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Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
#7181409
05/27/18 11:36 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,947
txtrophy85
OP
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OP
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Posts: 31,947 |
For those that have taxidermy collections, do you strive to fill your trophy room with record book caliber animals, representative class animals or just to compile a bunch of animals.
Taking sentiments out of it ( first kills, special hunts, etc) what is your goal for trophy rooms?
Taxidermy has become a lot more popular in recent years, growing up most hunters I knew only had 1 or 2 heads in a lifetime of hunting. Now larger personal taxidermy collections are becoming more in style.
Myself, although I haven’t set any particular goals my collection runs more towards the representative side with animals not being small for species but not huge either. I only have one truly large for species mount the others run about average as far as trophy standards go. Nice heads but nothing spectacular.
As wall space shrinks with every passing year I’m going to have to get more selective with what I choose to mount, however.
For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7181438
05/28/18 12:16 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,498
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,498 |
Buy a bigger house.
Most of my collection is just good representative critters for the area taken. A few others are more for the memory of a special hunt, but all have good memories associated with them
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: kmon11]
#7181478
05/28/18 12:55 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 27,091
Nogalus Prairie
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 27,091 |
Buy a bigger house.
Most of my collection is just good representative critters for the area taken. A few others are more for the memory of a special hunt, but all have good memories associated with them This for me. I’ve been lucky on a few that were big specimens, but the taxidermy is about the beauty of the animals and the memories. One of my favorite bucks wouldn’t score 120, but he was 9 when I shot him and elusive as a ghost. Almost didn’t kill him on the day I finally got him. So he’s up there where I can see him.
I learned long ago you can't reason someone out of something they don't reason themselves into.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7181774
05/28/18 02:38 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,637
DStroud
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,637 |
My only “book” class trophies are archery kills and I did get them mounted of course. I never plan to shoot something with getting it mounted in mind. If it’s a truly good animal and the hunt was awesome I tend to want to get it mounted to cherish the memory. My Nilgia is a good example. Could care less about shooting one. Got invited on the hunt and had a good guide killed a tank of an animal with a great stalk and long shot with a new 28 Nolser caliber .... got a beautiful mount.
"Anyone taking up handloading necessarily plays with unknown factors and takes chances. But so does anyone who drives a car,goes to a cocktail party,eats in a restaurant,or gets married."
Jack O'Connor 1963
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182046
05/28/18 09:41 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271
Palehorse
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271 |
I'm thinking of getting this bad boy in my trophy room. Should I just do a shoulder mount or get the full body mount? A rug might be cool too.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182058
05/28/18 10:05 PM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 25,269
Creekrunner
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I can't take the sentiment out of it. When I look at a trophy of mine, I'm standing back where I took the shot, with the people that were standing with me, if there were any there. Some of those people have left this earth by now and most of them taught me a ton about hunting. I don't believe I have a single mount that will make any book; I never had one measured. The one I'm most proud of is a mediocre west Texas muley that I spotted and stalked all by my lonesome on one of the most God-forsaken, beat-up oil patch ranches I've ever been on. European (skull) mounts can go a lot more places, without deteriorating, than a regular shoulder mount can. (Porches, barns, etc.) Plus, they're a lot more economical. Not having any taxidermy coming down the pipeline is lot less taxing on the annual budget and one less thing to worry about. I do dread having to dust them all once or twice a year. I've gone to mostly skull mounts on whitetails and muleys I shoot. I've grown to appreciate the simplicity and primal nature of them. Hopefully any others will be skull mounts too. Unless I go back for that dam cat with spots. He mocks me.
...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182069
05/28/18 10:15 PM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,694
krmitchell
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,694 |
I’ve got a little of everything. Big, average and/or sentimental. I don’t go that deep with it though. If it’s an animal I like and want to look at it for the next couple decades I’ll mount it. If not a euro is a good route or I give the skulls to my daughter to paint. Like most I’m running out of wallspace but that’s fine. I always wanted dead animals above my wife’s side of the bed
Last edited by rexmitchell; 05/28/18 10:15 PM.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182154
05/29/18 12:15 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498
Erathkid
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498 |
My house at the land doesn't have any more room for more animals. I guess it's time to hang up the guns. NOT! I'm more into the growing of the deer as well as hunting. But mostly just like watching them these days.
