Recommendations on first African mounts please

[LegalEagle]

Following our first experience hunting Africa, our hides and horns have made their way to The Artistry of Wildlife for taxidermy. Now comes the hard job of choosing mounts/poses.

Being a newbie to African mounts I would love some opinions on the best poses for the animals I will have on the wall. The list of shoulder mounts is as follows:

Waterbuck
Kudu
Gemsbok
Red Hartebeest
Nyala
Bushbuck
Impala

I also have a European mount of a black wildebeest coming along with a flatskin and also a zebra flatskin and would like opinions on displaying those as well. Many in South Sfrica recommended displaying the flat skins on the wall. Anyone who has done that?

Photos would be appreciated!

 

[Ridgewalker]

LegalEagle, we all are quite opinionated and differ here, so here is mine:
Pedestal mount the open plains three, ie, gemsbok, red hartebeest and impala.
If you have space do the Nyala including his front legs (gemsbok also show well with the front legs).
Kudu deserve a shoulder mount alone.
Bushbuck also look good including their front legs. If you have lots of room they are a very nice full body.
Waterbuck, IMO, only have great ribbed horns and a target on their butt. I have yet to figure out how to show off their uniqueness.

JMO, but everyone needs their first zebra as a rug with a leather overlapping trim around it. Felt just catches every bit of dust and dog and cat hair.
The blue wildebeest skin also makes a great rug when the light shows off the iridescent colors. Or suspended with a natural wood frame as a wall hanging, but that takes a lot of space.

Just so many fine options! Best of luck and please share them with us when complete!

 

[PARA45]

You can get an idea for what I did, the Gemsbok went on a shield because the house I had before had low ceilings. Not an issue now.

 

[harden]

A few here
Thousands of pictures of my pieces and ideas on this link.
Pages and pages on pieces done here !
https://www.africahunting.com/media/users/the-artistry-of-wildlife.5379/

 

[Bhfs300]

I agree with the pedestal mounts if you have floor room. Wall pedestal work great.
You have already done the most important thing, they are at a great place to get some of the best mount you will have for life!!
Maybe let Dennis do a couple the way he thinks will look best!
Tom

 

[TTundra]

I'm still getting mine up, but I do love wall pedestals. Heres a Waterbuck and Kudu wall ped I put up in my office and then a Gemsbok that i just got up in the family room

 

[RBurg44]

Make sure you have your taxidermist catch a few of the stripes on your kudu. Plus itll show how big they really are.

 

[Mort Hill]

IMO, you have taken the right first step by getting your skins to Dennis. Don’t know the man, but his work simply speaks for itself. He has my last safari too. Next, you need to think about the long term, as well as short term, about where your mount will go today, as well as 10-15 years from today. Walls, pedestals, rugs, euros, even life size. One of last things I have tried now for the past 20 years is a bit of a crap shoot. But with Dennis, I feel totally comfortable. I just tell him work your magic. Taxidermist see things you and I might not pay attention to. Better sides of horns and skins, blemishes to hide, new poses or custom forms to accentuate that unique animal. The use of habitat and other taxidermy diorama materials to make the mount pop. I will often throw out a general idea or concept, but I want to let the artist’s creative juices flow. Yes, this cost more money than just mount my impala, shoulder mount, right turn, Van Dyke Form blah, blah, blah. I got a garage full of your run of the mill shoulder mounts. For me, the more special and personalized the mount, the more it reminds me of the trip and the conquest.

 

[Newboomer]

Try to get a slight right or left angle instead of straight ahead. I think it shows better. I had my springbok mounted life size in the spronging position with some habitat around.

 

[curtism1234]

With gemsbok, I do not like the look of them straight ahead. Imo they need to have the head turned at an extreme angle to make the horns pop

 

[Buckdog]

IMO I would put my money into the kudu, gemsbuck, nyala, and bushbuck. The other on your list are sorta not striking critters. You definitely want floor or wall peds for those 4. Some suggested life size but unless you have full skins that isn't happening. Think about where you will be putting them in your house as regards to the turn of the head etc. a kudu of any size on a floor pedestal will be out from the wall quite a bit so will gemsbuck. Dennis "IS THE MAN" (if only he would check his text now and then) so ask him when he gets close to mounting them and he has seen the skins, etc. which I bet will be 1yr from now.

 

[johnnyblues]

All depends on taste and space. Here’s a few examples of what I’ve done.

 

[LegalEagle]

Thanks so much for the input and photos so far guys! I really appreciate it.

All mounts will be in the basement area and will all likely be on the wall as we entertain quite a bit and have small children who always seem to have friends over running around.

Good news is the entire basement has 14' ceilings and plenty of open wall space. I really like the wall pedestals as many of you have mentioned already. I have also thought about just turning Dennis loose and letting him work his magic with little direction other than perhaps the number of animals that will need to face each direction.

Keep em coming!

 

[LegalEagle]

Not that it may make any difference on opinions, but here are the critters I cant wait to see again!

 

[Divernhunter]

I like the angled mounts myself most of the time.
I mount the skins(rugs) to a thin piece of plywood(sometimes need to glue and staple 2 sheets together). I lay the rug on it and trace an outline slightly bigger. Cut the outline and use brads to mount the hide on the plywood. I found I liked it better if I painted the wood with black paint. You only need to paint a couple of inches along the edge. Then I can use screws to mount it to studs in the wall. These were from our 2013 trip, except the black bear. I am not sure where I will put the 10+ more mounts I have coming from my 2017 trip. I did mount the Zebra rug on plywood and hung it on the hallway wall. The full Baboon will just stand in front of one of the pedestal mounts. I have 2-3 more of them coming.

 

[ShortMag]

I'm also a fan of wall pedestal mounts (and coincidentally my trophies are at the tannery in route to Dennis). Personally, I really like the look of the red hartebeest wall pedestal with a hard left or right turn.

I would imagine something similar with the gemsbok would look very nice as well.

 

[harden]

Short MAG, I gotta Gemsbok in the works like this Hartebeest same kinda tight turn !
Thats pose for Hartebeest lets you see the horns from the side and shows them off nicely

 

[ShortMag]

Unfortunately, I don't have a gemsbok for you to mount this time but I'll keep that in mind after my next trip. I definitely want my hartebeest done with that pose though.

 

[BobT]

My stuff from last year is at the tannery en route to Dennis also. I'm going to have wall pedestals for the most part but I think the one I'm most looking forward to is the Zebra damaske.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/mountain-zebra-damaske.34914/

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Beautiful trophies, great work and very good pictures. I like it.