A few of my DIY mounts

[Matty]

Glad to see I'm not the only one on here that mounts their own animals.

When the price of good mounts started to skyrocket, I decided to start doing my own and for my family/friends.

I'm certainly no pro, but they are good enough for me to stare at forever. LOL Plus, it can be fun and it's a lot cheaper than paying someone else. Here's a few of them. Enjoy?










This is my favorite. My brothers first buck. His wife doesn't like it but too bad.

[Beauford]

WOW. They look great and great bucks. The one buck looks like a tree branch growing out what a cool rack

[ Post made via Android ]

[Matty]

Thanks alot. Yeah that buck is awesome. My brother had passed so many bucks leading up to that one. After he shot it, he thought it might be too small still. I told him he's on crack. lol Also makes me wonder what the heck he'd been passing all those years. lol

BTW, I don't get on here much, but I want to offer to help any way I can if anyone is interested in mounting your own deer. I'd gladly answer questions.

I kind of know the pains of a "basement" taxidermist so...might be unique from a guy with a dedicated shop.

I also never had anyone teach me, I just picked it up and ran with it. First mount was brutally bad, second...was better. (you'll never see either though). lol

After that they got progressively better.
Biggest thing is to use good live reference photos or visit a zoo, deer farm, etc. You "THINK" you know what a deer looks like, until you try to "assemble" one. lol

If you're thinking about it. Just go for it...(on an animal you don't mind messing up, not the biggest buck of your life)

[stash59]

You've definetly honed your craaft.

[Jackson Marsh]

Looking good!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Bowhunter4life]

Those look great matty I have been doing mine too but the eyes give me fits!!! I'm always redoing them. Yours look great man

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Stanley]

Nice looking mounts.

[Matty]

Those look great matty I have been doing mine too but the eyes give me fits!!! I'm always redoing them. Yours look great man

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Thanks a lot everyone!

Bowhunter4life, I had trouble with eyes a lot too. Best thing that helped me was I bought the 3d casts of whitetail eyes from Vandykes. It helped my mounts become a lot more realistic. The other thing I will say is pay great attention to hair patterns.

I look at where color changes or direction changes take place and then use those hair patterns to help me make sure everything is where it's supposed to be.

This isn't the one that I got, but this looks like it's probably better since it includes the antler burr and ear butts.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/THRC1-P22227.aspx

I got these, one relaxed, one alert. I also bought ear butts that are supposed to be used in the mount but I keep them as reference and use clay. I will say, the difference between alert and relaxed is not really worth buying both. I can barely tell them apart.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/WTRCR-P155C35.aspx


I have found that some forms are awesome too and others need a lot of alterations to make them look good (in my opinion).


I also think we are probably harder on our own mounts than someone else would be. You might think the eyes are bad, but they probably look great. I find all kinds of flaws in my work that others don't usually see.

[mheichelbech]

How long does it normally take to do one? A buck?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[screaming eagle]

there are people in business not doing that nice of work. Great job.

[Matty]

How long does it normally take to do one? A buck?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

That depends. I would say most of my mounts are probably a total of about 11-12 hours (spread out over 3 weeks because of drying time).

Here's a break down of approximate times.

5 minutes - measurements
30 minutes - to cape and remove antlers from skull. I use a small Y incision so there's less sewing.
1.5 hours - to turn, split and flesh
2 hours - entire tanning process
1-2 hours - prepping/altering form
4-5 hours - mounting
15-30 minutes - grooming/ final tweaking
1 hour - finish work

Some take longer, some take less. For instance certain forms like Joe Coombs and Revolution typically need no alterations to look good. So as long as size is right, prep time is cut down to about 10 minutes.


Another thing that can cut down your time but will raise your cost is to send the cape out to be tanned (and maybe even prepped). I think it's about $45 but I am not sure on current prices. To me, the cape prep is the worst part of the whole process. I may start sending mine out because my hands get arthritic feeling after doing all the turning and splitting.

Tanning it myself, I think I mount a deer for about $160 though. So maybe $200+ to send it out to a tannery and then mount it yourself. That's not that bad but I still think long and hard before dropping the string. lol

[oldrank]

Nice looking work.. I just started doing mine a couple years ago also. It is a fun project and I cant wait to do another one. I would recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about trying it..nice work!!!

[ Post made via Android ]

[DeerDylan]

You have a gift Matty. Great work

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[purebowhunting]

I've always wanted to try taxidermy and think this winter I'm going to give it a shot. Going to try a doe first to see how it goes. Your work looks great Matty!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Matty]

Nice looking work.. I just started doing mine a couple years ago also. It is a fun project and I cant wait to do another one. I would recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about trying it..nice work!!!

[ Post made via Android ]

Thanks.

I agree too. It's really not that difficult. Today's forms and supplies along with the availability of good tanneries makes it pretty easy to make a mount look good. Plus it's fun and rewarding.

I've always wanted to try taxidermy and think this winter I'm going to give it a shot. Going to try a doe first to see how it goes. Your work looks great Matty!

[ Post made via Android ]

I have never mounted a doe, I've actually heard it can be harder, but not sure I believe that. I assume you'll have to make sure you get it pretty accurate though, because there are no big antlers to attract everyones eyes. lol Definitely do it though.

I started by specifically killing a buck I would normally only euro mount and then I dove in head first. I screwed up a lot of stuff like when splitting the eyes, lips and especially the ears, but I was proud. (It was horrendous though and I'm not joking when I say that) lol

The important thing is to have fun and don't expect the first few to be beautiful!