Tips for moving mounts
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: FORESTBOWS
05-Feb-21
We are moving....not far just 5 miles. Any tips on moving mounts?
From: Medicinemann
05-Feb-21
Are you going to cover antler tips with cardboard , rubber hose, or are you just going to be real careful when transporting? Good luck and be careful.
From: Bou'bound
05-Feb-21
You should be able to navigate those 8700 yards without any problem. Don’t overthink it.
From: skipmaster1
05-Feb-21
I mounted mine to to plywood and laid them in the bed on my truck
From: joehunter
05-Feb-21
Get a 8 passenger vehicle and buckle them in!
From: JMM
05-Feb-21
What type mounts? If it’s many game heads we set up panels that attach to the walls of the trailer. Attach each head to the panel and once it’s full slide it in and attach to the side wall of the enclosed trailer. Birds the same thing as with fish. Lifesize need lots of floor space and moving blankets and straps . We have blocks that act as bumpers with foam so they are kind to bases andcan be attached right to the floor of the trailer.
From: LKH
05-Feb-21
5 miles! Just make it part of a fitness program and walk them over.
From: Highlife
05-Feb-21
Radio flyer significant other holds said mount and you spend some quality time together. Win win no need to thank me.
From: bghunter
05-Feb-21
I am hopefully going to have to go from midwest to Florida in about two years. No clue what I am going to do. Especially with a 12 footie size gator. I am afraid what a transport company gonna cost. So jealous on your short move
From: t-roy
05-Feb-21
Similar to JMM. Screw plywood to the back of the mounts, so that there is some of the plywood sticking out past the mount, then screw through the plywood into the plywood on the walls or the floor of an enclosed trailer. Stuff bigger than deer sized shoulder mounts, are best attached to the floor and can be cushioned with blankets, etc, in strategic spots. I wouldn’t try to pack them in too tight. You might just have to make a few extra trips.
From: Dale06
05-Feb-21
I moved 26 various shoulder mounts across the country, twice in the last three years. I screwed 4’ long 2x4s to the back of the mount, then screwed that 2x4 to the wood bed of a moving van. After un screwing at destination, put plastic wood in the screw holes n the truck floor.
From: FORESTBOWS
05-Feb-21
From: Matt
05-Feb-21
Rent a trailer and buy 1 or 2 4x8 pieces of plywood. Screw the mounts to it. Drive.
From: APauls
05-Feb-21
I’ve never had the balls to move mounts in anything other than my personal vehicle. But then it didn’t take me more than a couple trips. But 5 miles isn’t bad
From: altitude sick
06-Feb-21
I do just as suggested above. Screw them to plywood. Also use pillows blankets seat cushions on full, half and 1/4 body’s. Of course heavy mounts should lay with the back of the mount on the trailer floor don’t try to hang it on the walls. Big mounts eat up a lot of space. You will have to make many trips.
Or just sell it all with the house to give you an excuse to start over.
From: Dennis Razza
06-Feb-21
T Roy x2 .
Life-size mounts I use L shaped bumpers with soft carpet between the base and bumper. Push tight to base on mount on all 4 sides the screw to floor. Good luck!
From: Nick Muche
06-Feb-21
5 miles is nothing. Shouldn’t be hard to just move a few at a time til they are all there.
From: milnrick
06-Feb-21
Moved 45 mounts from TX to TN. Had life size mounts (bears, gator), crated, smaller mounts (javelina, blackbucks, bobcats) went into wardrobe and dish pack cartons, loaded 10 or so whitetails like cordwood into a uhaul wrapped in moving pads.
It's doable...
From: BoggsBowhunts
06-Feb-21
I've transported mounts for a taxidermist across the country usually a few times a year, sometimes over 25 heads and a few lifesize/pedestals. We always use the method Dale06 explained above and have not had any troubles whatsoever. If you're really worried about a specific mount you can use that method and screw them into a crate, and then use the same method to anchor the crate into the trailer.
From: Kurt
06-Feb-21
We moved about 1500 miles from CO to BC. First, we used it as an opportunity to eliminate cull the herd...selling the excess mounts (check legality in your state or province....have your licenses/cancelled tags for them, etc). Lots of antlers, both on skulls and sheds ended up as dog chews too. Sometimes less is more in my opinion as too many mounts to close together can end up looking cluttered.
We used a ton of packing blankets, rope to stabilize them tied off antlers...all were self-moved in our cargo trailer and pickup canopies with multiple trips required. No damage to any of them, and none were screwed down to the floor, walls, plywood or 2x4s. Good luck with the move.
From: GhostBird
06-Feb-21
I think screwing them to something would be overkill for a five mile ride. Packing blankets and maybe a little rope or paracord where required in the back of a truck or U-Haul should do the trick.
From: KB
06-Feb-21
I just moved six heads and eight euros from Kansas to Alaska in December. 1800 road miles and another 800 on a barge. All in a small Uhaul with very little room left after household items. I built a platform for them with a mattress to lay on and wrapped each with large cushion bubble wrap. Probably four to five layers very loosely with masking tape holding it all together. Lots of bungies and moving blankets to keep them secure. After 11 days and all those miles I fully expected some carnage when I opened the Uhaul. Surprisingly they all looked just like they did prior.... Probably overkill for your endeavor though. Like Charlie said, they are tougher than most think. You’ll be fine.
From: LKH
06-Feb-21
In 2016 I moved myself down from AK to MT. Some of the trip was over terribly rough roads. Was in 20' U-Haul. I built boxes using 2"x2" corners and 1/4 to 1/2" plywood. Moved sheep, goat, deer, bear, bou, moose, multiple ducks.
The boxes were made after I figured out the size needed for the largest mounts. The ducks and smaller articles were worked in. All were screwed into the walls.
Zero damage.
From: MathewsMan
06-Feb-21
This is the status of my mounts- I have three piles like this one at my Sisters place in Colorado.
Yeah moving a few hundred miles is nothing taking stuff on the AlCan is potentially brutal.
I suppose at some juncture my Alaska stuff will be with my others- for now I am just having a taxidermist turn and capes dry tanned until I get life figured out.
From: BC
06-Feb-21
Make as many trips in your pickup as needed. Go middle of the night or real early when there's no traffic. You can crawl the five miles without messing up your mounts. Good luck.
From: deserthunter
07-Feb-21
We moved as many or more than in your picture 1600 miles. Screwed to a sheet of plywood then screwed to the trailer wall. Several oryx I built plywood boxes for and screwed to one side of the box. They really aren't that hard to move once you get started.
