Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Taxidermy nearing completion preliminary photos

Last winter I shot a huge wild boar in the Mountains of Tennessee with my 30/06. It's ranked 16th in SCI right now. I have never before entered a tropy but this was just to big and impressive to just stick on the wall. I know that there are a lot of trophys with a lot of "status" and wild boar is not one of those that people usually take real serious. The hunt I was on was a long mountainous spot and stalk event with a lot of effort and carfull judging of the few hogs I was able to see. Plus I have this mental weakness for hunting pigs whether in Africa or the USA.





Anyhow, I wanted this beast mounted and I also wanted to use the real teeth in the skull. I spent a while getting the teeth just right by casting the originals in polyester Resin with molds made of Latex rubber. This way I will have the exact duplicate of the original teeth in the mount. I had to then color them properly to match the originals. The photo I have here has the mouth open very wide and the teeth are covered in blood so they do not appear natural in this state. They are 3-3/4" long from gun line to tip on both sides. Funny how tiny the uppers look with the hide on the body. It's one of the reasons most experienced hog hunters will tell you if you see teeth at all it's a good pig because the lips cover so much of the teeth when the mouth is closed.



When I saw this boar with my field glasses there was plenty of tusk showing with the mouth closed. I knew right then this was one was exceptional!





I was also not content with the angle of the head. I changed that with a bit of an angle to the anatomy of the original manniken. The mouth of almost all wild boar mounts are open way to far to show the teeth better. Unfortunately they all look as if they are smiling to me. I am using a mouth which has been modified to keep the teeth almost touching when open. I know this manniken will appear as if it's open a normal amount but when the skin is on and the hair and lips are finished this will look much different.



I just thought that some of you who have never seen the "pre" mount of an animal would like to see what it looks like before the hide is pulled over and the final work is done. I'll post a few more as the work progresses. I have the tanned cape and the manniken needs only a little bit more work with some foam and bondo. I'll finish the remainder up this week and post more then.















I hope this annoying image staion will work with these photo's if not hit the refresh button and they may reload to show them.

Jim: I've hunted hogs all my lufe here in the south and have shot what I thought were whoppers until I saw yours! that is indeed an exceptional trophy and I'm sure we'll love to see the finished mount. Congrats! jorge

JJ,

That's one a heck of a serious pig. He's going to look great when he gets his coat on. Thanks for posting.

That thing is gonna be impressively...ugly on the wall! Where can I get one? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Nice job.

What part of TN were you in? Excellent pig! Just wondering how the beast tasted?

Ditto-But I hunt 'em in Kalifornia. That is quite the trophy boar!

BMT

Congrats JJ,
Thats a big ole pig, something that ugly probably needed killin.

M1, I'm not from there and hunted by an invitation from another internet visitor. We were straight south of Knoxville( where I flew in) and a bit west as I recall. I think the name of the county was Polk, or Morgan. The other towns we were in were Blount and Tellico but those names may have been on signs and not actaually were we were at all the time. Sorry my memeory of this is not perfect. It's been too long and I was not really paying all that close attention because I was not planning a return trip to hunt alone, and I was with locals who knew the places to go

JJ,



That's a great pig.

Sounds like a fun hunt too.

Congratulations! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />



Did you use the 165 Interbonds?

I plan to try a little hog hunting this fall. I've never dressed one before. How is the wild meat?.......tough?, tender? strong game taste?

I've heard some say if you kill a big boar, make sausage out of the whole thing. Thoughts?

What should I look for to get a couple of nice hams? Does sex and age matter? Does there diet affect the taste quite a bit? I imagine the diet of the hogs I'll be hunting will consist mostly of acorns.

I do make sausage from the whole thing but only because the packages or ground meat are easier to pack into a cooler box and freeze solid. I have not really seen a lot of difference between an old boar or a middle aged sow for taste. Maybe depends what they have been eating? I'm not a boar expert but I have shot quite a lot of them. All the boars I have eaten have been really god with no memorable complaints from the family either.

OK the hide is on with ears and eyes, It's got a few dozen pins in the cape to help hold it in place until the glue dries and I have to paint around the eyes and the thin part of the hair near the front legs. I also have all the detail work around the mouth and lips to finish. However you can see it's really come together nice and in about a weeks time it will be dry enough to paint up and hang up.



One eye was cut when I skinned it making for a real pain to sew up perfectly and the nose was as usual beat up from his lifestyle, skinning, tanning and pulling and stretching. I used a cast nose on my last one but this one I worked at getting the nose to fit properly. It will look much better once painted black.











Amazing how nice the hair color is after the tannery is finished with it! The hog was so packed in mud briers and dirt that it was almost pure black when It was alive.

Man that looks great!!!

JJ--
If you don't have a place on your wall, I could put him over
the fireplace until you make room. DaMMMMM! He's nice!!!!!
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />---George

Very nice!

That is one ferocious lookin' critter. I think I might like to kill me one of them someday! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Nice job. I'm thinking you're good at this "stuffin'" work! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

JJ- I've always wanted to hunt pigs. (It's a vengenance thing!) The one chance I had, I spent too much time at Disneyland. ( a 3 and 5 year old will do that!)

I was raised with pigs (that sounds bad, I know), and I was always darned careful around them. That and the beef and Holstein bulls. "Tame" animals...

To my mind, a feral or wild pig takes no back seat to any other NA wild animal.

That looks like a nice one - I agree with your choice of mount- too many, whether of bears or boars, are way too artificial.

i gotta question. does your wife know your goona hang that monster on the wall

Muzzleloaderman, She knew well beforehand what she was getting into. When you marry a Professional Hunter the walls are his!



This shows just two of the four walls in my living room. Quite a few visitors here have been to my place and seen the whole thing. Its especially nice when the labor of the taxidermy is free by doing it yourself!









And the short wall too





Come to think of it, I'm not sure she will even notice its up there!

Awesome looking living room JJ!

Just curious is that mountain lion the man-eating one from Texas that was making the rounds on the internet? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />