Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

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Mountain Man
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Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Mountain Man » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:20 am

Here are some pictures of a mule deer floor pedestal I did a while ago. I just wanted to show another option for a mulie or WT instead of a standard wall mount. This form has a sharp left turn. Floor pedestals are nice but they take up some floor space. This particular form is available from Matuska Taxidermy Supply Co. in Iowa.

The base is supposed to be columnar basalt. Basalt is the rock type that Hawaii is made of. In some areas around the world, including mule deer country in the U.S., when basaltic lava was coming out of the earth and cooled, it would shrink and form hexagonal columns (though occasionally some columns might end up with 5 or 7 sides, most have 6 sides). A picture of real columnar basalt is shown below the deer pictures.

I made some fake ice and snow for the tops of the columns for some contrast with the darker rocks and deer and for repetition of the white throat patch on the deer.

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Spysar
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Spysar » Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:06 pm

Nice looking mount. I like the floor pedistals. That basalt is cool. When I first glanced the mount I thought they were tree stumps. Unique base.
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Slider1005 » Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:34 pm

Looks good MM. My buddy did a pedestal mount with his huge non typical he shot in 08. He made the base himself out of old barn beams and boards. He also used some fake brush. It looks pretty sweet, it looks like a buck hiding behind a barn. I will try to get some pics of it.
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby DevinJD2007 » Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:57 pm

Very unique I like it. 8-)
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Dor » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:13 pm

That base has got to be heavy? Nice mount.
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Mountain Man
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Mountain Man » Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:49 pm

Thanks for the compliments.

The base weighs about 15-20 lbs.

Here’s a summary of how I did it. For pedestal mounts it’s my opinion that the eyes (the main focal point of the mount) should be at eye level which is about 5’6” for an average sized person of about 5’10”. In order to get the eyes at 5’6” I used a wood 4x4 that was ~36” long and put the square steel tubing on top of that. Then I put the manikin on the square stock that fit in the tubing. It was also important to make sure the fake basalt columns were the right height to compliment the mount. I used some cardboard to make a template that was the size and height that I wanted.
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Next I cut out the wood base and painted it black. This was about 2” bigger than the rock would be. To make the rock columns I used 1” thick sheets of white Styrofoam that was easily dented – like the green foam used in floral arrangements. The sheets were cut to size and attached using hot melt glue. The columns are hollow inside. I used a flat head screwdriver to cut fractures in the “rock”. Then I spread some gray, pre-mixed grout from Menards all over the Styrofoam. The grout “grabbed” the Styrofoam and made a hard shell so the soft Styrofoam underneath couldn't be dented. Next I painted on a product called Quickstand which is used to make fake rocks with a finer texture. When dry it is an off-white color.
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After the Quickstand was dry I used a spray bottle containing watered down black Tempera paint and sprayed the “rock” until I got the color I wanted. Then I sprayed the “rock” with a matte finish to seal it.
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Thin sheets of ice were made by using a quick and cheap method of mixing fake snow with clear silicone caulk. Then some cotton batting was attached to the top of the ice to give the snow some loft. Fake snow was then put over the cotton batting.
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Wrinkleneck » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:51 pm

LOOKS GREAT!!! ;)
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:02 am

Nice!
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Dor » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:26 am

[quote="Mountain Man"]Thanks for the compliments.

The base weighs about 15-20 lbs.

Well, I guess that is considered light. Thanks for sharing!
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Liberty-Hunt » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:41 am

Original & beautiful in deed!
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby hunt n nut » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:22 pm

That looks really nice
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:50 am

8-) that's another great option. Excellent work as usual, MM.
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby hotterthantiffany » Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:25 am

awesome work, and abviously very talented!
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby venisonassassin » Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:52 pm

fantastic!
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Re: Mule Deer Pedestal Mount

Unread postby Bucky » Mon Nov 29, 2010 2:01 pm

That is a unique looking mount... nice work!
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