Trophy Room Build after 45 years of hunting

[Hunt anything]

Absolutely wonderful!! Is that a horned female nyala or a bull with a hormone problem?

 

[Daisy]

Did you personally harvest all of these animals?

 

[cpr0312]

Looking great!! I know you're very excited for the completion! And so are we!

 

[JES Adventures]

Absolutely wonderful!! Is that a horned female nyala or a bull with a hormone problem?

My understanding is that this is a rare occurrence of a male Nyala with underdeveloped testicles, thus a lack of testosterone. This causes a lack of complete development to the appearance of a normal, mature bull.

 

[JES Adventures]

Did you personally harvest all of these animals?

@Daisy I did harvest everything seen except the crocodile which my wife shot. She collected the old lizard in the Luangwa Valley many years ago. I opted to take a smaller croc to make boots from.

 

[Daisy]

@Daisy I did harvest everything seen except the crocodile which my wife shot. She collected the old lizard in the Luangwa Valley many years ago. I opted to take a smaller croc to make boots from.

That is awesome. What an achievement.

 

[Altitude sickness]

The full LDE mount is amazing

 

[JES Adventures]

The full LDE mount is amazing

I took that bull in 2016 and knew I wanted to mount him lifesize. It just took 8 years to finally get everything together where he could be displayed properly. They are truly one of the most spectacular African species and I am honored to have hunted him.

 

[Fixfire]

Was your taxidermy done by multiple practitioners, or primarily a single artist? US based or international? Regardless, it’s superb! And as sated, the LDE is beyond words!!

 

[JES Adventures]

There have been multiple taxidermists over the years. The oldest mount is the reddish blonde Catalina goat and that goes back to 1979. There are about six mounts done in South Africa and certainly did not meet my level of expectations when they arrived. For the newer mounts (last few years) I have used a couple of different taxidermists in the San Anronio area. Like anything else, technology has improved and better forms are available but it still takes a masterful artist to create a lifelike mount.

 

[FerRGarza]

There have been multiple taxidermists over the years. The oldest mount is the reddish blonde Catalina goat and that goes back to 1979. There are about six mounts done in South Africa and certainly did not meet my level of expectations when they arrived. For the newer mounts (last few years) I have used a couple of different taxidermists in the San Anronio area. Like anything else, technology has improved and better forms are available but it still takes a masterful artist to create a lifelike mount.

Room is looking great! Thank you for sharing!

 

[CAustin]

Absolutely stunning sir. Congratulations and well done.

 

[JimT]

Wow, just Wow.

 

[JES Adventures]

We had an interesting occurrence yesterday. The tile man was working away when he saw a snake go across the floor and into the African habitat. The taxidermist and his helper were finally able to catch the snake after some time (a harmless Coachwhip) and release it

in the pasture.

I told the taxidermist that I really appreciate the effort he is putting in to make the scenes realistic but this was taking it a bit too far!

We speculate he came in through a hole around air conditioning lines so promptly sealed those up to alleviate any future problems.

 

[Frederik]

It is coming along very nicely.
Nice touch on the live snake

 

[BryceM]

Epic. Go big or stay home my friend!

Even more impressive than the trophy room must surely have been the hunts that came before.

 

[gizmo]

We had an interesting occurrence yesterday. The tile man was working away when he saw a snake go across the floor and into the African habitat. The taxidermist and his helper were finally able to catch the snake after some time (a harmless Coachwhip) and release it View attachment 616805in the pasture.

I told the taxidermist that I really appreciate the effort he is putting in to make the scenes realistic but this was taking it a bit too far!

We speculate he came in through a hole around air conditioning lines so promptly sealed those up to alleviate any future problems.

at least it was a coachwhip that could have gotten really interesting!

 

[JES Adventures]

at least it was a coachwhip that could have gotten really interesting!

For sure, we have our share of rattlesnakes. The mason killed one in their pile of flagstone a few weeks back. With all of the natural habitat scenes, I’ll be darn sure not to walk through there in the dark!

 

[coreydb]

I am about to turn 60 and for once in my life, the species hunted from my adventures past will all be housed in one building. The plan started formulating in mid 2022 after I purchased the Reserve Ranch in South Texas as this would be the appropriate place to display the collection. I have been very Blessed to hunt some amazing places over the past five decades and look forward to reminiscing about the past with family, friends and guests at the ranch.

My friend Gustavo Arredondo from San Antonio is a gifted architect, and he designed the addition to flow into the current construction of the lodge compound so not to look like an afterthought. Gustavo specializes in designing trophy rooms as well as houses built around trophy rooms and has worked with Julian and Sons over the years on many projects across the United States.

I'll post some pictures as the project progresses; the plan is to be finished by August.

I'd love to see the trophy room pics. I have a two-car garage completely filled up with my trophies and need to build one myself.