[Oleg Volk]

With April 15th approaching, I bet I know whom most folks would like to stuff and mount, with killing being the optional preceding step...

 

[Matt G]

I've taken to mounting the antlers on my own finished plaque, with good quality velvet, leather trim, and brass tacks finishing it out. It looks quite a bit better than the do-it-at-home kits, and is fun to do. Then I type up a concise paragraph or so of the details of the hunt, including the date, weather, distance stalk if any, distance of shot, load, rifle, who was with me on the hunt, what the deer did before and after the shot, and terminal ballistics of the load --and paste it to the back of the plaque. On one occasion (in which I neglected to properly lead a running quartering shot with a .257 at 100+ yds), I even mounted the mushroomed bullet on the plaque, recovered from the sternum after having transversed the right ham, gut, liver, and right lung. (weight: 83/100 grains. Thank you, Sierra!)

The last one I did that way, I presented to the land-owner (my step-father-in-law), whom I had noted had no hat rack in his ranch house. A large 8 pt spread makes a pretty decent hat rack, when mounted to the wall with a couple of healthy screws. It seemed like an appropriate gesture of thanks, to a person that had let me shoot several deer off his ranch with no work requested in kind.