How do you pick your mounts?

[rookhawk]

"I suppose if one has limited space and finances Euros are a logical compromise."

Wow. Must be nice to be of the class with unlimited space and finances.

I would simply note to all who do have those limitations, and I would suggest that most of us who travel abroad to hunt - particularly Africa fairly often - find ourselves in such a position eventually, Euro mounts not only extend finances and space, but should you spend a bit of time in Europe, you quickly realize they represent a tasteful and traditional way to honor the game we hunt. Indeed, there are a lot of sportsman on this planet who hunt as much as any American who find our fascination with hanging a stuffed carcass on the wall, at best, somewhat odd.


Others are fortunate to live on a game ranch with lots of retail space to indulge their passion for taxidermy. That's fine - good on them. But most of us do not.

I am fortunate to have a trophy room. But I am also nearly seventy and have hunted for six decades and am able to hunt multiple game species annually. I can either stop hunting or I can be selective about what goes on the wall.

The vast majority of hunters face that at some point - or as I did, face it multiple times as financial success and our home environment evolved.

My only point is that euros, pictures, shoulder mounts, or full body are fine. All can be tastefully incorporated into a setting. And if someone like @curtism1234 is unappreciative of your Euro-mounted kudu, who cares. They are there to please you, and once you are gone, they are frankly little more than a encumbrance for you heirs.

To top off on @Red Leg ’s comments I’d say also finding ways to “appropriately memorialize” your hunt by getting some utility out of the animal is rewarding. Not every animal merits a full body mount, a shoulder mount, or even a euro mount.

Some examples of what you can do that looks quite continental and doesn’t break the bank:

-for less than $20 you can turn a single horn or antler into a bottle opener, corkscrew, letter opener, or magnifying glass. Looks great in the office / library and you’ll think of the hunt every time you use the object.

-For about $100 you can have the skull cap wrapped in leather or suede for a classy and understated wall mount. I’ve gone to thrift stores to buy Scottish tweed apparel to cut up for this purpose too. Buffalo check plaid also looks great.

-to upgrade the former, for about $60 on eBay you can buy hand carved oak and acorn plaques. The horns look great on these. My son’s first buck was just a spike and it wasn’t appropriate to shoulder mount, but a carved plaque with the skull cap on it (clad in leather) is timeless and looks good in areas of a home that may not allow taxidermy.

-have Boar or warthog tusks that are a bit small? Keychains and dog whistles look pretty impressive and work great. They look awesome hung on a leather lanyard as part of decor or the hunting room when not being out to functional use.

-Have hippo tusks? Finding a 19th century mantle clock runs about $100 and a new case for it in your favorite hardwood or exotic wood is a couple hundred bucks. Adorn the mantle clock with the tusks for a classic look that doesn’t break the bank. It also brings “old world styles” into areas of the home that aren’t taxidermy friendly.

-shot any upland birds? The long tail feathers look great in urns whereas the wings look awesome dried and encircling a dining room centerpiece with pine cones and other typical “winter holiday” sort of items.

-your spent cartridges? Great pens.

-spent bullets that you recovered? Put them in a block of acrylic as a great paper weight.

-lack high ceilings or you a bit tight on space and money? Save up and do a pedestal mount with 2-3 species so you can consolidate costs and space.

-lots of mediocre horns lying around? Encircle them over a lamp.

-porcupine quills? Glue them or sew them to a lamp shade in the traditional manner.

-Shoot a better trophy on the last hunt but you already spent a fortune on a mediocre mount previously? Have the better horns installed on the old mount. Saves a fortune and you can reuse the old horns for some other project. Sconces?

Have a great skull but a regular skull looks a bit creepy on a shelf? For $350 have it bronzed. (Real metal, not spray paint). Looks like it came out of Richard Leaky’s study. Great look.


@Red Leg has done a really nice job incorporating his “hunting lifestyle” into his overall living space in a tasteful manner. I’ve tried to do something similar. Looking at a dozen dead animals in a row isn’t the only way to do it and honestly, using some of the items for decor rather than overdoing the shoulder mounts is thrifty and more attractive by most non-hunter’s perspective.

save money and save space by reserving shoulder mounts for the really special stuff. The items are supposed to remind you of your hunts, not make you so poor that you can’t afford more hunts.

