full body mounts? your thoughts,lifetime trophies

flyingbrass · Dec 31, 2012

I got a full body stone's sheep and a full body mountain goat. I'm happy I mounted them. I got plenty of space for them now with a 6200 square foot house with vaulted ceilings. I'm going on a dall sheep hunt in 2013 and just assumed I'd full body mount it but I'm getting conflicting thoughts from local hunters that have done the same. Now I'm only 39 but it appears as you get close to 70 you often move to a smaller space and can't take your full body mounts with you. One hunter suggested that I don't do any more full body mounts. He has his in his son's retail store and not in his house anymore. Lets hear what the big game hunters of the west have to say on this issue.

flyingbrass
cold dead hands
NRA Life Member

SDR · Dec 31, 2012

Full mount. I have always felt that big sheep deserve to be displayed in a full mount. There is nothing more majestic then a grand slam all full mounted. The only way I wouldn't is if the Dall is a small one. Then save the space for a bigger Dall.
I have 13 full mount animals in my room and they always get the most attention from visitors. I don't regret any of them.

littlebighorn · Dec 31, 2012

I just finished reading a book on the life of Jack O'Connor. While he lived in a totally different era, many of his sheep mounts have come and gone. His family actually has very few left in their possession. While he killed many big sheep, the one he cherished the most was a heavy horned old Dall that didn't score all that well. It was shoulder mounted and hung sticking his head out from behind a moose.
I think mounts are there for personal reasons and those reasons can change over the years. While I would love to have full body mounts, I don't have the $ or space, but I still enjoy looking at them as shoulder mounts. The memories are all that matter. What anyone else thinks about my mounts doesn't really matter.
Good luck on your Dall hunt. Hopefully you can take one to cherish (in whatever form)like old Jack.

llamapacker · Dec 31, 2012

Don't do any mount, full or shoulder, because of what someone else thinks. Decide to mount the animal because you want to.

If you are worried about what to do with the mounts when you are 70, your nuts. You have 30+ years to enjoy them, etc., and like anything (possession) you can do what you please with them later in life. You probably wont sell them for more than the cost of mounting them, and they are not an investment. What you spend on them today should be measured against the pleasure you will get from having them in your house for many years to come.

If your wife is going to insist they be in the basement or garage, then why bother with the mounts? My house has over 50 mounts, and about 15 are full body. I am very selective in what I have mounted, and mount less than 10% of the animals I shoot, probably more like 1 or 2%. That said, I have a red stag and an axis deer at the taxidermist right now, although both are shoulder mounts. A Caracal is in the process of being mounted lifesize.

I am considerably older than you, and realize when I die my kids will likely not want or have room for all my mounts. I didn't mount the animals for my kids in the first place. I enjoy watching the tube with a tall cold one in my trophy room, and having visitors come and enjoy my collection. It isn't about having to mount an animal, I do what will make me happy.
Bill

mtnview · Dec 31, 2012

I think it is up to the individual, all things considered; money, the wall space, the hunt, and the specimen. I took a Desert ram this past year and made the call in the field to just go shoulder mount, when I had been planning on full body. My trophies are out in my man cave and for my solo enjoyment or the occasional stop by of friends and acquaintances. I don't expect my trophies to mean as much to anyone as they do to me, unless its my buddies who were along on the adventure. I have a Dall hunt in 2013 and am already thinking shoulder mount, but things can change in the moment. Do what suits your space, memories, wallet, and what best presents the animal. May success visit with you on your Dall sheep hunt.

@llamapacker Would love to see a photo of your Caracal when it is done, I just took one in for a full body job as well.

PleaseDear · Dec 31, 2012

I don't do many decisions based on what might be or what could be in 20-30 years from now.

I say keep your FB mounts flowing on your Sheep quest!

Robb

Muleymemories · Jan 1, 2013

>I don't do many decisions based
>on what might be or
>what could be in 20-30
>years from now.
>
>I say keep your FB mounts
>flowing on your Sheep quest!
>
>
>Robb

I agree, nothing like looking at a full body sheep mount!! keep rolling.........

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