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- Dec 12, 2011
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We need to decide how to mount our trophies from our first African hunt.
My wife really wanted a Zebra rug so that is what we are doing with it. Problem is she wants it on the wall so it will take a lot my space! But maybe we can get it into one of "her" rooms to save space on the "yet to be built" Trophy room. We really have no walls taller than 8' at this time but plan to remodel or build a retirement home and include a taller room as a trophy room sometime in the next year or two. Of course it will probably end up too small.... I am confident we can at least find storage space "if" we get mounts back before we are ready.
So my big question is on the Eland and Kudu. In Africa, it seemed like every Kudu mount had an Eland opposite it, or vice versa. So I was thinking of doing wall pedistals of both, one turneed right and the other left.... But I want to go back for a Southern Greater Kudu so maybe a regular shoulder mount on this one (it is an East Cape Kudu) and save the spot opposite the Eland for that? Again, we have no space for anything this big, but hope to build it (the true cost of a Safari just keeps adding up!) As for the Eland, I really want to show the depth and thickness of the body, that dewlap and big hump on the shoulder and so if I just do a shoulder mount, I doubt that will come through... On the other hand, not sure how big a mount we want to deal with??? Need serious advice on these two!
Then there is my wife's Black Wildebeest, we cut it for a wall pedistal and kept the backskin and she wants to display that tail. Not sure if a standard shoulder mount is best or if someone has other advice?
Thinking regular shoulder mounts for the Blesbuck (wife's first large game animal), Impalla, Fallow Deer, Red Hartebeest, and Gemsbuck... The Gemsbuck's horns are not all that great and I'm sure we can do better, but they have such impresive faces that all our freinds and relatives ask about it so not sure that a skull mount is the answer.... Almost wish I had it skinned for a rug but it is cut, did save the back skin.... It was a memorable hunt and one of my best shots under a lot of pressure and out of breath, so that might make it worth mounting properly. Need advice on this one.
My Duiker will be a full mount lying down and I plan to have a glass case built into a bar or coffee table, open to other ideas.
I hope to get a "Springbuck slam" and mount them all on a tree branch on a floor pedistal or something like that. And the one Common I have has a somewhat unique stripe down his nose so probably end up with 5 total rather than the ussual 4. I have a very good black and a so so regular common that was skinned for a flat skin and skull mount, but he is nothing special and with plans for more, maybe I will even skip the skull mount or do a simple one myself? Anyway, I have general plans for the Springbucks.
Mountain Reedbuck, same type thing. Go back and get a Common and maybe some other critters that fit and make a combined mount of all of them.
For the Bushbuck, even though he is not real big, he is a special trophy to me because of the hunt and he is an old ram with pretty markings on his rear. So I want something a little special and one taxidermist suggested a floor or table pedistal and then I thought I could hang the backskin on the wall behind it. Wish I had the front legs to use like the Nyala in another recent post, but I think we can bring out most of his markings this way and do something reasonably priced yet a better display than a simple shoulder mount. Thoughts?
Photos are in my hunting report. Maybe someone could put a link over here, I'm not sure how.
Please lay it on my folks and thanks in advance!
Bob
My wife really wanted a Zebra rug so that is what we are doing with it. Problem is she wants it on the wall so it will take a lot my space! But maybe we can get it into one of "her" rooms to save space on the "yet to be built" Trophy room. We really have no walls taller than 8' at this time but plan to remodel or build a retirement home and include a taller room as a trophy room sometime in the next year or two. Of course it will probably end up too small.... I am confident we can at least find storage space "if" we get mounts back before we are ready.
So my big question is on the Eland and Kudu. In Africa, it seemed like every Kudu mount had an Eland opposite it, or vice versa. So I was thinking of doing wall pedistals of both, one turneed right and the other left.... But I want to go back for a Southern Greater Kudu so maybe a regular shoulder mount on this one (it is an East Cape Kudu) and save the spot opposite the Eland for that? Again, we have no space for anything this big, but hope to build it (the true cost of a Safari just keeps adding up!) As for the Eland, I really want to show the depth and thickness of the body, that dewlap and big hump on the shoulder and so if I just do a shoulder mount, I doubt that will come through... On the other hand, not sure how big a mount we want to deal with??? Need serious advice on these two!
Then there is my wife's Black Wildebeest, we cut it for a wall pedistal and kept the backskin and she wants to display that tail. Not sure if a standard shoulder mount is best or if someone has other advice?
Thinking regular shoulder mounts for the Blesbuck (wife's first large game animal), Impalla, Fallow Deer, Red Hartebeest, and Gemsbuck... The Gemsbuck's horns are not all that great and I'm sure we can do better, but they have such impresive faces that all our freinds and relatives ask about it so not sure that a skull mount is the answer.... Almost wish I had it skinned for a rug but it is cut, did save the back skin.... It was a memorable hunt and one of my best shots under a lot of pressure and out of breath, so that might make it worth mounting properly. Need advice on this one.
My Duiker will be a full mount lying down and I plan to have a glass case built into a bar or coffee table, open to other ideas.
I hope to get a "Springbuck slam" and mount them all on a tree branch on a floor pedistal or something like that. And the one Common I have has a somewhat unique stripe down his nose so probably end up with 5 total rather than the ussual 4. I have a very good black and a so so regular common that was skinned for a flat skin and skull mount, but he is nothing special and with plans for more, maybe I will even skip the skull mount or do a simple one myself? Anyway, I have general plans for the Springbucks.
Mountain Reedbuck, same type thing. Go back and get a Common and maybe some other critters that fit and make a combined mount of all of them.
For the Bushbuck, even though he is not real big, he is a special trophy to me because of the hunt and he is an old ram with pretty markings on his rear. So I want something a little special and one taxidermist suggested a floor or table pedistal and then I thought I could hang the backskin on the wall behind it. Wish I had the front legs to use like the Nyala in another recent post, but I think we can bring out most of his markings this way and do something reasonably priced yet a better display than a simple shoulder mount. Thoughts?
Photos are in my hunting report. Maybe someone could put a link over here, I'm not sure how.
Please lay it on my folks and thanks in advance!
Bob