Trophies in the garage

[1_pointer]

Our 'agreement' is that I get at least one room in any house to put taxidermy. My elk couldn't fit where she wanted it so she found a place for it where it would fit. Since my garage is not climate controlled, I will not put anything with hide on there.

Looks like I need to find out how big a cow bison shoulder mount is to see if it will fit up our stair well...

 

[devon deer]

My wife puts up with a lot in relation to my hunting/fishing, so i respect her decision that they can't go on the wall.
I have sneaked my best Red Stag Euro mount, Muley and the Whitetail into the spare room floor but that is it.
But if i get a nice Bull Elk next year i have a big space allocated for it on the stairwell
Cheers
Richard

 

[Hunting Wife]

Another of the small house camp here. We have "souvenirs" in just about every room in the house. I like the rustic look so the more, the merrier. My only stipulation based on aesthetic reasons is no mounts in the dining room. I don't want to have eyeballs or teeth hanging over me while I'm eating. Feathers, sheds, even hides - fine.

We both agree no taxidermy in the kitchen or bathrooms because of the humidity, oils/grease from cooking, etc..

 

[Duck-Slayer]

My wife hunt's, quite a bit too, and I still can't get a mount in the house except for our computer/hunting room/office, so I have a lot in there these days, except for one particular deer I shot 2 years ago that I did a pedestal for, I told her the corner in the dining room period... just because its a special deer and about the only place I could put it in the house cause of the size, so there it resides in the corner next too the Last supper painting that takes up 1/4 of the dining room wall, I can see it from my living room, eating, or cooking, I love it!
Matt

 

[CodyCass]

We outgrew our home 1 year after moving in, so taxidermy space is limited. However, the better half thinks european mounts make for great "decorations" so I'm happy to oblige. I have two whitetail shoulder mounts that live in the stairwell to the basement. She has said more than once that she isn't a fan of whitetail mounts because "every house in Missouri is adorned with at least one." I've been trying to use her position to my advantage in justifying more hunts out west, so far I'm failing.

 

[----]

Well having a small house doesn't allow for a lot of mounts, but we have 2 bull elk shoulder mounts, 8 antelope, 5 mule deer, 3 whitetails, 2 pheasants, 1 goose, a half life bear as well as 1 lifesize bear. We also have 5 bear rugs, and a pretty decent pile of sheds. Also waiting for a lifesize mountain goat. Plus a bunch of euro mounts scattered all over. Needless to say its a little cramped for space in our house. We have taxidermy in every room but the bathrooms. She loves to hunt as much as me so that helps a bit.

I'm in the exact same boat. Awesome wife, way too many mounts, and way too small of a house.

I look back at some of my older shoulder mounts and wish I would've just gotten a euro, but at the time they were my biggest of that species and meant a lot.

In our ~900ft² house we have three whitetail shoulder mounts, one mule deer shoulder mount, one pronghorn shoulder mount, one bear rug, one lion rug, three hanging bear hides, a couple shelves of skulls, maybe 3-4 whitetail euro mounts, 2 raghorn euro mounts, two mule deer euro mounts We also have shed antlers on every surface that is large enough to hold one. I have 6-7 pronghorn euros in the garage along with a pile of smaller deer euros, and enough sheds to sink a boat. Waiting in the bullpen we have a large elk euro mount, a mule deer shoulder mount, a caribou shoulder mount, caribou plaque mount, and a life size pedestal mountain goat. I have no idea where any of that is going.

We either need a bigger house, or Kaitum's new place is going to become my overflow.

 

[Z Barebow]

Mounts do not go in the garage. I have dead heads, sheds and a couple of plaques out there.

Other than my coyote rug (bedroom, I still don't understand how she permitted that one), I am relegated to one wall for deer heads.

I keep threatening when I shoot an elk big enough it will go in living room. (Vaulted ceiling) but the reality is it will go into my office at work.

 

[noharleyyet]

I started euro'ing everything early due to budget considerations and the look simply grew on me. My lovely bride likes em & we have them in every prominent location in the house but she also wants me to get a bull shoulder'd someday.If I ever take one like Dinkshooter kills every year I might consider the full monty shoulder.

 

[BuzzH]

Had the same dilemma as others, too many critters, and not enough room.

The trouble with most houses that we looked at, they really aren't set up to display mounts. We decided to build, it just made the most sense.

Some things we did that IMO, makes our house ideal for displaying trophies.

