My Version of a Trophy Room & Garage Build, Circa 2017, Now Filling up

[Mort Hill]

Beautiful, functional space for your needs and hobbies. My wife always ask when I am in my trophy room what I am doing( think reading, work, AH, etc). I respond most of the time just looking at individual mounts and reliving the memories. Kudos for such a grand space!

 

[PARA45]

Beautiful, congratulations on the project! You've done a beautiful job with the design, and the layout of the mounts.

 

[Velo Dog]

Bryce,

Your memento room is perfect.
Every critter is just right.
However the baboon is my favorite of your displays.
I wish I had my baboon done in that same fashion.

Mine is pictured below and beside a screen shot of your mentioned one for comparison.
That said, I am quite happy with mine.
Again however, the one on your wall is how I (If one day I manage to shoot another one), will definitely end up having the same work done, as the one you have there.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Been thinking about doing something like this myself in a few years

 

[Firebird]

No birds?!
I love your project, each aspect well thought out and brought to fruition. Strong work, best wishes moving forward

 

[Green Chile]

I bet he's got some turkeys, upland or waterfowl around someplace.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I like both of those baboon mounts for different reasons.

Bryce,

Your memento room is perfect.
Every critter is just right.
However the baboon is my favorite of your displays.
I wish I had my baboon done in that same fashion.

Mine is pictured below and beside a screen shot of your mentioned one for comparison.
That said, I am quite happy with mine.
Again however, the one on your wall is how I (If one day I manage to shoot another one), will definitely end up having the same work done, as the one you have there.

Cheers,
Paul.

Velo Dog,

Your mount is hilarious, love it. If I can get another baboon, a mount like yours would go near the dining table....if I could get away with it....and not be maimed or killed. When family and a few of the "sorted" guess come to dinner or visit.

Idea you've given me: Mounted on a motorized platform with remote control, serving plates in hand in place of bowl.

Unfortunately right now my mounts are currently in storage awaiting their new home. It's mounted with the intent to be suspended from a branch above a hungry croc.

 

[Katy Darren]

@Ridge Runner, the giraffe is 10'-5" from floor to ceiling. I originally wanted a flatskin. I've seen one and they're epically enormous. The taxidermy shop in Windhoek have done several, but many of them didn't turn out well. Hair slip, uneven coloration, etc. As with all things giraffe, the sheer size of it poses certain problems. Just skinning and butchering the thing took 6 people, 2 tractors and many hours, not including prep work for the meat trailer the day prior. My bull provided over 1000 kg of deboned meat. I did a dip & pack for the cape and a finished ottoman with the backskin. It's pretty cool by itself.

There are some taxidermy forms that show less shoulder and sit a bit differently. These end up lower overall, but I never really cared for the way they look - sort of like the neck springs right up out of the floor. Height is the very essence of a giraffe, after all. There are other considerations too. Be sure you get a local taxidermy quote. Everything with giraffe is harder. The form comes to the shop via freight, not UPS. Moving it from the shop to my home required a large trailer and 4 guys to move it around. My granddaughter spent 2 years being scared to death of it. I've seen some guys put them on casters so they're easier to move around. The finished thing weighs at least 250 pounds. Shipping from Africa for the cape, ottoman, skull, and 2 leg bones was ghastly expensive. Much more than anticipated. But, I have a giraffe in my room..... so I've got that going for me.

@Red Leg, when I started laying the trophies out, I took a photo of each mount and sort of moved them around on the computer to figure out where each looked best. Others have been worked in betwixt and between since then. Mostly it's OK. There are a couple of mounts here that will be moving on once my kids have a big enough place. The kudu on the left side is one. You never really know what comes next, so it's a bit of a moving target.

@Green Chile, here's the back overhang (pay no attention to the weeds. The weed-whacker has been sick). The kennels are in the lee of prevailing winds. It seems to work out.



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Here's the loft, currently serving as an exercise room. I didn't get the pool table quicky enough!

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The view from the loft is pretty cool. Again, excuse the mess. Really, I should button all that up before sharing this, but such as it is:

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As requested, a view of the glorious bathroom. It's pretty minimalist, but it's crazy nice when you've been afield and are just too bloody or dusty to clean up in the main house. It's nice for guests too. The sofa in the room makes into a bed, and kids don't mind camping on the floor.

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@thi9elsp, funny you should mention that. My wife jokes that we live together in her house and my man cave is my house. Suits me just fine.

@Spearhead, the eland is most certainly on a big lag bolt which extends into a stud. As far as mounting it, piece of cake. With the right equipment, and a bit of planning, it's not too bad. Here's the most recent addition. A Colorado muzzleloader elk:

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Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Everyone does it differently, and on a different budget, but this has been a work of love. Just before my last safari I sat out there and reminisced about each and every hunt. It's amazing the details that come flooding back.

