Which animal makes the most impressive taxidermy mount?

In my collection there is something about my 32 inch waterbuck that catches my eye whenever I go into my trophy room. I have a 42 inch eland coming soon so that may change. I am also very impressed by red stag with all those points. Look like they would make a fabulous pedestal mount.
 
Hard to say really because I haven't seen every animal possible and so many of the ones I have seen look like old, moth eaten, poorly done, worn out movie prop specimens from the B Westerns. The caveat would be a quality mount! The one that seems obvious but hasn't been mentioned, except as a shoulder mount, would be a full body mount of a large African Bull Elephant. You'd have to have a natural history museum attached to your house but hey the OP's question was, "Which animal makes the most impressive mount?". Good grief.... if they are impressive standing 10-15 yards away in the wild, imagine standing next to one in your special room!

Now from a practical sense, the ones that are a little more common than elephant that I remember looking at and being impressed by include the following examples of large male specimens, correctly full body mounted and in good condition: Northern Gray Wolf, Brown Bear, Lion and Tiger.
 
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There was a full body ele mount at SCI a couple years ago. Yeah, him one big fella!
 
Man that’s a tough question, I know my life size brown bear definitely gathers quite a bit of interest when people see it, but I’m hoping my leopard with my Damaras dik dik steals the show. I’ll know in about a month!
 
The brown bear standing on its hind legs at DSC this year was amazing. Massive. It gave a sense of just how little we are.
 
Hard to say really because I haven't seen every animal possible and so many of the ones I have seen look like old, moth eaten, poorly done, worn out movie prop specimens from the B Westerns. The caveat would be a quality mount! The one that seems obvious but hasn't been mentioned, except as a shoulder mount, would be a full body mount of a large African Bull Elephant. You'd have to have a natural history museum attached to your house but hey the OP's question was, "Which animal makes the most impressive mount?". Good grief.... if they are impressive standing 10-15 yards away in the wild, imagine standing next to one in your special room!

Now from a practical sense, the ones that are a little more common than elephant that I remember looking at and being impressed by include the following examples of large male specimens, correctly full body mounted and in good condition: Northern Gray Wolf, Brown Bear, Lion and Tiger.
Cabela's have a couple. They are impressive, but up close you almost always see stitching a d patching. They are just so big that the skin gets taken off in panels.
 
I don’t think I can answer this question. All animals from the smallest Suni to an elephant and everything in between are so unique and special in their own way. I want to take a tahr one day because I think they are a spectacular animal. That doesn’t mean others aren’t tho. I find beauty in all animals game and non game. taxidermy to me isn’t just about the animal though. The animal certainly is a big part of it, but to me taxidermy is a snap shot in time. It’s an experience and a memory of a certain moment. This is why, personally, I’ve never really cared for euro mounts as I look at them as just a skull on the wall. Good taxidermy though brings that memory alive every time I look at it. I want to be transported back to that exact moment, the experience.
 
to your house but hey the OP's question was, "Which animal makes the most impressive mount?". Good grief.... if they are impressive standing 10-15 yards away in the wild, imagine standing next to one in your special room!
.

I watched a video of the a full mount bull being shipped and then delivered to a home. It did require its own special room. It was dropped in the room using a crane. Pretty amazing.
 
full


I have full mounts of brown bear, nyala, dall sheep, stone sheep, desert sheep, bighorn sheep, Marco Polo sheep, leopard and bongo and in my humble opinion, nothing compares to the most beautiful animal on Earth, the bongo. A big bull elk is very regal and makes a tremendous full mount. As does a sable, lion, tiger or polar bear, but to me, the bongo is king.
 
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I don't have one "yet" but I've alway been fond of the caribou mounts I've seen. Whether in velvet or not, some of the most majestic looking beests on the earth.
 
Lord Derby Eland.
But most of the most impressive mounts are the one with the best story about the stalk, or the most difficult hunt location, etc. Make them come alive with the telling.
 
I’ll have to lean toward the sable. A bit partial because that is the last shoulder mount I just received. Trying to figure out how to get I in my tiny space.
That said, as others have already said, they all are unique and have a very special place in my memory. From the first cottontail rabbit on the wooded knoll behind my grandparents house on their 60 acre homestead using my new Christmas Sears and Roebuck single shot 22LR to my lion on my last Safari hiding in the shadows of a huge acacia tree.
I hope to never lose my memories!
 
I don't have one "yet" but I've alway been fond of the caribou mounts I've seen. Whether in velvet or not, some of the most majestic looking beests on the earth.

Absolutely! I too would put a large barren ground caribou with well proportioned antlers very high on my list.
 
My Favourite Mounts would be
  • Crocodile Rug/Hide
  • Kudu Shoulder Mount
  • Brown Bear Life Size Mount
  • Sable Shoulder Mount
  • Fallow Deer Shoulder Mount
  • Warthog European Mount
 
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A bongo, Lord Derby Eland, nyala, bushbuck, kudu, sable, roan, Cape buffalo, caribou and mule deer.
 

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