1. Ten foot ceilings in the basement and a wide open floor plan. We have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a bar and the rest is one large open area. LOTS of wall space and the 10 foot ceilings allow for some pretty large mounts. I don't have an 8 foot ceiling in the entire house.

2. I added a reloading/butcher area with a utility sink on the back of the 3rd garage stall. It also gives me a place for the over-flow Euro's etc. again. lots of wall space and high ceilings out there too. I have maybe 50 or so Euro elk, deer, pronghorn in that space and it isn't crowded.

3. High ceilings on the main floor. I knew where I was going to hang elk, moose, etc. so had my guy put scrap materials between the studs so I could hang them where they look the best.

4. Make sure to go a bit bigger with SF than you think, so you have room to expand your trophy collection. Also, mounts look best when they aren't all jammed together. I have enough room for a few more rams, art work, etc. on this wall.

5. Make sure you have good lighting installed, your mounts will look wayyyy better with good light.

 

[1_pointer]

Had the same dilemma as others, too many critters, and not enough room.

The trouble with most houses that we looked at, they really aren't set up to display mounts. We decided to build, it just made the most sense.

Some things we did that IMO, makes our house ideal for displaying trophies.

1. Ten foot ceilings in the basement and a wide open floor plan. We have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a bar and the rest is one large open area. LOTS of wall space and the 10 foot ceilings allow for some pretty large mounts. I don't have an 8 foot ceiling in the entire house.

2. I added a reloading/butcher area with a utility sink on the back of the 3rd garage stall. It also gives me a place for the over-flow Euro's etc. again. lots of wall space and high ceilings out there too. I have maybe 50 or so Euro elk, deer, pronghorn in that space and it isn't crowded.

3. High ceilings on the main floor. I knew where I was going to hang elk, moose, etc. so had my guy put scrap materials between the studs so I could hang them where they look the best.

4. Make sure to go a bit bigger with SF than you think, so you have room to expand your trophy collection. Also, mounts look best when they aren't all jammed together. I have enough room for a few more rams, art work, etc. on this wall.

5. Make sure you have good lighting installed, your mounts will look wayyyy better with good light.

What a shabby shack you have... If I ever do build, I would gladly give up square footage for the taller ceilings, especially in the basement. Really like how yours turned out.

 

[Mthuntinfool]

I'm in the same boat as most people, smaller house , and the wife isn't thrilled with what she calls "dead stuff" on the wall. She is slowly coming around, I have some sheds around the house, and several euro mounts. I told her that my 6 point bull is going to be a shoulder mount, and it is going to be in the living room no matter what haha. Most of my antlers and horns reside in the shop for now.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Holy cow Buzz, you are a man with vision! Filing that post away for when we get around to building a place of our own!

 

[Southwind]

I have three shoulder mounts in the boudoir all others relegated to man cave basement or garage. But never a shoulder mount in the garage!

 

[The Hedgehog]

My garage is stacked with stuff, including mounts, as is my office, living room, reloading room, laundry room, hallways, kids' bedrooms, game room, trophy room. The woman of the house is pretty tolerant. The bedroom only has 2 mule deer, 3 black bears, and one pronghorn.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Wife put a limit in the house so I'm relegated to the garage now. Usually have some up at the office too. When we build in the future I'll be utilizing high ceilings, do a shop area for horns and reloading, etc. and shoot for a man cave type room for the mounts.

I agree wives can be bought in this arena. My wife has a whole closet full of purses to prove it. I defer to the older, wiser guys here in the marital department as they have more years of trial and error to guide us younger pups. I'm still mostly in the error phase of marriage and hunting.

 

[Dave N]

I'm still mostly in the error phase of marriage and hunting.

Aren't we all...

 

[LCH]

I've got 8 shoulder mounts of various critters jam-packed in the living room. Just 8-foot ceilings. Euros and antlers are in the garage.

Next house will have to be big enough that I get my own room. Either that, or if we stay in the current one it will be getting an addition once it's paid off.

 

[nmtaxi]

My fiancé and I dated for almost 13 years before moving in together. I call that the "negotiation period". It took almost every single one of those 13 years to convince her that dead animals do in fact belong in the house. They are, however, regulated to the bar room and my study/office.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Must be why I am NOT married

good luck to all
the dog

 

[antlerradar]

My wife tolerates shoulder mounts in the living room as long as she can hang Christmas ornaments on the antlers for one month of the year. It is a deal I agree to with reluctance. My shed antlers and deadheads are in unused bed room.