Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Anyone here ever attempt shoulder mounting their own deer?

I’ve been really researching the subject the past year or so and watched video after video of folks mounting them. It interest me. I feel I could have the knack for it. I think I’m going to attempt it. What do I have to lose?

Surely someone around here has tried it …

Might cost a bit to get setup but I bet it would be a good hobby. Let me know if you want to practice on a fisher.

Nope. Too nasty for me

Yeah the caping and fleshing and thinning and tanning process can be messy but I know several taxidermist that send their capes off to tanneries and let them mess with that portion. In fact, I’m contemplating going that route if I try it myself … it would be nice to know all the processes but at same time if I can get my cape back ready to go for most part and know it’s been done right and the hair not pull on it then it could be a smart way to approach it. Atleast for my 1st try.

That would make it a lot easier

Yeah my cousin did. Took a 140+ inch buck and turned into a party joke. He had practiced a year earlier on a dink. Still turned out like crap. If a buck is worthy of a shoulder mount, it's worthy of a professional job.

I actually prefer skull mounts and do them myself. Last shoulder mount I did went to the low bidder and looked fine...but a year later the stitching down the back of the cape split open. Wasn't cured properly or something. You get what you pay for.

Well when it comes to mounting deer I prefer women myself but hey it's your deer. Mb

Pay the pro….😁

They all mounted their 1st as well

It isn’t that hard. I had some old mismatched socks I just couldn’t throw out and they made the perfect filler for my first attempt at taxidermy. I am really happy with how it turned out…

Lol

Haha! There’s not much room left for improvement there

Cats (I guess) are difficult to get the face looking alive. You really nailed that one. Barf.

You forgot the canine teeth. 😁🦷

q: Did you mount that deer?

a: No thanks. I'm happily married.

I hav9 not.


I have done a couple European skull mounts.

Suits me. And a lot cheaper.

I’ve done a bunch of my own Euros over the years but I honestly wouldn’t even hardly consider that as taxidermy .. sorta but not really lol

I've done a few of mine and they all looked dorky, even did a hog. Back then the eyes, ears, clay and the form was less than $40. A good taxidermist is a artist.

Ive watched a friend do a few of mine and others. I have neither the patience or skill.

I did this one myself back in the mid '70s when I stilled lived in Colorado and was trying to support my family on a ski instructor's wage.

The form is one of the old paper ones, and I pickled the cape myself instead of having it professionally tanned. I doubt that I spent a total of $50 on it.

He's been on this spot on my Trophy Room wall since 1989. I have another , larger, and nontypical buck that I also shot back when I still lived in Colorado in the early '70s that for years I was going to also mount myself, but I finally took it with a new cape to my taxidermist.

Euros look better in my opinion

That’s really awesome, I think, to say you mounted that deer yourself … regardless of what others may think of it

I got my buck caped out today and skinned off the skull and skull capped. Rolled the cape up with ears, nose, and eyes all tucked inside the thick fur and stuck it in the freezer. Delivering it to the tannery after the 25th this month … they said not to bring it before then. Took all the necessary measurements for form fitment and lots of photos of details around eyes and ears and nose before I skinned it off skull.

I've thought about trying one but, never have. I worked with a guy a few years ago that has done several. His first turned out better than some "professional" taxidermists.

I can see that being very achievable for certain people and I’m hoping I may be one of them!

I’ve obsessed over whitetails my entire life and have spent hours upon hours looking at them and photographing them. I know what they need to look like. Now Id like to know if I have the skills to recreate them. I figure I won’t know if I never try. Honestly, the part I’m most concerned with is the stitching and sewing. Everything else I think I can handle. I’m a very patient and detail oriented person and don’t mind redoing something till I get it right.

We will see!

Super nice day here weather wise so yesterday I pulled my buck cape out of the freezer and let it thaw out overnight. Figured I’d set up a table in the sun out in my driveway today and get the cape fleshed out. My very 1st experience with splitting eyes, ears, nose, and lips on a deer. Sorta a pain but I got through it. It’s like anything … if I do another one it should go better.



After letting it sit in the sun a couple hours it was completely thawed out and ready to work on. I boogered 1 of the ears up some but I think it’s very fixable. Other than a couple very small holes I’m good to go. Laid it out flat on a piece of plywood and used a turbo tip on my pressure washer to do the finishing flesh work. It really did a great job of removing all the meat and blood.



After ringing it out and drying with some old towels I laid it on the table and heavily rubbed salt into the flesh making sure I covered it entirely with salt … getting every little crevice and exposed flesh. Then I hung it up in my garage folded over a dowel with a bucket under it to catch the drippings. I’ll resalt tomorrow evening and continue the salting process until the cape completely dries hard. Then I can store it until I decide to continue with pickling and shaving and tanning.



