Taxidermy Mounts and Stories

[DJE]

Hey y’all

Nothing gets me more excited about duck season than the thought of knocking down some kind of trophy bird for the wall. To be honest I consume 99.99% of the birds I take but occasionally prefer a momento over a meal.

While dusting off one of mine this evening I thought of this post. Feel free to post a picture of a mount that is special to you. But you have to tell us why.

Here’s one for me. This drake bufflehead was the first duck I ever shot. After spending my entire life wanting to duck hunt a buddy agreed to take me in January 2022. We lotteried into a blind at Sac. I was immediately enamored by this little guy as soon as I had him in my hand.

 

[cjack]

I shot a canvasback 9 years ago and the story of the retrieve by my 3 year old lab made me want to mount it. Long story short it's still in one of my freezers!

 

[DJE]

I shot a canvasback 9 years ago and the story of the retrieve by my 3 year old lab made me want to mount it. Long story short it's still in one of my freezers!

There is a great taxidermist up in Lake Shasta that can probably still make it happen.

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

The taxidermist did a great job on your duck mount DJE. Here’s the short version of my special mount story…lol Enjoy!
In 1993 i was living on our 50 acer farm house in upstate New York it is some prime Whitetail property surrounded by thousands of big acer farms. Gun hunting didnt turn me on anymore after filling both my tags on opening day with a gun it was to easy and not challenging enough for me as far as hunting. So one of my out of circle Friends who was the only bowhunter I knew I told him how I felt that I lost interest hunting with a gun and he is the one who suggested to me to try bowhunting if I wanted a real challenge. So I decided to learn how to shoot a bow to become a bowhunter he hooked me up with my first compound and I had only 9 months left till the next opening deer season for bowhunting to get ready.
I was determined in my mind to shoot a trophy buck in my first bow season realizing that was a tall order to strive for. Got a bow set up dialed in for me and started practicing to shoot for up to only 20 yrds because back then The mind set was not to risk shooing farther then that. I was watching every bowhunting show possible watching every bowhunting video tape possible and bought every whitetail bowhunting magazine possible studying and learning with determination to achieve my goal of arrowing a trophy Whitetail buck with a bow My first season.
All my close friends i hunted with were a strictly gun hunters and for 9 months they harassed and gave me a hard time saying i would never get close enough to shoot a mature Whitetail buck with a bow they would smell me a mile away, inside it would piss me off but it also made me more determined To prove them all wrong.
So Finally after 9 mo. it was the 1994 Bow season for Whitetail and i was so excited to get out back on our 50 acer farm to bowhunt for the first time. Back then u could only shoot one deer with a bow either a buck or a doe. Within the first 2 weeks of hunting I was ground hunting slow and steady instead of using a tree stand and got on a doe within a 20 yrd a easy broadside shot i was at full draw on it but in my mind i dreamed of a trophy Buck with a bow so i Drew down and let it walk. After that day time was starting to fly bye and bow season was almost over and now and i was starting to regret passing up the doe starting to realize my dream of arrowing a first bow season trophy buck or even a doe now wasn’t realistic anymore I was getting really bummed out Without anymore deer encounters.
With just a few days left I hit the back 50 before sunrise to get to my tree stand but for some reason before I would climb up I just stood with my back against the tree base with bow in hand all camoed out before I would Climb up, I just wanted to watch the sunrise. Legal light just kicked in an I couldn’t believe it here comes a trophy buck within yards of me following a path stopping every few feet sniffing the doe trail Getting closer and closer to me step by step, Now I was frozen solid I could not move at all as the buck was going to pass me within a few feet my heart was pounding out of my chest and thought for sure it would either see me or smell me and haul ass I was going to have to let it walk on there was no way to draw without getting busted It was that close. Then all of a sudden it had to pass a giant oak tree that was a few feet between me and the buck and it gave me a second to drop down to one knee and draw and as the buck walks past the tree it stops for a sniff on the ground and I let the arrow fly the buck jumped up a few feet in the air and hauled ass towards the swamp. I remembered from all my research that not to chase and pursue the buck give it time to expire then track it. It was only like a 12 feet away shot, I recovered my arrow and it was solid frothy blood.
I went back to the house called my good friend who got me into bowhunting and he came over to help me retrieve the buck there was a good blood trail and 65 yrds away we found the buck expired it was such a outstanding 9 pt whitetail almost 200 lbs. we gutted it out it was a perfect centered complete lung pass though. As I was kneeling by the buck still trying realize what I had just accomplished I knew right there and then I never wanted to hunt with a gun again and b strictly a bowhunter because it was so much more challenging and exciting then hunting with a gun it revived my passion for hunting again And being out in the woods.
I found a taxidermist not far from me that was a hardcore bowhunter too and even though I was a single parent and money was a little tight back then I had to get a full shoulder mount to hang on my living room paneled wall for all my good friends to drool over after all the chit they gave me. What made me really feel good is the taxidermist who was a hard core bowhunter told me it was quite the achievement to arrow a trophy whitetail buck with a bow for a first season bowhunter that it could take up to ten yrs for some bowhunters to achieve.
Story for the long story I wanted u to know how significant this mount ment to me as a first season bowhunter only 9 months after picking up a bow for the first time And getting the job done. After yrs of lugging it around I moved a lot so in 2014 before I left Cali I decided to give my Trophy Whitetail Buck mount to Predator Archery in Gilroy where it still hangs today on there wall with their other mounts how cool is it that!…..tra










Heres a good friend of mine who's property is close to mine and heres just some of his Trophy Whitetails Bucks that he arrowed....

