Ever Mounted a Buck You Didn't Kill?
Whitetail Deer
I posted this on the Kansas site as well:
Curious if anyone has ever had a buck mounted that you didn't kill? A couple years ago I mounted a set of sheds of a buck I hunted for 3 years and finally killed. I shot a decent 10 point a couple years ago and used the cape to mount the sheds next to the actual buck.
Also, this year I am considering mounting a buck I didn't kill. I found him dead the last weekend of rifle season.... due to the location of his body (next to the creek) and the timing of his disappearance (Youth Season) I'm fairly confident it was EHD.
I had a lot of history with this particular buck and I was hoping to get a crack at him this year after passing him up the last two years. I don't know if you can really consider it passing him up..... I only saw him once while hunting in 3 years.
My wife hates euro mounts in the house, but she has given me the go ahead on a shoulder mount and is actually telling me to use the cape off her buck she got with a rifle this year. I just don't feel like reducing this impressive buck to another rack in my "dead buck" tree or in the corner of my garage.
I'm not looking for permission to do it, just wondering two things: #1 - Am I weird? and #2 - Others thoughts on mounting a buck you didn't actually kill?
Thanks - Ray
not weird at all as you are acknowledging upi front what you are doing and why.
you just enjoy the animals and the mounts in your home.
makes a heck of a lot mores sense than guys who mount petting zoo deer and pass them off as trophies
not weird at all as you are acknowledging upi front what you are doing and why.
you just enjoy the animals and the mounts in your home.
makes a heck of a lot mores sense than guys who mount petting zoo deer and pass them off as trophies
I have a euro mount of a 10 pt my wife found dead between gun seasons. It sits on my wall with the deer I have killed as a simple reminder. I had the buck patterned and set my brother up on it for gun season. He emptied his gun at it after he missed the first shot and the deer died from infection from a horrible shot . The rack still has the DNR salvage tag on it and it reminds me why I personally don't like gun season as well as why I bow hunt alone. To each their own, I hope the mount turns out good.
Sounds to me like you have a history with this buck and having the mount would at least put closure to the entire story. Its your home to do with whatever you like. Plus if your wife is pushing you to do it, it obviously has value behind it.
I know you aren't the first person to do so.
If mounts are about memories, and you worked your tail off trying to get a shot at this buck for several years....you have memories with the deer.
Like bou said...as long as you're up front with yourself and others, go for it. Shoot, it's your money, you don't need anything else than your own desire.
And surely you know that any idea you post on here will get trashed by some people, right?
One of my favored mounts is of a mule deer I didn't kill ....my dad shot it, his only good buck, on a hunt I gave him as a retirement present.
I appreciate it more than any mounts that I've killed, including my bighorn sheep.
"And surely you know that any idea you post on here will get trashed by some people, right?" HA! Yes, I know and I am prepared for it: )
Like I said, I wasn't really asking permission to do it, I am just curious if there are any other "weirdos" out there like me.
I did bust my butt to get him, lost sleep over him, spent a lot of my summer vacation preparing for him, spent over 100 hunting hours in the woods this year alone trying to tag him, and probably spent the equal amount of hours begging the wife to let me go after him!
I have often said that the greatest trophy is the buck that outwitted the hunter, the one you never shot....
On a side note - I would never take credit for harvesting the animal. I would enjoy telling the story about the buck and his demise just about as much all the other deer on my wall.
Sureshot - that's a good idea, I might even leave the DNR salvage tag on the antlers.
Never have and doubt I ever will but understand why you would.
Found out the hard way last spring that you can't do that in Mich.
After finding a nice 10 pt. in my woods last spring I called a taxi to find out about getting a euro mt done. I was advised to call the dnr to get a salvage tag so it would be legal to bring in.
Long story short, dnr showed up at my house, read me the riot act, how did I ever think I could get away w/ such a thing, messed up a possible poaching scene,Stated he could write me a BUNCH of tickets,ect ect, and threw the head in the back of his truck and left.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think the dnr would come to my house and take something that was illegal. this guy was a total Di__ to me, but left saying if I ever encounter tresspassers or witness poaching activity in my area to make sure I call.
Yea right... first and last time I ever contact them. Hope he enjoys the rack in in office ect.
Looking back, I wished I would have told him to get out his book and start writing tickets. I have yet to see anywhere that what I did was illegal.Also if I was trying to pull a fast one, as he mentioned several times, I sure as hell would,nt have called them in the first place.
I never have but could see someone doing that if the deer lived on land they owned or had any other sentimental value. Never understood people buying shoulder mounts from animals they have no connection to.
