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DIY shoulder mount?

Ttannahill14

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Joined
Jan 26, 2016
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316
Location
Central Kansas
I've had my deer in the freezer for a while now and finally deciding what to do with it. Biggest deer of my life I feel like I should do a full shoulder mount... My normal taxidermist who did it out of his garage moved away... Any everyone I can find is $400+. I just can't justify spending that year after year I would much rather spend that towards a tag.

So that leads me to trying to figure it out myself. How hard is it? I'm not a perfectionist... I don't need a perfect mount on my wall.... Just something to hang on the wall to hold on to a memory. If I mess up I'll just do a euro mount which is where im at right now so what do I have to lose?

Any tips, kits available? Articles to read? Looks like the form can be had for about $60 so I'd imagine I could get it done for $100???
 
You will have some money into getting it tanned also. Eyes. Ear liners /bondo. They do sell kits. Check mckenziesp or vandykes. Taxidermy is a fair amount of work
 
Getting the hide prepared is where the work is , fletching and fletching , getting it tanned (better than the dry preservative type options, in my opinion). Then the 'art' or correctly putting the hide on the form , after you prepare the form , checking the hide for fit and adjust , using bonds or ear liners for the ears , setting the eyes and making sure the hair lines are in the right place.

But you can read , internet videos , to see how some do it and then determine if it is something you want to try,
 
Unless you have the time, space, and money to invest in learning how to do it, I don't see how this would even be a question. Especially on the biggest deer of your life. $400 for a shoulder mount seems low too, I spent $675 on my antelope pedestal wall mount. I wouldn't want to practice on my big deer. I would save some does or forked horns and practice on them. I know lots of taxidermists, but I only know one guy who does it for a hobby. He does his own ducks, and they don't look bad, but they don't look good either. If you were serious, I would check for a school nearby or a taxidermist you could apprentice under.
 
I wish I could find a shoulder mount done for that much here on long Island your looking at a 1000 I have yet to take a buck because of antler restrictions where I hunt but I did get my first bear this year and I'm a diy type of guy but I figured I'll only do one bear so I'm having it done but if you take on the job good luck.
 
I admire your desire to do a mount. I too have always wanted to mount some of my own. I ordered a dvd and that helped some but I ultimately went to a friend who does does taxidermy to help me. While I did do some of the work it was hard for him to watch me mess it up and he jumped in.
The one thing you'll need to take into consideration is that you'll have right at around $200 in the form tanning and other supplies so for me it being a nice animal wouldn't be worth me practicing on it. IMHO.
 
$400 isn't bad my taxi charges 550 but it is well worth it. I have 4 whitetails on the wall now so it would have to be big. Good taxidermy is something you will look at the rest of your life, just something to consider. Whatever route you go good luck.
 
He's a couple of options, first is to spend the $400+ on the shoulder mount. 2, do a euro mount if you still have the skull.3.
 
If you have the will, find a way. It seems like it would be easy to do an Ok job but incredibly difficult to do a good job. The eyes are the key, that's where bad taxidermy shows itself. Either way, good luck.
 
I have done two shoulder mounts myself. It was not so much a money issue for me but rather a desire to see if I could do it and something to do during the winter. I mounted a mule deer and an elk. Both of them turned out fine but not great. What keeps them from being great is the lack of a true artistic touch. I just don't have it and therefore the mounts lack it. The process of tanning, prepping the form, setting eyes, molding ear butts, mounting a cape and air brushing the final mount is not overly difficult. What is really difficult is making it look alive. All I can say is it takes an artists touch to make it look good. If you don't have that then I don't thin you are going to be too happy with the result. If you are not a perfectionist like you say then I think you might be in trouble. Good enough is never good and rarely enough. It was a fun winter project but after the deer I have not tried it again.

If you do it, it will cost you more than $100. Start with a good form. I liked Mackenzie forms. Take your time with the ears and ear liners. Make sure the edges of the ears are crisp and the ear liners fit properly. Get a good air brushing kit. The finishing touches will set it apart. Buy quality eyes and really spend some time getting them right. Take eye measurements from mounts that look good. The last tip, when you hydrate the cape for mounting it will stretch. When you go to mount it the neck will seem too long and will not fit well around the brisket and shoulders. Bunch up the sewn up cape around the neck, finish sewing and then set the placement of the shoulders and brisket. I wrestled with the elk for a full day trying to get it right before I realized the hide had stretched at least 8-10 inches. Good luck and please post up a pic if you give it a try.
 
