Kilimanjaro

Thought some of you might want to see the final outcome of Kev's coues buck.. I finished painting it tonight. I am headed to El Paso in the morn to Kevin's and I'm taking his goat and deer to him. Hope he like's how his mounts came out!! Cuz if he don't, he's gettin' the beat down!! We are headed out goat hunting and then onto some good 'ol auodad hunting in the Glass Mtns in Alpine, TX for a 5 day weekend. I'll let ya know how we do!! How do ya'll think he came out??

very cool!! Congrats!! One of these days......

very nicely done!! He will look fantastic on the wall!!

Some of you may recall the pronghorn hunt I went on last year with my good friend Kev.. Just wanted to show the finished product off I finished last night.. It is Kev's buck. I wanted to get it done before I head back over there to TX next Fri. We are headed out goat hunting again and possibly doing a day or two of aoudad hunting as well. I thought the buck came out really nice.. He had a busted tip on one side and I repaired that.. Also bought some full quill ostrich leather and decided to use it for the backside.. I'm gonna use it on mine as well. I thought the leather complimented the mount nicely.. Now I just gotta finish his Coues buck before I leave.. Now I just gotta get busy and work on my own!! I have 2 goats of my own I still need to get done as well as my coues!! What do ya'll think?

well guys, I spent most of the day getting a couple of mounts done.. Thought I'd share the process with ya'll on how its done.. I went ahead and did 2 mounts at once.. My '04 goat and Kev's Coues buck from last year. I just took pics of the process of the coues because there was no sense taking pics of both since the process is the same for both.. I'll show ya the goat pic when he's completly finished!! Here is the prepped form with the hide.. Hide had been prepped and ears are done.. Prepping the hide can be very time consuming.. Here we are with all the clay work done and hide paste on.. ready to begin mounting!! After getting the face roughed in, I begin sewing him up.. After I get him sewn up a bit, I rough in the ear butts.. I do each set the exact same on both animals at the same time. Its good to get into a routine. That way, you don't forget a step.. Notice the goat.. same stage in the process.. Pasting up the body.. After that, its alot of smoothing out the hide and working out the bubbles before stapling the backside and trimming off the excess hide.. And here he is.. A very roughed out mount.. He is still very wet.. The clay is just too soft to finish the eyes.. I like to give the clay a day or so to firm up so I can work with it more easily.. I'll bag him and play with him in alot more detail tomorrow evening after work.... But he is turning out nicely.. I think Kev will enjoy his buck! And that was all I could take for today!! WHEW!! Working even on my days off!! Thanks for looking and hope that shed some light on the mounting process for some of you that have never seen it before.. Hope you enjoyed it!

you betcha!! Back when I did it full time, almost all I ever mounted was African animals.. As a mater of fact, I'm getting ready to pony up the cash to get the hides back over here in the next couple of months.. All that dipping and shipping can get expensive for sure.. Its the only part about hunting Africa that I don't like.. But what are ya going to do?? I'll be able to mount all of them here at home in AZ except for the giraffe. I just don't have the room to mount him here. Just too tall.. What I plan on doing with him is take a week off or work, mount him back home at the business where I used to work, harg back and completey finish the mount and haul it back in an enclosed trailer.. I'm gonna be doing a completely custom peice.. He's just too tall did it elsewhere..

Thanks WHT MTNMAN... I'd be more than happy to help ya out if need be. Just no elephants.. its a room issue!!

nice goat!!

shortpants is right.. alot of taxidermists are afraid of "spilling the beans" so to speak and teaching someone how to do it, and that person in turn runs off and opens up a shop thus "stealing" his business.. Luckily, I put in my time when I was young.. I was 15 years old and was dying to learn taxidermy in order to save cash by being able to do my own stuff... I finally presueded a shop to give me a part time job after school.. I got to do all the "fun stuff" ie sweep the floors, and boil heads all afternoon! Yeah, that was was great. But it got my foot in the door.. Then I graduated to getting to learn how to prep the forms and hides.. Then it was on to learning how to finish.. This is actually a VERY important step in the mounting process. A good finish will really bring out the quality in a mount.. I did that for a LONG time before I was finally taught how to mount an animal.. But, in the end they took pity on my sorry butt and showed me how to do it the right way.. The guys I learned from were taught from some of the best in the business.. Animal Artistry in Reno and Woodbury's in Ingram, TX.. So, I guess I just got lucky.. But taxidermy is not a God given talent.. with practice and the right knowledge, anyone can produce great mounts.. It just takes ALOT of practice!!!

