Trophy Rooms - when do you build one?
General Topic
This is the giraffe I took to the archery shop (Impact Archery in Clovis, CA).
This is the giraffe I took to the archery shop (Impact Archery in Clovis, CA).
Originally destined for my work office, I had to put this in my home office.
Originally destined for my work office, I had to put this in my home office.
This is the "final" taxidermy I can get my wife to accept in the common areas of the house.
This is the "final" taxidermy I can get my wife to accept in the common areas of the house.
I began hunting late in life and now have several safaris under my belt and a growing collection of taxidermy. I now am trying to fit it into my home and office that were laid out in my pre-hunting days. I am running out of room and yesterday took my giraffe to a local archery shop to display there. Sportsman's warehouse was the original destination but while they were initially interested, they balked when I got it in and now I hear they are removing all taxidermy from their stores.
At this point, I need to figure out how/where I will display my growing collection but it is nowhere near what I expect it to be ten years from now. For those that have built dedicated trophy rooms, when did you make that plunge/decision? And how did you plan out for future animals you intend to take but have not yet?
Lol I kept all mine at our local Gander Mountain for about ten years until they sold out. Moved them to my spare apartment bedroom for a few more, until it was time to bail Illinois. Bought what I could afford for cash in Indiana three years ago and dedicated South inside wall of my garage to them since. A big moose & 3 elk included. It’s not bad because I got mature trees shading garage all year so it does not get hot in there. Thought I was done until I scored a 195” NT whitetail last season. No room for him so he must go in my office.
My trophy room, like my hunting skills, is all in my head ??
Make it big/tall and inside with wood. No sheetrock.
It was easy for me as I need a new garage so I could get my truck into it. Added the garage with a trophy room above it about 10 years ago. Am almost out of room now without doing some major rearranging of where mounts are hung. My latest solutions is to stop mounting things as my latest concern is what happens with all these mounts when I am gone.
If you decide to build, make it bigger than you think you will need. I just have WT euro’s, antler mounts and 3 (soon to be 4) shoulder mounts and I’m out of room. I’ll have to start getting creative. I had decided on no more shoulder mounts until I got a unique 15pt last year. I do have some other rustic stuff and guns hanging that I could shuffle around but I like the look. My room is 15 by 24.
My living room wall. Room for a coues when i get lucky and meet up with one. Several others in a spare bedroom, and a couple euros on another wall in living room. We are currently looking for land to build on, and i have plans for a trophy room above the garage, 20x30 minimum. Wish we would have done it before prices got so high on everything, but so goes life.
Most guys typically build their trophy rooms when their wife grants them permission.
Nice Matt!
Doing just the opposite, only a few left after donating to the environmental science lab of a local school district. Gosh, our rec room seems huge now!
My living room at the moment (long story)
My living room at the moment (long story)
Like your style Molsonarcher. Looks like you married the right woman as I also did, Badbull
I just hang them on walls in the house where there is room. My house is small too. lol
Badbull, my wife is very accomodating with my “hunting artifacts”, as one of our friends calls them lol. If it wasnt for my wifes understanding, i would not get to pursue the animals that i do. I no longer mount most of the whitetails, and do euros on them, but the other species will have a place if and when im fortunate enough to bring them home.
Get your wife into hunting…….I finally did. It’s funny, before all my mounts had to be in my finished basement. Then, when she shot her first antelope, we did a double pedestal mount which is now upstairs in the living room. And a few of the African animals we shot last year are now planning on going in the living room also as double pedestal mounts. The downside, more taxidermy bills and available space to put the mounts. Whatever keeps her happy though!
Putting mounts on a wall with WOOD is important to me!
personally I would not build a stand alone trophy room. I have been in some of the best and as a hunter I was overwhelmed by the number of trophies and unable to appreciate the beauty of each. I find the homes I've been in with trophies spread out throughout the house allows an individual to be able to absorb the beauty of each animal.
I have watched clients over 45 yrs fill walls and add on and finally get rid of all or most mounts. Here's what I observed. At first you space out the mounts to make things look "right". Eventually you get pretty full but by rearranging things you can accommodate a few more. Then you run out of room. Now you have a choice, either add on or take everything down, refinish the walls and put things back in a much more condensed fashion. I always suggest plywood walls with drywall over it. Reason is you can place mounts anywhere without the use of a stud finder and the drywall is easily refinished as you consolidate or change things up. It also allows the colors to be chosen to match the interior of your house and or to highlight the mounts better. An interior decorator can be of great value in color selection. Tall walls are suggested as well. Those big antelope and elk and moose look much better when the heads are not at eye level on a short wall and if African is your thing even a tall wall will fill up fast. Check with your taxidermist and see if they are experienced in designing trophy rooms and if they say yes go look at the work. Here is a link for a DVD that explains a lot of what's involved. http://www.taxidermyunlimited.com/trophy-room-design/
I am sure other Taxidermists that frequent this site will chime in too. Take notes and see what makes sense to you and your wife. Should be a good deal of fun all around. Jim
I certainly can agree with a lot of what was just said above. I have seen a lot of rooms and when they get too busy, I don't like them. My favorite displays are when the mounts don't dominate the room to the point that it feels cluttered. The problem is finding where that sweet spot is and then having enough rooms to house/display the collection I intend to have: NA Super Slam, African Slam, Euro Slam, good amount from rest of the world. Probably would total around 100 mounts when all is said and done. That is too much to put in even 2 or 3 rooms without looking cluttered or having a warehouse.
