Types of Trophy Mounts
- Successful hunts are immortalized with trophy mounts.Eastcott Momatiuk/Lifesize/Getty Images
A taxidermist has to be part artist, part tailor, part hair stylist and part creative designer. The process of making a dead animal look fresh and alive is painstaking work. It can also be expensive. Many hunters, though, don't mind paying the cost for a trophy mount symbolizing the success of their hunt. How much a hunter is willing to pay and how much of the animal is viable for mounting determine which trophy mount a hunter selects. - Head or shoulder mounts are the most common trophy mounts used for large animals such as deer, elk and moose. These type of mounts involve the head, sometimes including the shoulders, mounted on a plaque. With head or shoulder mounts, the animal can be posed several different ways, such as looking to the right or to the left. Carnivorous animals, such as bobcats, may be posed with their mouths open and their teeth bared.
- Full-body mounts involve preserving and mounting the entire animal. These trophy mounts run the gamut, from small animals such as squirrels to large animals such as bears and elephants. Along with large game and exotic animals, duck and game fish are preserved as full-body mounts as well.
According to Mike Baird of B & B Taxidermy in Houston, Texas, full-body mounts of large animals cost thousands of dollars. For example, a full body mount of an elephant costs upwards of $100,000 as of November 2010. Full-body mounts often involve posing the animal in a natural setting, complete with ground, rocks and branches. - Sometimes the only trophy that can be salvaged from a kill is the animal's antlers or horns. Antler or horn trophy mounts are used when the animal's head is unusable, or if the hunt took place in another country, where bringing the head back would be problematic. This mount is also an option for hunters that choose to save money by having only a spectacular set of antlers mounted, rather than the whole head. Antler or horn trophy mounts are suitable for a variety of configurations, from wall plaque hangings to tabletop displays.
