Here is the progression of a euro mount I’ve been working on (off & on) for the better part of a year. This is to commemorate a hunt with my Father-n-law from 2010. I’m pretty much 95% done and just in time as Feb 1st (tomorrow) is the 3rd anniversary of his passing. There’s also a funny story that goes along with this...
Early 2010 had me feeding my stand all year long and the camera had quite a few bucks coming in steady. With the camera we got to watch the antlers grow throughout the year, but one buck stood out. I watched this guy all the way thru velvet and had decided this was the only buck I would hunt that year! FIL had seen all the pics as I showed him regularly.
Fast forward to mid-November and I haven’t seen the buck in over 4 weeks. It was like he disappeared the day bow season opened. On a Saturday morning I’m in the tree stand waiting...nothing all morning. FIL is in a blind on other side of the property and sends me a text saying, “Buck down. Need help.” (You can probably see where this going...)
So, I climb down and meet him at the blind then we head over to the feeder and look for blood. Find it quick enough and I only have to follow it no more than 30 yds... “WTF Joe?!? You shot my F-n deer!!!” I looked at him in disbelief. He just grinned!
Later that day I confessed to him that had it been anybody else on the lease, we would have gone to fighting! But I was legitimately happy for him as it was a solid buck for the Hill Country.
3 yrs ago just after he passed, my MIL asked if there was anything of his that I wanted. I said, “I just want MY deer back!” So the idea for the mount began.
Please keep in mind that my FIL never thought about a European mount. He just cut the antlers and the skull plate off and that’s what I had to start with. A Mountain Mike’s European Mount Kit was in order (I did a similar mount for my daughter’s first buck).
The following pics show some of the process. The picture of the pic collage (4 pics) has the photos of the day of the hunt. Top two photos are of my FIL with the buck. The final piece of the mount will include one of those pics,along with one of the actual game camera pics of the buck in velvet!
The wood back is 18x23 to give some perspective. It’s made from an old fence from the property. (Not all my pics are loading so I’ll add them later.)
Enjoy...
Early 2010 had me feeding my stand all year long and the camera had quite a few bucks coming in steady. With the camera we got to watch the antlers grow throughout the year, but one buck stood out. I watched this guy all the way thru velvet and had decided this was the only buck I would hunt that year! FIL had seen all the pics as I showed him regularly.
Fast forward to mid-November and I haven’t seen the buck in over 4 weeks. It was like he disappeared the day bow season opened. On a Saturday morning I’m in the tree stand waiting...nothing all morning. FIL is in a blind on other side of the property and sends me a text saying, “Buck down. Need help.” (You can probably see where this going...)
So, I climb down and meet him at the blind then we head over to the feeder and look for blood. Find it quick enough and I only have to follow it no more than 30 yds... “WTF Joe?!? You shot my F-n deer!!!” I looked at him in disbelief. He just grinned!
Later that day I confessed to him that had it been anybody else on the lease, we would have gone to fighting! But I was legitimately happy for him as it was a solid buck for the Hill Country.
3 yrs ago just after he passed, my MIL asked if there was anything of his that I wanted. I said, “I just want MY deer back!” So the idea for the mount began.
Please keep in mind that my FIL never thought about a European mount. He just cut the antlers and the skull plate off and that’s what I had to start with. A Mountain Mike’s European Mount Kit was in order (I did a similar mount for my daughter’s first buck).
The following pics show some of the process. The picture of the pic collage (4 pics) has the photos of the day of the hunt. Top two photos are of my FIL with the buck. The final piece of the mount will include one of those pics,along with one of the actual game camera pics of the buck in velvet!
The wood back is 18x23 to give some perspective. It’s made from an old fence from the property. (Not all my pics are loading so I’ll add them later.)
Enjoy...
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