Last edited by Erathkid; 05/29/18 12:16 AM.
Life is too short, as is. Don't chance it. Don't text and drive.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182157
05/29/18 12:21 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498
Erathkid
THF Celebrity
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Creekrunner, I'm into skull mounts more these days too. Lack of room is a big factor but also, like you said, less stress.
Life is too short, as is. Don't chance it. Don't text and drive.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182174
05/29/18 12:33 AM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,484
hawk
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,484 |
Memories....the main reason I have one mounted. To remember the hunt.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182225
05/29/18 01:19 AM
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,201
Theringworm
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,201 |
Purely about the memories and recognizing the beauty of the creatures on this Earth. Everyone of them has a story that is worth being retold, at least I think so. Most of what is on my wall are/will be once in a life time hunts. WT deer get hunted annually and since I have already killed my "buck of a life time" most everything is getting left for the kids to hunt or maybe a skull mount if I shoot it and it's unique enough. At the end of the day, do what you want. They are your memories. Remember them how you see fit as there is no right or wrong answer in my opinion.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182270
05/29/18 02:10 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,904
Simple Searcher
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,904 |
I have Euros and taxis on the wall, some nice specimens, but not a single "book" animal. I have many different breeds, but there isn't an animal on my wall that doesn't have a unique story/memory behind it. I had no intent on ever filling a room with animals, it just slowly happened over 30 years of hunting. When you think about it, an animal ever few years, you have a wall full. My favorite is one of the smaller ones, a hill country 8 pointer that might make 120inches (never measured). It is my wife's first deer from when she started joining me on hunts.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182349
05/29/18 03:32 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,833
sparrish8
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
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Posts: 1,833 |
We ran out of space so had to build. anew house, Africa will do that to you. I mount everything i shoot, i love it because all the hunts have a story.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: hawk]
#7182351
05/29/18 03:34 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498
Erathkid
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498 |
Memories....the main reason I have one mounted. To remember the hunt. No doubt. Special hunts in your life need to be memorialized.
Life is too short, as is. Don't chance it. Don't text and drive.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: Erathkid]
#7182782
05/29/18 05:53 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,359
txhunter1010
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,359 |
Memories....the main reason I have one mounted. To remember the hunt. No doubt. Special hunts in your life need to be memorialized. Yeah the ones I have mounted I find myself looking at them and I can remember in detail the hunts. The weather, the people, the place.. everything. I love that!!
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7182973
05/29/18 09:29 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296
stxranchman
Obie Juan Kenobi
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Obie Juan Kenobi
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296 |
I have never been concerned about any record book when I am hunting and never will. To me it is all about the size or quality of the animal I am hunting but the memory of that hunt. Every one of mine were a favorite that is why I have a shoulder, pedestal, life size or euro mount done from them. For many of them I did not even take a picture of them but now I have the mount. I can easily spend a day or two just looking at mine and remembering the hunt.
Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7183271
05/30/18 02:29 AM
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Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 113
Colorado1
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 113 |
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7183760
05/30/18 05:02 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,316
White Falcon
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,316 |
What little I have are trophy's to me! to me.
Last edited by White Falcon; 05/30/18 05:03 PM.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: txtrophy85]
#7183764
05/30/18 05:05 PM
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 15,566
TexFlip
THF Celebrity
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I'm not big on shoulder mounts and I don't hunt waterfowl. I've got my biggest WT and biggest Axis shoulder mounted and that's it. I much prefer Euro mounts.
Just to make sure that it is done thoroughly, I go both ways.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: Colorado1]
#7183814
05/30/18 05:43 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,947
txtrophy85
OP
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OP
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Posts: 31,947 |
That’s pretty much what I want my office to look like, lol
For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
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Re: Trophy rooms/taxidermy collections
[Re: stxranchman]
#7183817
05/30/18 05:45 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,947
txtrophy85
OP
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OP
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,947 |
I can easily spend a day or two just looking at mine and remembering the hunt. Maybe the highlight reel or cliff notes version if you are only giving yourself that amount of time
For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
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