This is going to be a fun little project. I already have a new found appreciation for taxidermy! Even if this buck doesn’t turn out perfect I’m going to love having him on my wall and enjoy talking about how I mounted it myself.

Salesman walks into a CEO's office. CEO has a deer head on the wall beside his desk.

Salesman: Did you mount that?

CEO: No, I'm happily married.

I did a couple in my yute. The fleshing and the thinning/shaving were the worst parts.

Keep this thread going, be interested in seeing the progress.

Have fun!

Every time that I go downstairs into the man cave, I'm reminded that a lifetime is a long time to look at a cobble job. I had a Barbarossa sheep "professionally" mounted by a local guy that had never done one before. Picture a lama with sheep horns. I worked with a guy who did animal stuffing that he called taxidermy and he prided himself on being able to do all the deer heads in a couple of months. He pickled his own hides and a year in everything split and the mounts shed worse than the dog. I go to the taxidermy shows and use the guys who get the blue ribbons. Something worth mounting should be an art form and honor the animal.

I totally can understand your point, and trust me, if I took a high dollar hunting trip to harvest an animal like I have in the past … my mount would be getting done professionally. At least for the time being. Every taxidermist out there had a 1st mount though. You can’t learn by stepping aside and always letting someone else do it. My whole goal is to possibly get good enough to just mount my deer and maybe some really close friends and family. That’s if I get to the point that people could be proud to hang them on their wall? I figure if I’m not doing it for a living and got good at it I can take all the little extra steps that will guarantee a good end result vs a taxidermist who may have to watch how much time they put into it because in the end they need to turn a profit. I could care less about time if it’s my hobby. Also, I have killed so many whitetails with antlers that the majority I could care less about mounting and most would say you’re crazy! Honestly, I’m not asking for anyone’s approval. My son will be able to look at this mount when I’m dead and gone and say “My Pop mounted that deer all himself!”.

I did a couple. I worked for my neighbour doing his fleshing and caping for a few winters (the messy stuff). He didn't let me touch the high value capes like sheep/goats but deer/elk capes are a dime/12. My labor were traded for taxi work on my heads and he walked me through a WT and a MD before he moved away. Mine turned out really good but noticeably lower than his work which was very good.

Mine are way better than some Ive paid for but not quite as good as the best Ive paid for. At completion he congratulated me on doing a very nice mount, I commented that to make $25/hr Id only have to charge $3000-$4000 per mounted deer.

Doing a quality mount as a novice takes a lot of time. I was very slow at the sewing but this isn't a big deal on how it looks if the cape has long hair. Southern deer are more problematic as you have less means to hide your mistakes. The ears and eyes are key Ear position and eye detail.

Never used the pressure washer trick, did you do anything above the neck using that? id be curious if your salt will be absorbed you have it so clean.

Agreed, I was just messing with you a little Ricky. We have a place north of here called The Hunters and Fisherman's Tavern and they have hundreds of mounts done back in the early 1900's with the excelsior stuffing. Their intentions were better than their mounts. Forms and taxidermy supplies have really improved these last years and good luck with your project.

I fleshed the entire head area by hand with a flat razor blade. Pressure washer worked great but was a little messy.

I don’t expect the first few to turnout great … and that’s if I stick with it. I may do this one and say never again! Haha! It’s just something I’ve always wanted to try.

its not rocket science. it takes many many hours of work to be done correctly.

Study the anatomy a LOT. you have to sculpt in lots of areas around nose, eyes, lips, antlers etc... leaving room and or clay in there to mold around.

Practice setting the eyes a LOT of times. Making sure you use a caliper? to verify symmetry.

use the correct glues. Correct ear liners. Balance is a LOT of it. And there is so much to balance you can forget to check things that the hide can show you later as you work with it.

Stitching is the least part to worry about. Good glue and a tool to move the skin with out pulling the hair out and moving skin into place as you sew is important to me.

I have not done it in a couple of years. Had not done it in at least 10 before that give or take. I can tell I was rusty.

But if you understand what the form has to look like before you get the hide on you have a good head start.

Ear butt shape vs ear styles, alert, relaxed, agressive etc... and how to shape the butts also makes a difference how much clay you need in the ear area to help you shape stuff.

IF you think its dry and you can start removing pins and carding, and the skin won't move, you most likely need it to set up a few more days or a week generally speaking.

Make sure you use pins that dont' rust when pinning everything. Same with brads around the antlers until that hide, glue and clay sets up or you will have rust stains.

Pressure washing can be tough on the hide sometimes. Especially if the hide isn't in good shape. Or it can be no big deal.