I mounted one that I confiscated from a well known poacher when I was a police officer. He shot it late one night and I was lucky enough to catch him with it. A trophy of a different kind.
I had this one mounted, poacher killed in Aug, just because it was a beautiful late summer velvet buck
the taxidermist took it to a bunch of taxidermy competitions and won a bunch of first place awards. Second in the World Taxidermy competition. It was way more than $400 also...probably 40-50 hours in labor, $500 in the base alone.
No.
But I mounted one that took me 7 weeks to find.
Back in about 2001, I had a nice 10 pt buck come running at me that had been shot at by other hunters, he dove into some tall grass before I could get a shot at him. On a hunch I told a buddy of mine over lunch that we should go check to see if he was still in there. We checked, he jumped up and we both took some shots (and missed) and he ran off. We couldn't find any blood trail but we saw him run into a cattail slough and could tell he was hurt. Tried searching there but didn't have any luck. Another buddy that had already shot a deer spent the rest of the afternoon searching for him and eventually found him dead at sunset.
I mounted that one since both of them already had one on the wall and I did not at that time. (college days, couldn't afford $400 mounts very often) We call it the "community buck" since it took all three of us to get him. I spotted him, two of us jumped and shot at him, and another guy found him later that day.
As long as you are honest about where it came from there is nothing wrong with what you're doing. I just make sure to tell people the whole story about that buck and don't try to pass it off as my own. In fact, I think the third guy that found him later that day should get the credit as he did the most work.
I get to do it all the time. I am a taxidermist.
Its up to you. Don't feel you need someone else to justify it for you. I merely like looking at large bucks that are mounted. To me they are just plain cool looking...I could care less what others think but would not pass it off as a kill either. Mounts all have some type of story behind them and you just told yours......go for it..
i wouldn't. but i don't mount heads.. i shot one this yr worthy of it but didn't want to spend the money on it...
if you have the cash and want to have it mounted. have it at....
I think a mount is as much about respect for a beautiful animal as it is about the hunt, A great looking buck looks great on the wall. A bunch of years ago I bought a 4x4 mule deer at a flea market that had a 40" spread. It was so impressive I had it remounted as the old one was deteriorating. Enjoyed looking at it for many years before a guy bought me out if it. I had a friend that found a 190 deer on the road dead after being hit by a car. If I would have gotten to it first it would be on my wall.
My wierd cousin tried but he wouldn't hold still.
Seriously, I would have a booner that I found in the woods. Im going to mount him and hang him in our deer camp. I just love antlers and mounts. They are pieces of art and as long as a person isn't trying to pass it off as something it isnt then no problem.
I have paintings on the wall that I didn't paint, so mounting wildlife I didn't shoot is OK in my book as well.
NO, but I have dozens I killed and didn't mount! We have to many mounts now and mounting fees are to high now in this economy and spending the money on taxidermy fees is not a priority.......In the 'old days' we'd get mounts done for FREE or as little as $125.00.....when they hit $350 PLUS we quit!
Nothing wrong with a do-it-youself european mount either. That would be my suggestion! On the right board they look great!
IMHO a mount should have a story behind. A guy I know found a 180+ class buck while driving on the highway that had just been hit by a truck and went ahead and mount it and now displayed it on his bar wall. Most people want to hear how he got it, what is he telling them?, I was the first one that drove by? None of my business I guess, but if one is to spend that kind of money, you know what I mean.
Only thing I would consider as weird is worrying about it too much ...if you want to mount the deer than mount it, and don't worry about my opinion or anyone else's. Of course once he is mounted you need to be willing to admit to people that you did not kill the deer.
I have not, but I have a set of antlers from the last deer my Dad shot before he died. They are mounted on a plaque, but I've always wanted to get a shoulder mount done of them.
OFFHNTN
I have a huge buck my grandfather killed that I always thought deseerved to be mounted.
The cape is the hard part.
No way i have to many i have killed that i need to mount !! i see no logic its just a set of horns from a deer to each there own !!!
I have one small 8 pt that I had mounted a few years back. It was the last deer my dad ever shot. He tacked the rack on the wall in his shed. After he died I had it mounted with the cape of a buck I shot. It is well worth the $400.
I mounted a very large buck found in velvet during an EHD outbreak in NE back in about '90. Tremendously cool animal, great mass, and had the velvet freeze-dried on it. Looks cool. And, no, I don't tell anyone that I shot it either. :)
well lets see some photos of him.
I like the idea of leaving the DNR salvage tag on too.
It's a way of honoring the buck you were after and reminds you of the quest/relationship you had with him.
