What is your shoulder mount criteria?

[kentrek]

I most likely wont ever mount somthing that i wouldnt get a replica made of... its too enjoyable to pull stuff off the wall and hold on to them

Needless to say...still waiting for a replica quality animal 

[boneaddict]

Probably won’t do anymore.  I mounted several on my own, but now I probably have a pile of some most would cringe knowing mice might be g swing on them. 

[hunter399]

I grew up poor ,and not far off now.
All I've ever shot is a bunch of dink bucks. One buck I would of mounted, I was unable to complete the hunt,recover the buck.
Spent two hunting season looking for a shot opportunity at that buck.

Only thing I've ever taken to the taxidermist is a cougar rug.
My wife pretty much got me to sheetrock a wall ,that we hung it up on. So it was just more work. Looks good,she wasn't wrong.
But more work to say the least.

So all I got is euro and plaque mounts of dink bucks of the past.
Probably all I'll ever have.

[Feathernfurr]

Took me 25 years from the first deer until I shoulder mounted one so I totally understand! Cool to see everyone’s different views on it. Have always thought it would be cool to have a museum that collects taxidermy from people who inherit it. Makes me think I should have written accounts of the hunts that go with skulls/mounts so my future kids/grandkids can know the stories and the significance.

[hunter399]

Took me 25 years from the first deer until I shoulder mounted one so I get totally understand! Cool to see everyone’s different views on it. Have always thought it would be cool to have a museum that collects taxidermy from people who inherit it. Makes me think I should have written accounts of the hunts that go with skulls/mounts so my future kids/grandkids can know the stories and the significance.

I've actually thought about adding coordinates to few of my dinks on the wall .

[MADMAX]

Took me 25 years from the first deer until I shoulder mounted one so I get totally understand! Cool to see everyone’s different views on it. Have always thought it would be cool to have a museum that collects taxidermy from people who inherit it. Makes me think I should have written accounts of the hunts that go with skulls/mounts so my future kids/grandkids can know the stories and the significance.

My kids asked me for that. I made  3 x 5 cards stuck in behind all my mounts and skulls on what I could remember and the years

[Feathernfurr]

165-170 plus for whitetails unless something very unique. Muleys are 180” plus unless like whitetails something unique like a 30” wide 2pt etc. elk 340 plus

I had to revisit your trail cam thread for the year, the 165-170” for whitetails makes sense 😂

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Intestine thread. Seems size is the biggest factor when determining a mount worth project…..which is cool, but not on everyone’s list. I think the question/answer is so broad such as a question like ‘what’s your favorite car?’.
I’ve always been in the mindset of having a mount done if it’s memorable or a cool story behind the situation, despite its size. Other factors include, yes, size, but also who you’re with.
We mount up a few does/cows and spikes in here every year for hunters, young and old, that are as proud of that animal as a hunter that took a 130” blacktail…..and that is cool as hell!
While your thread prompts some interesting points (no pun intended), it’s also a hard one to answer or rather, there is no right answer as it’s so person specific.
At the end of the day- I have a few really good bucks/bulls on my own personal wall, but I can tell you the ones I cherish the most are the some of the smaller racked trophies that bring a cool memory of the hunt prior to the release of an arrow or trigger depression of a rifle, who I was with, a crazy bull call-in, or a grueling pack-in/out.
They’re all trophies and all mount worthy!

[Ironhead]

For me its just a mature or rare animal that will bring on the memories of the hunt everytime I look at it.

[greenhead_killer]

   I am after mature animals, regardless of score. I’ve got a md I mounted from 2018 that might break 85”. Old old regress buck and the biggest bodied deer I’ve ever shot. Didn’t think twice that it wasn’t going to the taxidermist.

Also as a kid, reading all the horn porn magazines I could, I was always drawn to the Midwest guys and their whitetail/md walls ( the barn pics). I’ve wanted my own ever since I can remember. My wife absolutely hates that I mount so many deer, but you kind of need them to have your own big deer wall!

Will additionally mount any oil species, regardless of size and anything unique. Again, size doesn’t necessarily matter to me. It’s about age/maturity for me. Elk, it better be huge as I don’t care about them. Ha

[Feathernfurr]

I miss the magazine days. I would spend hours and hours reading hunting stories as a kid. You can bet just about every article I wrote for shop class was about hunting. Watching Jackie Bushman/Buck masters and Realtree’s monster bucks. Those buck walls existed for me in the barns and hunting cabins of our friends and family. Funny to think back about it and how some of those deer were just little scrub bucks, but as a kid you dreamed of them coming off the wall and running by you one morning.

Lots of cool answers and perspectives here.

[fishngamereaper]

Back in the day I had way to many mounts done so now it's unique or something new.
The only thing Ive had done in the last 6 years was my caribou..
And I'm really liking the look of Euro's for deer these days anyway. Easier to display.

[Rugsnfeathers]

My short answer to the OP post is, "whatever rocks your boat and makes you happy ", then do it.  Nobody else can dictate your happiness and satisfaction of what you did with your kill.  It's the story behind it that is more compelling than the mount itself.  I know of a good friend that mounted a little tiny blacktail spike.  To folks that just plainly look at it, they call it stupid and a waste of money.  To others that heard the story behind it, especially his grandkids hearing the story, it's priceless. 

[jrebel]

Unique animals, Memorable hunts, Size of course, Do I have a representative of that animal??....if not probably getting it mounted.  If and when I get the chance to kill a bull elk, I'm getting it mounted.  I have whitetail, mule deer, blacktail (my dads), moose, bear, bobcat (my dads)......I don't have an elk.  I'm not to far away from getting a cow elk mounted so I can have that representative in case I never get a bull.   

 

[bearpaw]

We mounted all of our kids first bear, deer, turkeys, cats, etc. So not everything on our walls is big by measurement, but they are all big on sentiment!