I've never had a deer worth mounting till now and as such - I'm green when it comes to the decisions about position and style. I understand that this is mostly personal preference but since I don't really have one I thought I'd get the opinions of some good experts on here.

I harvested my first mature buck with my 5 yr old son last Saturday. I wasn't going to get it mounted until the other members of my lease said this was probably the best buck that I'll ever take off this lease (not great quality for several reasons). I made a few calls and found a local guy that would do it for $425 (is this a decent price??).

Here is a pic of the deer:



He recommended a McKenzie 9800 wall pedestal like this one.



On thing is that it wouldn't have the wood and such that's in the pic.

I want to mount it over my fireplace (wife and I are still hammering this one out though) and wanted something looking straight on so that I could put it anywhere. He said he didn't recommend the straight on look and this was the closest things he's recommend. The body and neck bent and the face looking straight out.

I know some of the veteran hunters on here can give me some much needed wisdom to make sure I'm making the right choice here so thanks in advance.

Never do the straight it is bad option, the wall pedestal shown is nice, but always a lt or rt is better than straight the straight hides and does not show rack nearly as well.

If you want it looking straight no better option. And the $425 is a good price for good work, I prolly have 6 on wall pedestals

Pm sent

Totally agree with BMD.

I agree also. Straight on mount typically don't look as natural or realistic and I don't think they attractive either. Turns will always showcase your deer's rack better than straight on. The only time I would think about doing a straight mount is if you had an extremely wide buck that was his widest near his tips. The straight on could be used and would show the rack well from straight on.

Agree with bmd but never ever ever mount a deer straight on, loose alot of deffinition in the mount when u do that.

I would do the same mount for u for cheaper

Look at revolutiontaxidermysupply.com
They have a straight forward looking form called the curios alert that has an off set to the neck, but still allows for the straight on look. It gives the deer some movement and life like appearance. It keeps away from the stiff straight forward 1950 look of a conventional straight form. I push this to all my customers that are dead set on a straight form. I am sure your taxidermist will like it as well. They have options to fit your smaller framed southern deer as well to get a good fit.
Auggie

I'm having my taxidermist do a semi sneak with a right turn. I think its around 400 or so. My first ever deer mount. Having my first elk mounted as well. Post some pics when you get it back. Congrats!!

Thanks for all the responses!!

Go to Aaron at Texas Wildlife Taxidermy. He does some goooood deer.