The older I get, the more I realize these trophy are nothing more than memories that will fizzle put when I'm dead and the family is selling them at auction for a fraction of the money it cost to procure them. I had 2 houses filled with shoulder mounts, most that mean very little now. European mounts from now on unless I kill a booner.
These are always informative threads. Some of the displays that people have and share are absolutely amazing. Others are absolutely amazing as well.
Go as high a ceiling as ya can in your design.
Plus having a really nice sized window adds to occasionally sharing in the winter evenings with the outside world..... It does take away some wall room for mounts, but it is worth the tradeoff.
When my home was originally built that is what I did, and it has been just perfect. No mounts in a basement nor garage.
Angle adjustable Track lights have been of display benefit too.
Mine is gradual, from 8.6 ft up to 12ft. More wall room for mounts as you will end up with more mounts than ya might think as time goes on.
Good luck, Robb
And how did you plan out for future animals you intend to take but have not yet? VERY good think to consider, that is very difficult. Best suggestion is to leave large gaps so you can move animals closer together later. You can also take down mounts that do not mean as much or look the best and do what you have been doing, hang elsewhere.
Robb has an excellent point about a high ceiling, great idea!
IMO finances control the decision to build. Desire to. If you want it bad enough you will make it happen.
I built mine when I got my second Caribou, I hunted with a friend who was a housebuilder and He suggested how to do it. We made it so it doubled as a family room to keep everybody happy. A couple years later My part time Taxidermy business took off and it became my showroom. That was in 1986, I retired from doing taxidermy 4 years ago and don't know what I'll do with all the mounts when my time is done.
My wife cut me off at 10 shoulder mounts and a handful of Euros. She said if I want to hang a new one I’d have take an old one down. That’s fine with me. I’m kinda over collecting mounts anyway. Unless I kill something exceptional, I just cut the head gear off and hang them in the garage.
Matt.
Why are you on bowsite on opening morning of your sheep season?
most seem to come to the same realization on this eventually it seems. Some sooner and with less “invested” in it than others.
roughly a 9x9 room in a finished basement. no windows.
Don't bother, throw them in several big boxes, dig through them now and than for the memories. I am starting to like the look of the exact mini replicas. I just got rid of all my mounts and Euros and skull caps, around 150 and I just took pictures of them all before they were gone. Shawn
MrPoindexter I might have to change my handle to MrCannon. ;)
Those are some large aspirations especially for a guy who started hunting as you put it late in life. Hope you get them all!
I had an Uncle tell me that eventually all the mounts I have will just be hair and foam. As I get older he is right, a good field photo blown up and framed works for me now. My sheep will be my last mount unless I kill something ridiculous.
There is a 152” WT that was shot in 1935 hanging in the cabin in northern WI. Not all mounts get sold and may even become more of a conversation piece as time goes on. I relish being in the presence of that mount every time I’m there. If that cabin could talk….
My wife suggested I design our new house around a trophy room. That was ten years ago, and she got the house she wanted, and I got a very large trophy room. We had perhaps 15 mounts scattered within an average house at the time, and it was hard to add more.
Truth is, she likes the trophies as much as I do, and occasionally suggests I get busy and get "x" species while I am still young enough to climb the mountains, or some such words of encouragement.
I find the mounts are even more important as the years go by. That doesn't mean I add a lot more, but I truly enjoy the pieces I have. And sometimes do still add a special animal to the trophy room, although most I just save the horns, etc. My trophy room is about 40x22, with 27' vaulted ceiling, so there is a lot of wall space. I have about 50 trophies, including 6 life size mounts, and I still have room for more without getting the rood cluttered. Only a very few duplicates, so about 45 species giving me a good variety. I have plenty of large elk, but only one mounted to save room. The rest are either Europeans (2) in other rooms of the house or mostly hang in the rafters in the garage. Still an encouraging sight when I drive home.
I have the trophies for my enjoyment, and my wife's, and don't get hung up on what to do with them in the future. I enjoy having them around, or I wouldn't have mounted them in the first place.
Bill
I did mine as Jim suggested. 3/4 plywood then drywall. I can hang a mount anywhere, which really helps.
I did mine as Jim suggested. 3/4 plywood then drywall. I can hang a mount anywhere, which really helps.
I have a "man cave"/trophy room dedicated to my hunting memories, and that room gets more attention from visitors than any other feature of our home - people think it's the coolest! Every day I walk by it and it gives me a sense of pride and peace, and is easily the second best feeling in the world.
Also, in my opinion Julian and Sons is the finest trophy room designers and builders in the country. Have a look.
I'm going to build a house once the supplies needed to build a house are once again for sale in the USA and I plan to have a huge great room with enough room for as much as I can kill over the upcoming decades. I had a large great room with vaulted ceilings in my last home and I really enjoyed sitting in it and looking at my mounts.