 

[Planetcat]

This is the only one I have, but I’m pretty proud of it. My buddy and I got this beast about a year ago (it was a team effort, lol). Joshua at Cluck’s Taxidermy in Antioch, CA did a nice job on him.

 

[canamrider07]

Thanksgiving Table, all the dishes and Turkey are on it, steam rising, 10 people sitting at the table, anxiously awaiting the go ahead to eat. The host stands ands says TRA can you tell us what you are thankful for this year? Everyone groans, we’ll never ear, it’s going to get cold, why him…..

 

[DJE]

The taxidermist did a great job on your duck mount DJE. Here’s the short version of my special mount story…lol Enjoy!
In 1993 i was living on our 50 acer farm house in upstate New York it is some prime Whitetail property surrounded by thousands of big acer farms. Gun hunting didnt turn me on anymore after filling both my tags on opening day with a gun it was to easy and not challenging enough for me as far as hunting. So one of my out of circle Friends who was the only bowhunter I knew I told him how I felt that I lost interest hunting with a gun and he is the one who suggested to me to try bowhunting if I wanted a real challenge. So I decided to learn how to shoot a bow to become a bowhunter he hooked me up with my first compound and I had only 9 months left till the next opening deer season for bowhunting to get ready.
I was determined in my mind to shoot a trophy buck in my first bow season realizing that was a tall order to strive for. Got a bow set up dialed in for me and started practicing to shoot for up to only 20 yrds because back then The mind set was not to risk shooing farther then that. I was watching every bowhunting show possible watching every bowhunting video tape possible and bought every whitetail bowhunting magazine possible studying and learning with determination to achieve my goal of arrowing a trophy Whitetail buck with a bow My first season.
All my close friends i hunted with were a strictly gun hunters and for 9 months they harassed and gave me a hard time saying i would never get close enough to shoot a mature Whitetail buck with a bow they would smell me a mile away, inside it would piss me off but it also made me more determined To prove them all wrong.
So Finally after 9 mo. it was the 1994 Bow season for Whitetail and i was so excited to get out back on our 50 acer farm to bowhunt for the first time. Back then u could only shoot one deer with a bow either a buck or a doe. Within the first 2 weeks of hunting I was ground hunting slow and steady instead of using a tree stand and got on a doe within a 20 yrd a easy broadside shot i was at full draw on it but in my mind i dreamed of a trophy Buck with a bow so i Drew down and let it walk. After that day time was starting to fly bye and bow season was almost over and now and i was starting to regret passing up the doe starting to realize my dream of arrowing a first bow season trophy buck or even a doe now wasn’t realistic anymore I was getting really bummed out Without anymore deer encounters.
With just a few days left I hit the back 50 before sunrise to get to my tree stand but for some reason before I would climb up I just stood with my back against the tree base with bow in hand all camoed out before I would Climb up, I just wanted to watch the sunrise. Legal light just kicked in an I couldn’t believe it here comes a trophy buck within yards of me following a path stopping every few feet sniffing the doe trail Getting closer and closer to me step by step, Now I was frozen solid I could not move at all as the buck was going to pass me within a few feet my heart was pounding out of my chest and thought for sure it would either see me or smell me and haul ass I was going to have to let it walk on there was no way to draw without getting busted It was that close. Then all of a sudden it had to pass a giant oak tree that was a few feet between me and the buck and it gave me a second to drop down to one knee and draw and as the buck walks past the tree it stops for a sniff on the ground and I let the arrow fly the buck jumped up a few feet in the air and hauled ass towards the swamp. I remembered from all my research that not to chase and pursue the buck give it time to expire then track it. It was only like a 12 feet away shot, I recovered my arrow and it was solid frothy blood.
I went back to the house called my good friend who got me into bowhunting and he came over to help me retrieve the buck there was a good blood trail and 65 yrds away we found the buck expired it was such a outstanding 9 pt whitetail almost 200 lbs. we gutted it out it was a perfect centered complete lung pass though. As I was kneeling by the buck still trying realize what I had just accomplished I knew right there and then I never wanted to hunt with a gun again and b strictly a bowhunter because it was so much more challenging and exciting then hunting with a gun it revived my passion for hunting again And being out in the woods.
I found a taxidermist not far from me that was a hardcore bowhunter too and even though I was a single parent and money was a little tight back then I had to get a full shoulder mount to hang on my living room paneled wall for all my good friends to drool over after all the chit they gave me. What made me really feel good is the taxidermist who was a hard core bowhunter told me it was quite the achievement to arrow a trophy whitetail buck with a bow for a first season bowhunter that it could take up to ten yrs for some bowhunters to achieve.
Story for the long story I wanted u to know how significant this mount ment to me as a first season bowhunter only 9 months after picking up a bow for the first time And getting the job done. After yrs of lugging it around I moved a lot so in 2014 before I left Cali I decided to give my Trophy Whitetail Buck mount to Predator Archery in Gilroy where it still hangs today on there wall with their other mounts how cool is it that!…..tra










Heres a good friend of mine who's property is close to mine and heres just some of his Trophy Whitetails Bucks that he arrowed....

Brother that is awesome. That’s the kind of story I made this post for.