Shaving. If you don't have a wheel, its fleshing knife on a beam... its NOT fun or easy. Especially to get the hide the same thickness all over. There is zero way I would do that with a knife on a beam. I do it on our brown bears on my lap and a green river pattern blade... but I wouldn't even attempt to mount one like that, I'd make sure it was shaved thin and even. We just shave to get final layers off and thin the neck head area so salt will penetrate good for the tanners. And because we may have the hides salted in the field for a week or more before a cub can get in.

IF I ever bag something that I feel is worthy of a shoulder mount, I’ll pony up for a professional job.

I also don’t cut my own hair or do my own dental work, and I have a woman that takes care of maintenance on my winky. Hell, I don’t even change my own oil anymore.

Sound like a real p.ussy! Keep relying on everyone and then wonder why the younger generation is the way they are. Lol.

With some advise from a friend who did his own taxidermy I started mounting deer heads. They gradually got better but like anything it takes practice. I was mounting deer for friends just to get the practice. I also told them all very clearly that I was just getting started so you may or may not like the end result. Only one guy ever complained until I reminded him of the conditions I was doing it under. I only charged anyone the cost of supplies so they were getting a good deal & I really never finished one that I was afraid to show anyone.

You can do shoulder mounts without a lot of equipment. A good skinning knife, the sharper the better & I would recommend buying a scalpel & spare blades. They work well when splitting lips & fleshing the face. Get as much advise as you can. You Tube has plenty. You will need some kind of stand to attach the form to. Early on I used a piece of threaded black pipe, 2-3 feet long. (so you can get behind it). Thread a flange to each end, one is screwed to a wall & the other to the form. In my case I used a heavy wood shelf to attach to. It's not ideal but it will work. You can buy one or if you are handy you can make your own, so that you can move everything around to get to whatever side, top or bottom you are working on.

The thing you will need most is patience, it will take a lot of time especially if you are doing everything from caping the head to tanning/pickling the hide to finish painting. A little artistic talent helps. Throughout the process you should have reference pictures handy. Eyes, ears, nose detail will be the deciding factor in wanting it on the wall or out in the garage when you are done. Don't rush it.

If you are interested in it and think you might be good at it then by all means give it a try. The worst thing that can happen is you pull the antlers off the form & hang them on the wall or take them to a full time taxidermist. You will need another cape of course. Give it a try and post your finished product. Send me a PM if you have any questions but remember, I'm just a hobby taxidermist. You can always visit a pro & ask for some advise or maybe offer to cape out heads during the deer season in exchange for free lessons.

Good luck

Great job on the mounts! I’m looking very forward to learn the entire process.

RB, I killed a nice pronghorn in 1982, and back then I couldn’t even think of paying for taxidermy.

I bought a couple of how-to books from Van Dyke’s and started practicing caping / fleshing / splitting ears lips eyelids etc. on coyotes, coons, and other expendable varmints.

I mounted that goat using a product from Touchstone called Bess Maid. It’s a dry preservative that takes the place of tanning. (I couldn’t afford sending the hide off for tanning.)

43 years later that cape still looks as good as the day I killed it.

I nailed the eyes (which are critical) and ears, but had a bit of trouble getting the lips tucked in properly. They look a bit goofy because I had to use wax and paint.

Anyway, good for you for giving it a go! It’s very rewarding.

I also mounted a sheep I got with a bow a couple years later.

I would never have those mounts if I hadn’t done them myself.

Looking forward to seeing your finished mount. If you don’t want to post pics, send them to me via PM, ok?

Good luck!

👍

Yup, just a doughy old pussy. I even paid to have my hernia fixed today. I’m so ashamed!

Do post some pics of your homemade mount.

I have done a couple of deer and one full body turkey. The process wasn't all that difficult but definitely wasn't happy with the final results. I look at it more of an art and I am definitely not an artist. I happily pay my taxidermist these days.

At least you tried it and know what it all involves now. Good job! I’m sure there’s a lot of folks like you who have tried it and said it’s not for me. I could be joining your group in the near future! Lol. You honestly can’t expect your first few to turnout great though in my opinion.

Either way I think it's a good experience to try out. If nothing more gives you a better appreciation for the work you are paying a taxidermist for. I love mounts. They are great memories. And if you do a deer and aren't happy with it then it can always be redone.

I had a taxidermist that lived across the street from me. I learned how to do mounts from him. He used Bess Maid and got his forms from a place in Louisiana. He always said he would do a deer shoulder mount for free if the person stayed by his side thru each step. There were no takers. I did a few squirrels, ducks and fish for family and myself. I just have too many interests. I did use VanDykes also. The most important thing is a good form and placement of the eyes. At least that’s what Kerry told me.

I did the first mature buck i shot myself when I think i was 16. It's not terrible but there are a few things I'm not happy with on it. I always think I want to take it in and have it remounted but can never bring myself to do. I think it's something to be proud of that I did myself and adds to the whole memory and experience of it. I'm new here so I will have to figure out how to post pictures and I will put some on.