I'm not rich. I'll never have a dedicated trophy room. I have a friend with a home in RSA. Over the next few years I may get a couple of chances to visit him and he can arrange short (2-3 day) plains game hunts where I might get a crack at kudu or zebra.

I doubt I will ever have wall space for big shoulder mounts. Pedastal mounts look good space wise but look very expensive. Are there any attractive mounts for horns only for kudu and similar animals? Please post picks if you can.

Brazos_Jack

Have you thought about a European skull mount? If I ever get a wall hanger I will probably go that direction.

Pictures

Kebs,

I had thought about Euro scull mounts because they look like they should cost a lot less. But they take up as much or more wall space. The pedastal mounts could go anywhere but look like they would cost even more than a conventional wall mount.

Are there any options like a free standing mount of some kind involving the horns only of horned plans game that could be displayed on any horizontal surface - end table, cabinet or bar top?

+1 for pictures

You can always do something like this Merino ram I killed on Santa Cruz Island.

Made the wooden pedestal on the lathe in my shop and then shaped the skull plate with plaster of Paris and wrapped it with tanned buckskin. I used a 1"-wide strip of buckskin that I rolled lengthwise and glued to the base of each horn.

Pardon the dust in the creases. I had taken that photo in the middle of a dusty remodeling project and just did a quickie "wipe clean."

Tony,

Your Merino Ram Horn Pedestal Mount looks very promising. It doesn't look like something a taxidermist would charge me a fortune to do. It looks like it would work well for any horned (not tined antlered) game like kudu or other African plains game and would give me the flexibilty to put it in any rooom without sacrificing wall space.

Brazos_Jack

I have no idea what a taxidermist might charge, but it virtually cost me nothing to do it myself.

The biggest expense for the taxidermist will be the wooden base since he would likely have to have it made by soneone else.

For mine, the wood was mostly scraps, and I already had some plaster and the deer hide scraps. I probably had about 3 hrs. in the project.

The concept could certainly be used for smaller antered game, as well. I would probably use the entire skull on a much larger platform for the latter, however.

quote:

I have no idea what a taxidermist might charge, but it virtually cost me nothing to do it myself.

The biggest expense for the taxidermist will be the wooden base since he would likely have to have it made by soneone else.

Tony Mandile

Your ram required the elevated pedastal due to the down dip of the spiral horn. Many species, like kudu, you could mount on a simple square or circular plaque like your circular base piece.

Brazos_jack

Yup, you could do it that way.

The biggest concern would be balance so everything remains upright. That could be done by having a base with a larger surface, or it would be easy enough to create a hollow base for the addition of some weight, such as sand.

Though not the best quality as they were taken on and sent via cell phone, here are some examples of euro mounts and also some very short neck mounts: Classy and small space friendly






Best Regards;
Mike Ohlmann

I have a friend that runs a local gun store. He is older, and money is no object to him these days. He has spent a considerable amount of time in Africa, over the past six decades. and has taken many head of game over there. For the last twenty years he has brought back only photos of his trophies, and is very satisfied with that. Many of the heads from years past he has donated here and there, and some of the really nice ones are collecting dust in his shop. He commented one day that he could have gone on a lot more hunts for what he spent in taxidermy, lot of wisdom in that. Just a thought.

Zebra Rug, very reasonable, and a great piece of home decor or rug. Kudu and Oryx are going to kill me for a head/shoulder mount, but I will get to see them every day, right?

Rich

For my "trophy room" I have a very limited space as well. Those are not exactly European mounts But this is what I do myself. It does not save a lot of money,and takes a lot of time. But all my mounts are in the same style.

Brazos you need to make some room for optimism. Imho

I actually prefer skull cap mounts like yours to full skulls.

My personal preference is to keep the nose on, change the angle, grind away the teeth on the belt sander and flatten them out.

Sheep are difficult as you have to build a pedistal to get them away from the wall (as you have done).

Love the short neck mounts Mike,

If we end up in Kentucky next month I'll come by and see you.

LIke the looks of your website.

quote:

Originally posted by madabula:
Though not the best quality as they were taken on and sent via cell phone, here are some examples of euro mounts and also some very short neck mounts: Classy and small space friendly






Best Regards;
Mike Ohlmann

Skull mounts with just wire in the back of the skull and nail in stud anywhere. You can do it all yourself, start with bigger pot , put the head there boil it for couple of hours and then use good pressure washer the get all the meat and brains out, dry it and then brush peroxide on the skull couple of times, wash it again and dry it out.
Goes pretty fast. I had skulls hanging in my house 24-48 hours after the kill

Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold: