F
Field Ethos
Guest
By Caleb McClain
Anyone who hunts enough will eventually hit the point: you begin to run out of real estate for your mounts. It started innocently enough with your first buck from when you were eight years old that your dad caped out while you were bragging to everyone in camp and surprised you with a shoulder mount for your birthday. Certainly, that needs to be in your office. Then the gadwall from your first duck hunt that you wouldn’t trade for the world, followed by the skull of your first bull elk that now hangs above your fireplace. Add in the first duck retrieved by your favorite bird dog, a few exotics shot in the Texas Hill Country, that surprise cinnamon teal drake in perfect plumage, and the progressively larger skulls you ended up with from years of hunting mulies and whitetails. And all of that was before your first trip to Africa.
Fast forward to today, when your house has become a shrine to adventures of the past. Your wife is starting to develop a nervous tic from the mention of taxidermy, and you fully understand that no one in your family will want to keep it all if you die. After every trip, you shuffle a few mounts around, move one or two more out to your shop, and contemplate buying a larger house to accommodate the spoils of your lifestyle.
Fortunately, there are more sensible options that don’t end in your house looking like a Cabela’s.
Perhaps the simplest alternative to taxidermy is photographs. I’m not talking about some out of focus photo of a man sitting on a dead deer’s back with its tongue sticking out, but rather quality photography.
Quality photography begins with a quality camera. This is not to say that your iPhone won’t do in a pinch, especially one of the newer ones, but even a cheap Nikon Coolpix or Canon Rebel will be much better, so long as you familiarize yourself with the functions. Study the basics of photography like how to position the animal and where to sit in relation to the animal, then fill a SIM card. Display them on a digital frame and you have room for the trophies of 1,000 future hunts. But you must admit that while photographs are great for capturing the triumph of the moment, it’s nice to have something to hold and touch.
Fortunately, there is another great option in having items produced from your trophies. Everyone could use a custom hard case for their Citori with zebra skin inlayed or soft case made from the spotted hide of an axis deer. Warthog tusk bottle openers, knife handles made from antlers, or flies tied from the feathers of a rather special bird are excellent mementos, and they make even better gifts for friends.
If you opt to tan the leather, a plethora of taxidermy alternatives become available. Boots, belts, slings, cartridge holders, and plenty of other functional items can be made, thus reducing the required wall space. Still, it’s not the same as having a skull to point to and admire.
An option for those who prefer a physical skull is to have them scanned for miniature 3D replicas. These replicas, offered by several companies, are inexpensive and can easily fit in a desk drawer. But, while they look excellent and are certainly more practical for people who don’t have any more room, you must admit that their diminutive size can make even your best whitetail or kudu look… small.
On second thought, screw it; you need another skull on the wall. In fact, get the skull, make a belt from the tanned hide, take good pictures, and have a 3D replica made—you can’t have enough ways to remember your adventures! And when you die? Who cares if your wife and children pile it up in the yard, douse them in diesel, and dance around the bonfire, rejoicing in having wall space to hang family portraits and normal décor.
Just don’t be remembered as the guy who asks their wife for permission to hang their mount in the living room, or you may never live it down.
The post Too Much Damn Taxidermy appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
Anyone who hunts enough will eventually hit the point: you begin to run out of real estate for your mounts. It started innocently enough with your first buck from when you were eight years old that your dad caped out while you were bragging to everyone in camp and surprised you with a shoulder mount for your birthday. Certainly, that needs to be in your office. Then the gadwall from your first duck hunt that you wouldn’t trade for the world, followed by the skull of your first bull elk that now hangs above your fireplace. Add in the first duck retrieved by your favorite bird dog, a few exotics shot in the Texas Hill Country, that surprise cinnamon teal drake in perfect plumage, and the progressively larger skulls you ended up with from years of hunting mulies and whitetails. And all of that was before your first trip to Africa.
Fast forward to today, when your house has become a shrine to adventures of the past. Your wife is starting to develop a nervous tic from the mention of taxidermy, and you fully understand that no one in your family will want to keep it all if you die. After every trip, you shuffle a few mounts around, move one or two more out to your shop, and contemplate buying a larger house to accommodate the spoils of your lifestyle.
Fortunately, there are more sensible options that don’t end in your house looking like a Cabela’s.
alternatives—A million Ways to skin a trophy
Perhaps the simplest alternative to taxidermy is photographs. I’m not talking about some out of focus photo of a man sitting on a dead deer’s back with its tongue sticking out, but rather quality photography.
Quality photography begins with a quality camera. This is not to say that your iPhone won’t do in a pinch, especially one of the newer ones, but even a cheap Nikon Coolpix or Canon Rebel will be much better, so long as you familiarize yourself with the functions. Study the basics of photography like how to position the animal and where to sit in relation to the animal, then fill a SIM card. Display them on a digital frame and you have room for the trophies of 1,000 future hunts. But you must admit that while photographs are great for capturing the triumph of the moment, it’s nice to have something to hold and touch.
Fortunately, there is another great option in having items produced from your trophies. Everyone could use a custom hard case for their Citori with zebra skin inlayed or soft case made from the spotted hide of an axis deer. Warthog tusk bottle openers, knife handles made from antlers, or flies tied from the feathers of a rather special bird are excellent mementos, and they make even better gifts for friends.
If you opt to tan the leather, a plethora of taxidermy alternatives become available. Boots, belts, slings, cartridge holders, and plenty of other functional items can be made, thus reducing the required wall space. Still, it’s not the same as having a skull to point to and admire.
An option for those who prefer a physical skull is to have them scanned for miniature 3D replicas. These replicas, offered by several companies, are inexpensive and can easily fit in a desk drawer. But, while they look excellent and are certainly more practical for people who don’t have any more room, you must admit that their diminutive size can make even your best whitetail or kudu look… small.
Or Just Nut Up
On second thought, screw it; you need another skull on the wall. In fact, get the skull, make a belt from the tanned hide, take good pictures, and have a 3D replica made—you can’t have enough ways to remember your adventures! And when you die? Who cares if your wife and children pile it up in the yard, douse them in diesel, and dance around the bonfire, rejoicing in having wall space to hang family portraits and normal décor.
Just don’t be remembered as the guy who asks their wife for permission to hang their mount in the living room, or you may never live it down.
The post Too Much Damn Taxidermy appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