The hard work is in tanning the hide. Fleshing the main part of the cape is easy but the face around the eyes, nose and ears is difficult. Splitting the lips and turning the ears can also be difficult. I started with a couple bear rugs and you can tell which one I did first. I got better as I went. I've done 2 shoulder mounts now, a whitetail buck, pronghorn buck another bear rug and a mountain lion rug. All look great on the wall but a close inspection reveals my status as an amateur. I learned on each one and I am now mounting my shiras moose. The moose is turning out great. Even the little experience I've had shows with this latest project. I'm very happy with how it has turned out. At this point I'm basically finished and just monitoring it as the hide and clay dries then it is on to the painting. You can learn how to do any of it on youtube or through google and taxidermy forums.

You can do a deer for less than $200. I am $400 in on my moose. The more mounts you do the better you'll get. I wouldn't put my work up against an experienced professional but after just 3 shoulder mounts I believe it is definitely good enough that most people won't notice the imperfections and my local taxidermist friend was impressed with my moose.

My point is that you should give it a try. No matter how badly you screw up, it won't hurt the antlers. If you ruin your cape, you can buy a tanned cape and try again. You can get started with a 2x6 fleshing beam, a fleshing knife and the hand tools that you probably already have laying around your house. You'll also need a close eye for detail and the patience of a saint.
 
If it's the biggest deer of your life, suck it up and pay someone to do it right! Don't learn taxidermy on your best animal. I also don't think every deer shot needs a shoulder mount, I don't get that, do euro mounts with any smaller bucks you shoot going forward. I had my best deer shoulder-mounted last year, which turned out great, but I'll have to shoot a really great one to ever get another shoulder mount. Bad taxidermy belongs in dive bars and cheesy ski lodges...
 
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To each his own I guess, but for what it's worth if it's worth mounting I'd get it done by a good taxidermist so it resembles the animal you shot. Good taxidermy is worth every cent IMO. I have a friend who had a caribou mounted some time back and it looked like a cow. It was his own damn fault and I told him so for trying to save a few $$ on a terrible part time taxidermist. He threw a towel over it for the longest time until he finally sold it on E Bay. Served him right and I told him that too. He still likes me though!

Good luck.
 
I would think that for your best deer so far you would it done right. A bad mounting job would deminish your memory of the hunt and what the animal actually looked like. There are too many examples of bad taxidermy jobs out there done by people who think they have the know how but their friends won't tell them the truth.bad-taxidermy-whitetail-mount-6.jpeg
 
I get what everyone's saying and appreciate the word of caution... I think I'm still going to go for it. It's my biggest deer to date... but I'm only 26 so it is definitely not a deer of a lifetime. He grossed 150 and netted 128 so in my opinion not worth a $500 taxi job.

I guess I just view taxidermy as holding onto a memory and not a trophy or a piece of art.
 
I've got to say that taxidermist nailed the "deer in the headlights" look. What a wonderful piece of art:cool:

Maybe that's what the "hunter" was really hoping to capture? I know a few guys where that would be the case...
 
I get what everyone's saying and appreciate the word of caution... I think I'm still going to go for it. It's my biggest deer to date... but I'm only 26 so it is definitely not a deer of a lifetime. He grossed 150 and netted 128 so in my opinion not worth a $500 taxi job.

I guess I just view taxidermy as holding onto a memory and not a trophy or a piece of art.

It is an art form though. Practice on a smaller one first!

...And post a photo when you're done
 
I had bugs destroy two of my shoulder mounts in the vacation home. Tossed all but the antlers that were still on the skull cap, got a goofy kit with a fake Euro skull and used bondo and paint to sort of get the result to look like might be natural. Stay 10' away and is okay. I am 100% Euro now. When they outlawed using the strong chemicals on the hide then got much more challenging to stop a bug infestation. In my case, I am gone from the vacation home for weeks at a time so that is all it took to lose the two mounts. My 2 cents.
 
Been there done that... You will NOT save $ doing one head for yourself. There is only one reason to do this, to be able to say I MOUNTED THAT... Hopefully you can say it with pride??? Like the guy who did that one up above?? Just the raw materials you will need will be over $150 and that does not include tanning or a minute of your time. By all means do it but don't think it is because of $ or you will be miserable. I've done 3 deer at this moment with several more in the pipeline. First one my buddy did one side then I mimicked him on the other. 2nd one he chipped in when asked. 3rd he looked over my shoulder (and laughed a bit) Have you ever fleshed out a cape and salted it? Walk 26 miles before you run a marathon!

the first one

IMG_0106.jpg
 
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