Thanks Peloncillo.. Yeah, those eyes can give ya fits for sure.. I've never used those forms with the preset eyes before.. Do ya like them? I just never gave them much thought.. Old habits die hard!! I didn't know we had any other taxidermists on here.. Anyone else?? I worked in a taxidermy shop all thru high school and college.. and then a couple of years afterwards on and off when not guiding.. I just love doing it these days as a hobby and as a supplement income in which the money goes right into my hunting account to go on more hunts!! I usally do about 12 to 15 heads per year. If I get more than that, it becomes too much work, considering the Border Patrol already wants all of my time as it is!! I have competed in the Az or TX state competition with a mount or two since giving it up as a job, but not as much as I would like.. I used to compete in the competitions (state and Nationals) religiously every year way back when .... I always dreamed or owning a sucessful shop, but was always too scared to make that leap into the unknown and into a personally owned business.. I wish I could.. but who knows, I'm still young!!

thanks guys.. I just had a little spare time on my days off and figured I'd knock out Kev's goat and coues before I head to his house next weekend.. I also wanted to get some work out before hunting season rolled around and I got too busy with hunting! I just mounted my hog today.. i shot this brute way back in 2002.. I have always planned on mounting this pig because I doubt if I ever shoot another one this big.. He weighed 432 lbs..Anyways, I've had the tanned hide in freezer forever and happened to have the right form laying around and this morn I finally said what the heck.. lets put him on the wall.. He's the finishing touch on my "ham slam" for the wall... ie my warthog, bushpig and javie.. now I have the feral/Russian to put the finishing touch on the slam. They'll look good all together!! I'll let him dry for a week or so and then put the paint and sculptall to him and he'll be finished!! Here he is as of just an hour or so ago.. And here he is way back when I took him. and here are my projects for tomorrow and the next few days.. Kev's coues buck.. I'll give ya'll a photo breakdown of the mounting process on him. Here he is ready to be started in the morn.. I got the horns set, the hide ready and the form all ready to go. and my two goats from '04 and '05.. I neve get around to mounting my own stuff!! Seems I never have the time with work and all.. But that's all going to change starting tomorrow!! '04 buck and my '05 buck.. Thanks for lookin' guys!!!

Great photos.. you got a nice bull! But this kinda crap scares me about AK outfitters.. If they would have told me that I had to buy a new FEAKIN' BOAT when I got there, I would have told him where he can stick that boat and there probably would have been some sleeves rolled up in the process as well... Sorry you had to deal with that kind of outfitter on your first time up there.. But at least you made the best out of the situation.. Shrug it off and find another one to go with.. 1 bad apple can ruin the bushel for sure..

sweet vid Jeff!!! Thanks for sharing... keep at him.. he'll eventually make a mistake!!

I shot my coues deer last year with a .223 WSSM with handloaded BarnesX bullets.. Had a complete pass thru shot and dropped him in his tracks at 260 yrds.. My buddy Kev shot his buck with the same gun at 396 yards the next day.. Same results.. Remember that shot RedRabbit?? Best shot I've seen in a LONG while!! So, to answer your question, yes, the .223 will do the job just fine.. BTW, I've killed plenty of deer back home in TX with a little 'ol .222..

Jamaro, I hunted them a long time ago way down near Presidio, TX.. Lotsa fun and just like hunting Coues.. glassing the desert hills with big glass.. BTW, TXhunter, good to have some fellow Paisanos around here!! I'm from San Angelo.. been living here in Tucson sice '03.. welcome aboard!!

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nice buck!!

Man, do I envy you!! I love WY.. great state with lots of hunting, slower pace of life, an outdoors lifestyle, beautiful scenery, and way fewer people than Az.. i would move there in a heartbeat if I could.. If my plans go right, I will be planning a move as well within the next 2 years from Az with my current employment. I will either relocate back home to TX or will be in north/central MT. If I cannot get out of Az with my current career, its adios to this job and on to another.. I just can't stay somewhere that I don't hold close to my heart.. In all honesty, here lately I've given some very serious consideration to jump ship permanently and move to New Zealand and take up permanent residence there. That country his held very dear to me and is probably the closest you can actually come to a heaven on earth.. Az4life huh... I guess now it'll have to be WY4now!!!!

Nice pics Christian.. good to see ya made it out there.. Its a little green out there, isn't it?? I just don't know how you could stand the amount of gnats and mosquitos that are out there right now!! It seems that here lately, everytime I even step out of the truck while I'm down there working, the danged things almost carry me off!! I just can't force myself to get out there and do any serious scouting yet cuz its just so hot and miserable still.. BTW, what type of tripods are you haulin' around these days?? I like the looks of them..

Tell your boy congrats for us!! He took a fantastic goat and should be proud..

Very nice!! And some really good pics as well! Congrats on a great goat..

Great buck!! And its nice to see that the monsoons have been nice to NM as well..

Nice buck!! Kinda reminds me of the one I'm gonna be taking come Nov.!!

All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't around in those days!! Those threads he's wearing are WILD!! Nice hat , bro!!

Congrats on the nice buck!