GAME farms/bought deer... and...

Moosie

Grand poopa
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Dec 9, 2000
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Boise, Idaho
using a cape from another elk....

Whats your take of shooting a elk... Messing up the cape so you use a cape from another elk... IS this OK in your eyes ?

If so, could you buy a cape from a game farm or would that make it NOT ALRIGHT ?!?! Please , Give me the lines here :rolleyes:
 
I wrecked a cape on an antelope I shot in northern AZ a few years back. I couldn't mount the buck with what I had, so I had my taxidermist find a good short-haired lope cape, which I believe came from a New Mexico buck. That's what he used. I have a deer mounted that was done with a cape from a different buck I shot.

For a deer or elk, I probably wouldn't buy a cape from a game farm. I'd just wait until I shot a different one with a good cape. With the lope, I didn't think I'd get a short-haired cape that looked like my AZ buck from MT or WY.
 
I bet if you needed an elk cape, you could get a good deal from a Montana game farm right now. They can't let people shoot them, they can't give them to the independent Indians, they can only sell them, they can't ship them to many other states because of import restrictions. There's got to be a dumping of the market, it costs so much to feed them.

Now is probably a good time to recape grandpa's old elk mount if its getting bad looking.

If Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation wanted to use the Exotic Wildlife Association office down here for meetings, it would seem like its ok. They just wanted to stop the shooting of those elk up there, business in hides, meat, velvet, antlers, that's the business that remains for a while anyway. Some people wanted all the business gone, some didn't probably.

Most people get a cape from the taxidermist, who knows where they get it. Its actually cheaper for me to buy deer hides from a big tannery business, than it is to pay to get my own deer hides tanned by the same tannery. I guess the mass production tanning is less to keep track of. If I tan it myself, its cheaper, but doesn't come out as well, plus the Tandy Leather here where I used to get the chemicals went out of business.
 
Hmmm - what about if you shoot an average 6x6 bull, and have it mounted. Then, a year or two later, shoot a huge 380 bull. Is it "okay" to use the existing mount you have with the new antlers, since you only have room for one elk head in your house?

My antelope also has a different cape - a neck shot made a mess of the original.
 
My son shot his first elk in 99,a 5x6, and we messed up the cape.He was 15.In 2001 he shot a rag horn in the same blind, the same day, the same time as the year before.We used that cape on the 99 bull.It makes the mount all the sweeter to me. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.Too many Buds tonight.
 
I see nothing wrong with the use of another cape. It is mainly the antlers that you are displaying as a trophy. Things happen and sometimes one may need another cape. If you have a huge elk but no money, what is wrong with saving the antlers and buying a cape later on down the road when it may be less of a financial burden or the same may apply due to lack of space such as living in an apartment and years later moving into your own house. Just my opinion.
 
I don't think it really matters where the hair comes from, as long as it has been gotten by leagle means..It is the head peice that has the story behind it... :D :D :D
 
Oscar, All of the taxidermists that I know keep extra capes on hand for clients who are not well versed in the art of caping an animal. I know the first deer I caped was about 4 inches short all the way around. Never had anyone show me how, just did it from what I'd read. It cost me an extra $100, but it was no problem. Ken said it wasn't unusual to get an animal with a short cape. So now, I cape the animals I'm not going to do a shoulder mount on and sell the cape to the taxidermist. Helps offset the cost of the hunt.

:cool:
 
SO.....

If Females "COW ELK" can be "TROPHIES,
YOU can use a BOUGHT cape for antlers from a elk you shot....

THEN, WHY can't you shot a elk and put BOUGHT horns on it ?

(PS, I'm well aware lots of people buy capes, And well aware how to get some, my point is WHY do we give people that hunt game farms CHIt if They buy the antlers and use a cape they shot :confused: ).
 
That would be sorta like having a buddy that married a real warthog... but then had his wedding photos doctored to have a real beauty queen in there instead of his wife.

I mean, after all, the guy got married didn't he? What's the difference? Would you give that guy chit? :D
 
WHAT, are you just waiting for me to post ;)

Nothing like that....

You said it's OK to use a CAPE from another animal, but not the antlers. WHY not the other way around ?

AND, WHen people mount Pheasant, They usually use a bird thats bought... And it still looks good on their wall.
 
I don't have a pheasant mount.. just a big bundle of the long tailfeathers off roosters that I blasted when I was younger. :D

I have one skull in my trophyroom that I didn't get myself. It's a giant beaver skull. I took a guy elk hunting and he gave me that as a thank-you. He does a bit of trapping... and the skull is cool.
 
I have some antlers on wood plaques that I have been thinking of buying capes for I think it's fine. I sold a cape once from a whitetail to some guy I met at a check station he seemed happy. And it paid for the bullet I used.
 
Jay - I really don't care what anyone else thinks, but I still find their opinions interesting. ;) Since I only want one elk shoulder mount, that's exactly what I would do - take the new bigger antlers and put them on the old mount. But the new ones wouldn't be from a game farm...unless it was free! :D :D
 

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