 

[rookhawk]

Some alternative ideas:

 

[WAB]

This will be how I have my next buffalo euro mounted. I haven’t seen previously like this and like the display.
View attachment 364430

That is how my wife’s buff is being mounted. Very nice presentation.

 

[charleslabounty]

Petey,
I have 4 mounts, 4 euros and two rugs. The mounts are Kudu pedestal, Impala shoulder, Reedbuck and Springbok Wall Pedestals. I wish I had a couple of the Euros done as shoulder mounts.
(Note, the the mounts are in the living room and the euros are in the den - my wife likes the mounts but hates the euros)
You may want to consider Wall Pedestal mounts, at least for the smaller animals. If you shoot a Kudu ask for the horn bones - I did not get mine and was not smart enough to ask for them.

Planning ahead is definitely the right thing to do. Have a great trip!

 

[Art Lambart II]

The first and most important step in deciding what type of taxidermy to get is getting the wifes buy in. I have been richly blessed with a wife that supports my hunting activities but home decor is her domain so we talk about and agree upon mounts and locations long before the hunt takes place.

 

[outwestidaho]

The first and most important step in deciding what type of taxidermy to get is getting the wifes buy in. I have been richly blessed with a wife that supports my hunting activities but home decor is her domain so we talk about and agree upon mounts and locations long before the hunt takes place.

My wife being a hunter, not only says where things are going, but how they will be mounted. So very blessed with no problems in that department.

 

[rookhawk]

The first and most important step in deciding what type of taxidermy to get is getting the wifes buy in. I have been richly blessed with a wife that supports my hunting activities but home decor is her domain so we talk about and agree upon mounts and locations long before the hunt takes place.

Amen to that. Women are right in so far as men have terrible taste in taxidermy and even a worse aesthetic on how to place it. An entire room stacked floor to ceiling with dead animals (and I mean lifeless animals) on fake foam rocks with fake grass is sort of tacky by decor standards. The finish looks childish and uses the same materials as children's model railroad projects. (fake dirt, fake grass, fake trees, styrofoam painted to look like fake grey rocks that don't exist in nature, etc.)

Listen to the women and start with pictures that actually look good. Pull up a pile of Ralph Lauren decor images on the Internet...Ralph Lauren loves taxidermy. Pull up images of German and Scottish estates, they have very tasteful taxidermy as well. That's how you get your taxidermy into the common areas of the home. It doesn't have to look terrible.

 

[rookhawk]

Some examples of my boy's bedroom. As you'll note, taxidermy and hunting abound as themes but it is woman and professional decorator approved positioning of such taxidermy. (My kids need to make their beds and tidy up a bit though)

 

[Red Leg]

Amen to that. Women are right in so far as men have terrible taste in taxidermy and even a worse aesthetic on how to place it. An entire room stacked floor to ceiling with dead animals (and I mean lifeless animals) on fake foam rocks with fake grass is sort of tacky by decor standards. The finish looks childish and uses the same materials as children's model railroad projects. (fake dirt, fake grass, fake trees, styrofoam painted to look like fake grey rocks that don't exist in nature, etc.)

Listen to the women and start with pictures that actually look good. Pull up a pile of Ralph Lauren decor images on the Internet...Ralph Lauren loves taxidermy. Pull up images of German and Scottish estates, they have very tasteful taxidermy as well. That's how you get your taxidermy into the common areas of the home. It doesn't have to look terrible.

Speak for yourself! I have excellent, highly refined taste.

 

[rookhawk]

Speak for yourself! I have excellent, highly refined taste.

Your rooms reflect excellent, highly refined taste. How they got that way...I suspect Mrs. RedLeg as a key influencer.

Without women, men would live in a cargo container of taxidermy while eating our meals without plates directly over the garbage can.

 

[500 Nitro]

Shoulder mounts- Semi sneak, slight to moderate turn, strong side out, and as they say thats all folks,
I have a couple dozen life size mounts that are styled after bronzes or paintings that I have liked, most of them have the bronze or painting close by.