A friend of mine is thinking about taking a Giraffe Bull next year for a life size mount, and is wondering what the distance is from the ground to the bottom of the belly line. Can anyone provide the information? Thanks.

I'd be interested in this information too. I am hunting giraffe next year and unfortunately, due to space limitations, I will be planning on a backskin wall rug and a short pedestal (head and as much neck as possible) mount. My taxidermist says backskin with a backing,edges bound in rolled leather looks very nice. Hope to hunt up a good old bull. Because these are such large animals I'm planning on using either a .458 Lott or .416 Remington.

The first giraffe a client took with me measured 7 foot 2 inches to the brisket. He was 18 foot 4 inches tall, if our measurements on the ground were accurate. He took three of us seven hours to skin, needing 2 trucks to flip him. The guys we had that were supposed to come skin him ran into car trouble near the tall trees in Rustenburg and were very late getting there. The next day we had our own car troubles at the lang boem!

I'm going after giraffe this year for myself, but I will be looking for a smaller one (on purpose!). My wife wants a rug for our bedroom.

They are very thick skinned, 375 should be a minimum. They can soak up an amazing amount of lead, and run very far, very fast if not hit correctly. The heart is in the upper third of the body, not the lower third, and the side brain shot is very simple, since the head is roughly the size of a medium antelope. Practice quick second shots, and don't count on one bullet to do the job. Give lead!

Hi Mike:

Hemag has it down pat. In my local hardware store there is a full mount Giraffe. There is a 6ft full shelving unit with supplies under his belly. I can easily walk underneath him at 5 foot 10 inches tall.

His head weighs over 200 lbs.... A very good shot is one and a half feet below the head on the neck. He will drop like a ton of bricks, but be warned he will probably still need finishing shots. His skin in places is over 1 inch thick. they are an incredability tough animal.... and BIG!

The Giraffe I shot in June of this year, took 7 300 RUM's.. I definitely needed a 375 H&H that I had with me, but when my Giraffe got up again after the finishing shot, my wife ran away with my 375..

It took over nine skinners to do the job, and it took a tractor to pull him over on his side to finish the job.

I am going to do a shoulder mount, with the backskin as rug. My PH said he can get me a table made with hoof and leg bones as the legs of the table???

Try your luck on a Black Bull, they are really beautiful.

Regards... Jim P.

That wouldn't be Allen Boyer's in Walnutport, would it?

Hi Mike:

Yes it would be Boyers Hardware.....LOL How many hardware stores in PA have a full mount Giraffe in them ...

I bought more than a few firearms from Allen in the past 15 years. He is also a member of Lehigh Valley SCI, all the guns they raffle off come at their yearly banquet come form Boyer Hardware.

Regards... Jim P