How to Choose the Style and Pose of your Mount
Large Mammals
The first thing to consider when deciding the style of mount is the space you have to dedicate to the mount. If you have very limited space, a skull mount or antler plaque will take up the least space. A soft tanned hide can look nice thrown over the back of a chair or couch.
If you have a moderate amount of wall space a shoulder mount or wall pedestal would fit well. Wall pedestals show a bit of the shoulder and really stand out nicely if you already have several shoulder mounts and are looking for something different.
If you are short on wall space, but want a mount, a floor pedestal is a great option. They are free standing bases that can fit into the corner of a room, and can incorporate shelves for displaying shed antlers or hidden shelves for storage.
If you want your mount to be the center of attention and you have a bit of space, a life sized mount is an incredible option. It’s sure to be a favorite for guests to look at and really shows off the animal in it’s full glory.
Small Game
Small game animals look great as a life sized mount and don’t take up much space even with a habitat base. Many hunters choose to make the base match the area and season the animal was harvested.
There are options for small game shoulder mounts, but due to limited forms the price difference is less noticable than for large game where shoulder mounts are more prevalent.
Birds
Do you have space for a full sized mount? Birds make a wonderful addition to a trophy room .
If you have limited space tail displays, or framed feather displays can be a unique option.
Fish
Did you catch the fish in the summer or winter? Ice scenes add a unique touch to fish caught ice fishing. Pay attention to the body of water, was the bottom muddy, sandy, or rocky? Were there many weeds?
Note that most fish don’t open their mouth until the moment they grab their prey, so if you want an open mouth fish adding a bait fish or a lure of some kind can really complete the look of the mount.
Choosing The Pose
For life-sized mounts of birds, fish, and mammals keep in mind that English speakers read from left to right, top to bottom. This tends to be the most pleasing flow for viewing the mount. Having the animal facing left plays well with this.
Damage to the animal is important to consider as well. Is there a large portion of damage on the animal that needs to be hidden? Damage to the belly or legs can be hidden by choosing a laying down pose. Damage to the back can be hidden by placing the mount above eye level.
Many hunters choose to mount their animals in the pose it was in while they were hunting it. Was it chasing after females with it’s head low. Did it have it’s head up alert? Ultimately it is up to you to choose the pose. Looking at photos online of live animals can really help you narrow down what you like.
