Ok This will be my first whitetail shoulder mount. The deer scored 133". He was only 15 3/4" wide, but had really tall tines. I'm keeping that in mind when trying to pick the pose. What pose do ya'll experts think will look best on my buck. I really like the aggressive buck mounts, but I've seen a ton that look terrible as well.
Picof him alive:
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After:
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Aggressive poses I like:
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Would be pretty neat for the future, but not sure about this:
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I'm open do whatever. I really like the poses where the ears aren't just straight out and I like a head turn. I like when the mount shows the muscle lines of the neck like this one, but I don't want a wall pedestal:
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Can't go wrong w any pose for that deer. www.trophycasetaxidermy.com

remember the aggressive post doesn't start unless your deer had a neck of 19 inches behind the ears. Just judging from the pics I don't think your deer had that big of a neck but I could be wrong. I would go with a wall pedestal. They always display very nice and they come in all sizes from 15 inch to 24 inch and up.

I always choose the pose the deer was in when it was harvested. Helps preserve the memory more for me.

For your first buck, I would stick with a more classic pose. The newer forms that have the animals in all sorts of positions and angles are nice, but also better used when you already have a variety of mounts on the wall and you just want to add a little something different to the collection. You have a beautiful buck there and I think it would look the most impressive with its head held high and maybe turning to the side to show off that kicker. Keep is simple and you're odds of regretting it go down tremendously.

Eddie

Agree. Go with a classic semi-sneak with the ears back and since your buck is pretty symmetrical determine where you are going to place it and then decide on a left or right turn.

If you know your taxi pretty good ask him to borrow some forms to mount the antlers on to see what you like(won't look near as good without the cape on it) so you can see them. I also would see if you can take the form home to put on the wall in the area you are wanting to put the mount. I am a fan of offset wall pedestal mounts and really like the form on the 4th buck down hanging outside on the tree. Great buck

I like the bucks facing off in No.3

I would do something like this:

Here are a few mounts I have done using a more aggressive pose. I personally like the look of a mature buck with his ears back in the more dominant look

I agree....stay away from the aggressive pose

I think if you want something unique and different from the standard semi sneak slight turn shoulder mounts, go with what you want and makes you happy. And it doesn't really matter the neck size, all forms can be altered and modified to make the mount look exactly like you "the customer" wants it. Don't let your taxidermist talk you in to doing something traditional just because it's easier for them and takes a little less time than actually having to customize your mount for you. Both the mounts pictured below are on altered forms and have 18" or less neck. The left is just a shoulder mount and the right is a wall pedestal. I say just take the pictures you posted here to your taxi and he should be able to recreate that look for you