Buffalo Taxidermy Pictures

[ar15meister]

I need some ideas and advice on mounting my buffalo.

First of all, this is my first African animal. I am considering whether to shoulder mount him or to European mont him. I have European Kudu and Impala mounts coming as well as a zebra rug. They wont go into a trophy room; rather they will be put in some different rooms.

The Euro mounts of most animals look so cool and traditional. I like them best typically.

Many people are telling me to shoulder mount my first Buffalo. He is 40inches give or take with nice solid bosses.

He is going to go above a fireplace in a library room I am building in a new house I am building starting in one year's time approximately.

I am most worried that if I euro mount him I will regret not shoulder mounting and if I get the shoulder mount and I am not fond of it I will regret not doing the skull/euro mount.

Can anyone post pics of some Buffalo Euro mounts and give me some guidelines on what they have done?

I live in Downtown Toronto. The house will be about 2500 square feet more or less. Very urban vibe and big city. The library I am building will be for books, guns, cigars, booze and couple hunting trophies.

One last thing to mention is that cost is not important regarding this buffalo. Extra grand or two either way wont break the bank.

thank you in advance.

 

[James.Grage]

The shoulder mount will be big --- 4 ft high X 4 ft deep and 3 ft wide. so check for a space to put it.

I have both a euro on the wall and a pedestal mount that gets moved around to different rooms.

Take a look at a few large taxidermist African work page for some ideas.

 

[gizmo]

For what it's worth I have two houses full of various taxidermy. I have both euro and shoulder mounts. I even have a few half bodies. A good taxidermist will bring the buff to life if done as a shoulder. I personally like movement in my mounts. It adds to the realism. I will kill my first cape buff next summer but from my experience with many other trophies it would be a shame not to mount such a spectacular animal. As far as examples, go to "The Wildlife Gallery"s website an click on their African, the cape buffalo link and it will give you some ideas. Good luck. As long as you are happy no matter what your decision thats what matters.

 

[Grady]

One option to consider is to start with the Euro mount and have the cape as "dip and pack". If at a later time you want to go with the shoulder mount you can take the euro mount and use the cape to create a shoulder mount, or you may be able to sale the cape if you wish to keep the euro mount. From what I understand, a well perserved cape can last for a long time if cared for properly. I sure others on the site will correct me if I am wrong. Just my thoughts.

 

[Velo Dog]

Ar15meister,

Grady's wisdom is undeniable on this question, and if I were on the horns of such dilemma (sorry), I would do exactly as he suggested.
As he mentioned, you can always have it shoulder mounted later if you decide to.

That being said, I prefer skull mounts, primarily to save money for future safaris but, also to save space in my house.
Sounds like neither is a problem in your case but even so, Grady's suggestion seems the best answer for your question.

The only buffalo I have shot is "European mounted" and shown in the Photos section of this forum, under "Taxidermy and Trophy Rooms".
That sort of thing is not for everyone but I definitely like the way it looks.
Originally, it was destined for another room in the house but when my wife saw it out of the shipping crate, she requested that it be displayed over our dining table.
It gets many comments from guests (mostly positive, LOL).

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[CAustin]

Shoulder mount is what I'm doing with mine and the back skin is going to be leather! I think the Euro mounts are cool but a buff deserves to be on full display so people can understand just how big he was!

 

[Foxi]

my wall is 2,70 m high (106 inch ? ) and no visitor has the impression, that the buff shouldermount is chrushing us .
Important for me was: a bend ,when you consider the buff and he is looking from above to the ground .
I had to sent a picture from the room and the place where he has to hang to the taxidermist,

before he was going on work.
Sorry for the decoration (it is soccer world cup now ) and at the moment I have no other picture.
I think one shouldermount buff is enough,the next one is in Euro Style.
Foxi

 

[Foxi]

this one, I found in the internet

 

[spike.t]

as its your first buff and sounds nice, and if you have the space go for a shoulder mount. there are some photos of both in my photo section

 

[PeteG]

i would go with the shoulder mount, it brings a whole deal of character to the mount.

 

[ar15meister]

I thank you all for the advice. My issue I guess is that I simply do not have the space to fit a shoulder mount now and I am also thinking about my future, being 30 years old, as far as where I will live. I am currently working with an architect to design a house I plan to build after knocking down my current one in west Toronto and the room I am planning to have for 'myself' will be the library/trophy room. I want something really classy that looks 'old world' but with ten foot ceiling and some modern conveniences. I have a collection of about 5000 books, being an avid reader, and a large vinyl record collection to house and enjoy in the room. The room will only be about 14x22 though and the Buffalo is planned to be the centerpiece of the room, above a white stone gas fireplace.

My main concern is that one day I could sell this house I am building to move into a nicer neighborhood and Toronto, being an older city (in North American terms) has many beautiful grand old homes..... with 8ft ceilings.

I suppose the answer to this would be having the mount redone into a pedestal at that time but it is still something to think about for me.

I have approached "Advanced Taxidermy" out of Ontario to handle the shipment, importation and possibly the entire taxidermy job. I am friends with another taxidermist who has done a few jobs for me but he has never done a Cape Buffalo and I have mixed feelings about giving it to him. On one hand, he will try hard for me because he is a friend and it is a special honour I am trusting him with (and I must say his work is excellent on Deer, ducks, etc) but on the other hand the "big time" guys do so many of them and their work speaks for itself. I am 80% leaning towards having the large shop handle the Zebra rug, kudu rug, imapla rug and Kudu/Impala Euros and then giving my friend the Buffalo job because it is the honourable thing to do (he is the person who first guided me with his outfitter side of his business and taught me everything I know about hunting, being a downtown city boy with no previous hunting experience).

Any further thoughts are appreciated. It is nice to have a forum like this for a guy like me who has no friends who hunt big game to bounce things off people with experience. Cheers.

 

[Deleted member 15212]

pedestal mount!

I don't have space on my walls either, my house isn't very big and floor space is also now becoming a problem. but, when I took my buffalo, I definitely wanted it mounted on a pedestal. the problem was I didn't like any manufactured pedestals. so I built my own. the frame is steel with just plywood around and fancy looking molding. ha. then wrapped with the buff backskin with gemsbok backskin on top. held on with glue and decorative nails. my friends in Africa ive hunted with love to borrow my buffalo for their display at SCI and the pedestal I built gets more attention than the actual buff.

 

[CAustin]

It is a fine looking mount sir

 

[ActionBob]

I think a buffalo needs to not be mounted too high. You want to be able to see the bosses. From what you described, I would put euro kudu and impala on the fireplace and do a nice pedestal for the buff. A 40" buff sounds worth a shoulder/pedistal mount.

We've been looking at a lot of houses trying to deside on our retirement house. They all have huge fireplaces and honestly, I don't get it. I think most are rarely used, they are expensive, and take a lot of space. But it seems everyone thinks they want one and builders certainly push them.

 

[Patrick R]

Another idea was a halfmount we did on a Buffalo Cow!

 

[Jerry Huffaker]

 

[James.Grage]

Very interesting Pedestal mount, Look good.

 

[CAustin]

Impressive mount Jerry. That buff has a nice curl to it!

 

[Nyati]

Nice !

 

[johnnyblues]

I like that!.. Very interesting