Having seen big bull tahr standing on rock pinnacles, manes blowing in the wind, I believe tahr are fascinating animals and have found it tough to capture their full essence in anything less than a life-size mount, which is a fairly large edition to many trophy rooms. So I have been working on some modified shoulder mounts or wall pedestal mounts. I thought I’d run my latest rendition up the AR flag pole for some in put?



Best regards

Mike O

Looks great to me, from what I can gather you have used part of the backskin to show off more of the hide and hair?
Good work.

Your mount looks pretty good and your'e right, a full mount is ideal to do them justice. But I think a good wall pedestal that shows off the cape is as effective if done well.

Here are some pics from the recent Tahr Show in Christchurch showing a few mounts:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...5621043/m/7681099211

Regards
H

I like the trailing back allowing for more mane to show. The only thing that bugs me (and this is coming from a customer viewpoint, not a taxidermist) is it looks like he's missing his belly (I think the hair may be deceiving me though). Are there any pics of the raw manikin, so we could see how much more of the body is being used?

Brilliant idea though and thank you for sharing!

Your work is obviously very skilled but I just can't get into the style of this mount. It reminds me a bit of "half mount" rocky mountain goats that I have seen and also really dislike. If someone shoots a Tahr or goat, it only really makes sense to me that they full mount it or not even bother. If someone is really space constrained to that degree, he/she might as well just skull mount it and make a rug from the full cape. BETTER YET, a guy could do a full rug mount with the head and hooves in (like one would a bear or cat) and either hang that on the wall or use on the floor as usual. I have seen some bison done this way and they were really REALLY neat!

Your extended shoulder mount/wall pedestal has potential!
Here's a couple of mounts from my house.




It is extremely hard to replicate a live Tahr, especially during the rut when they are all "Bristled Up"
A good cape with lots of colour helps.

I like the sneak pose for a shoulder mount, it lets the mane hang forward.
Many Life Size mounts I see have the head pointed down hill to try and get the mane hanging forward. IMO this is an unnatural pose. Most Tahr stand upright, especially when on the alert.. However hard to puff out the mane in upright pose.

The problem with full size mounts is that they quickly take up all the space in a trophy room.

I am not totally happy with my tahr shoulder mount, but I think having him turned would be better. In any eveny, only do lifesize mounts on cats.

You can do a half mount as an extension of the shoulder mount and it looks fantastic. Have the back cut on a 45degree angle with a small rock under the feet with one foot raised as if it taking a step up. thats how I have done one of mine with shoulder mounts hung around it. If i could work out how to put a picture on i could show you

Zhaba:

I'd like to see a photo. if you wwill e-mail it to me, I'd apprecate it and if you want I'll post it for you. mike@mikescustomtaxidermy

BR
Mike O