Beautiful, well done! I’ve got an Eland coming eventually that I’ve got to get up to a second story wall in our high ceiling family room. Do you think the hoist is the best way? Was also thinking about scaffolding. Do you get the animal in place with the hoist then do your work from a ladder?

 

[CAustin]

Looks like an excellent man cave to me

 

[Tintin]

Great thread - thanks.

 

[Ridge Runner]

@BryceM

Beautiful, well done! I’ve got an Eland coming eventually that I’ve got to get up to a second story wall in our high ceiling family room. Do you think the hoist is the best way? Was also thinking about scaffolding. Do you get the animal in place with the hoist then do your work from a ladder?

+1...to the answer on this question.

 

[Nyati]

Well done, tasteful and original

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Beautiful, well done! I’ve got an Eland coming eventually that I’ve got to get up to a second story wall in our high ceiling family room. Do you think the hoist is the best way? Was also thinking about scaffolding. Do you get the animal in place with the hoist then do your work from a ladder?

@Katy Darren I recently moved around a few mounts in my mancave. My big elk needed to make way for a moose. The elk had to go up quite high, so I went to United Rental and rented a scissors lift. The lift is 30 inched wide, so it can fit through a door. It could go up to 13 ft, so me and another 6 ft helper were able to hang the elk with ease.

The local United Rental place has a great deal for renting on Friday afternoon and returning by 8am on Monday. They just charge for one day, since they aren't open on weekends. The lift and trailer cost me about $200. Money well spent!

One other suggestion to make hanging any big critter easier. We've all played the game with struggling to move a heavy and awkward mount while trying to align the hole or mounting bracket over the nail. When you are struggling on ladders, you want to get it lined up quickly and reduce the guess work. I measured from the hanger hole on the back of the mount to the bottom edge of the mount. Let's say that measurement is 30 inches. I then took some surveyors string, a little more than 2 x 30 inches (64 inches in this case) and a flat washer. Run the string through the flat washer and tie it like it's a necklace. It's actually a plumb bob. Loop this over the lag bolt or nail that you are going to hang the animal on.

Measure from the bolt/nail to the top of the flat. It should be about 32 inches. It just needs to be long enough so that the animal doesn't cover it up. Now take another single piece of string with a flat washer tied to one end and staple it a few inched below the hole on the back of the wood base of the animal you are mounting. Adjust the length of the string so that when measuring from the hole to the end of the flat washer, it's the same length as the plumb bob hanging from the bolt/nail on the wall.

When you lift the animal in place, align the two plumb bobs and the hole should line up quickly and easily. When the animal is secure, just pull the single string through the stable. Cut the double string and pull it down and you are done.

 

[BryceM]

@Katy Darren, I have used scaffolding, but it wasn't really all that easy. You can't exactly monkey-bar up the side of the thing while trying to carry even a medium-size mount. I eventually put the scaffolding on wheels, rolled it up to the loft, lifted the mount over the railing from the stairs, had my indentured family members roll me over to the wall, and then try to lift the mount up and over the railing of the scaffolding. Great fun, and I have the scars to prove it. There's really no way to fall off of the thing, but it was pretty unworkable.

After a time or two of that, necessity drove me to invent a new way. The equipment lift is only $30/day to rent, and it's rated for 600 pounds. The instructions say not to ride on the thing....... but I'm not very good at listening. Besides, it's certainly safer than riding on the top of a cruiser thousands of miles from a good hospital or pursing elephant in the bush. I used the aforementioned wood shop to build a platform that locks on the forks, sat on my little seat with the mount in my lap, had my kids roll me over and crank it up. Simple, simple.

The elk was a little harder since the rack kept hitting the wall. They're just a pain to move around. For that one I just tied the rack to the forks (photo above), balanced it all out, had my kids maneuver it, and I went up a ladder next to it. The hoist carried 100% of the weight, and we could move it around precisely. Popping it onto the bolt took a try or two, but was pretty easy and reasonably safe.

I'm no fan of ladders. Getting hurt sucks and the recovery eats up too much hunting time.

If you can get a scissor lift in and out that's probably the safest and best way. They're enormously heavy though (1500-2000 pounds), and I didn't think one would play nice on the laminated wood flooring. The one shown in the photo above weighs 1900 pounds. Much more expensive to rent too.

I use the biggest lag bolt I can get in and out of the hangar on the back of the mount.

 

[BryceM]

@Firebird, Only a few birds. Most of them are at my office, but this pair is in the room:

 

[LWood]

This looks great! I need to build something similar.

 

[Arctic97]

That's great. Every one of us probably thinks about having something similar. Nicely done!