I have seen some really awesome trophy rooms over the years, but the thing I noticed is typically the animals are more recent additions. I don't recall seeing lots of animals that were 30+ years old (or at least appeared old). Got me thinking about what my taxidermy collection will look like in another 50 years.


So my questions.

1. What is the oldest piece of taxidermy you have?
2. Does it still look good?
3. What do you do to maintain your trophies?

I don't have a trophy room or many mounts for that matter but my oldest one is an aoudad from 1994 when I was guided by Finn Aagaard. It still looks nice. I just dust it off with the brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner from time to time.

I have a B&C Jaguar taken by my father in Belize (FKA "British Honduras")in the early 1960's. I also have a mounted iguana from that trip. The hide on the Jag is getting pretty rough, unfortunately. I also have a grizzly and several rams from the 1970's - also from my late father's collection.

cougar from 1978, mule deer & pronghorn from 1970

I wonder how many of todays taxidermist could pull off a quality realistic looking mount if all that was available, supply wise, was arsenic, wood wool, lead, plaster and dimensional lumber and using the carcass and skeleton for casting and use, as was back 50 years ago. The taxidermy industry has come leaps and bounds over the past with supplies, tanning agents and overall knowledge and anatomy of any specimen at your finger tips, making the quality and lasting ability surpass one's lifetime with very little care. A competent taxidermist will still be the difference in your trophy room having the wow factor also, LOL.

I have a wood duck from the mid 70's. Still looks great.

1962 Mule Deer mount. Layered paper and glue form. Jeff Seivers mounted it for me. Except for some ear cracks it still looks pretty good.

I have a Pronghorn from '74 and another from about '78. They were both mounted by Joe Jonas Jr. and still look fine, although the black from the so-called cheekpiece has faded. I vacuum them about once a year, very carefully.

My oldest mount was a whitetail from 72 or 73. That dates me. Like most 40+ year old mounts, it's horrific.

I'll take the age trophy here. Though disqualified.
I have a muley buck killed and mounted in 1946. Four bils' and one's brother, one was my Dad. Uncle killed it with a single shot .30/40 somewhere in the White River Forest of NW CO. First season after WWII, right after all of them were discharged.

Rack was scored about 7 years ago at 187.7pts.

Aunt wouldn't let him have it and his elk head both in the house so he hung it on a wall next to a window in the garage for all those years. It was originally a short necked upright mount.
The sun ate the L ear and most of the hair off, eye was white. Looked terrible and was shedding like a mangy coyote.

Uncle Teague Eiland, died in '73 while I was in the Army/Germany. Aunt died around '93. I told the grandkids: "If none of you kids want that deer head I do, don't throw it away". Couple years later Dad called and said: "Eddie just called and said if you want that deer head go get it, door is unlocked". I just about got thrown out of my home when I brought it in. It shed so bad I took it over and hung it in Dad's garage for a few years until I killed a buck I thought could donate the cape. I was told it was too small but, he had a road kill the rack was busted up bad but, cape was fine. He'd swap me capes for $20.

I had it remounted by a taxidermist school in Canon City, CO. Sneaky Left turn. Quite a few of us have inspected it closely and haven't found a flaw in it yet. Sure wish I could post pictures, don't even have a camera. IF someone would pm a cell ph# I can text a few pictures of it if it could be posted. This head means a lot to me and needs to be seen and appreiciated. Only one uncle is left now and he's 92+8mo.

Thank you,
George

George Dwight: I sent you a PM.

I have a caribou shoulder mount from 1976--shot him in Alaska when I was stationed at Ft. Greely. He is my Bicentennial caribou.

Jonas Brothers Denver did the taxidermy, and it looks the same today - the cape portion, that is; the antlers need to be re-stained. I had them made detachable, and with all my moves in the Army and afterwards, they've taken a beating.

In 1976 I paid $500 for the shoulder mount, plus $50 per side to have the antlers detachable. That included shipping, from Denver to Alabama, where I was stationed after Alaska.

I have many of my mounts from the 1960s in my trophy room yet. There are a couple of mule deer bucks, my son's (he was 10 yrs. old then) mule deer doe, two pronghorns, a Coues deer buck, a javelina and bobcat and black bear rugs -- all from AZ.

They were all done by a taxidermist named Fred Campbell from Avondale AZ. His wife Louise made all of the forms, which were paper mache types. Both deceased many years ago.

My oldest mount is my first pronghorn that I had mounted in 1972.

Next oldest are a mule deer buck and a black bear rug that I had mounted in 1974. The mule deer is on a paper form and I pickled the cape and mounted it myself.

Although these mounts don't look as good as the work my taxidermist is doing today, they still look pretty good.

I have lots of old mounts in my home. This mountain reedbuck hunted on our ranch by my grandfather in the mid 1920's. The klipspringer on the right from about 1956 and various other skull mounts from 1920's, 30's etc. Not a huge number on display, but they span 90 years.

I have my dad's mule deer from 1950. It now resides in the garage in a crate. It looked very good until about ten years ago. Too many years in storage while I worked overseas. I need to get rid of it. I'll probably mount the horns on a board. I have a photo of the buck hanging from a telephone pole in our backyard in Artesia, New Mexico. My dad and I are in the photo. It was the only buck he ever shot.

I have two deer, a sheep, some fish and a number of ducks I mounted back in the early to mid seventy's. I keep them dusted and on occasion, light cleaning.

My uncle and my Grandma's cousin came up to the NWT in 1986 and shot a couple of caribou. When Grandma's cousin passed away a few years ago I was lucky enough to get the mount (how his grandsons could not want the mount is a mystery to me). It's not the biggest bull but it was one of the biggest trips of his life and he had the bull mounted by my uncle when they got home. It's still a pretty good looking mount though it has lived it's entire life either in the stairway of his house or the stairway of Mom's, far from any windows with mount-killing daylight.