BarnesX.308

I was trying to explain to a non-hunter (not an anti) why you would want a deer head on your wall. To her, it’s just a dead animal on the wall. Even though we have several deer, caribou, elk and antelope heads plus a whole bear and several fish, I couldn’t explain it. I could stare at my biggest 8-point for an hour and be impressed but I can’t explain to a non-hunter why. Any help with this? Thanks.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

John Deer

I can' t speak for everyone but I believe the reason that we hunters mount our animals is to remind us and never let us forget the memories that we made when we hunted and took that animal.
I know when someone has an animal mounted and I see it for the first time, I always ask, " tell me the story behind that one." We want to hear the stories, we want to remember the hunt.
My great grandfather took a great muley buck along time ago. He got it mounted and I remember growing up as a little kid seeing this monster muley hanging on his wall. I never got to hear the story of how he took that buck. After he passed away back in 1993, my dad got the mount and it now hangs in the garage at his house. The mount is in bad shape, the hair is falling out, the hide on the nose is split, and the left ear is broken and about to fall off. Everytime I look at that monster buck hangin there on the wall, I wonder what story my great-grandpa would have told me about that hunt and what memories he made the day he got that bruiser. To me, that' s why we display those animals on the wall.

BarnesX.308

That' s a good response. Thanks.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

Gryan

Great question. I can just sit and stare at my mounts, I don' t have many, and relive that hunt like it was yeasterday. I let my children name the mounts. The eight point buck is named Flounder and every time I see that dried blood on the antlers I can remember calling may dad on the radio and saying, as I held up the head for the first time, " I know what I want for Christmas." My first fly caught trout, an 18" native brown from a mountain stream. I selected the fly while at the stoplight in town, thirty miles away. Match the hatch my butt. and on and on. I get to quietly relive my most precious memories, I get to pay tribute to the animal I killed forever. The first year I brought home Flounder, my wife tried to decorate it for Christmas with a red nose and such. I WENT NUTS. That animal died not to be a holiday decoration but to be forever honored. She understood.

Greg

jerseyjoe

For the memories....As JD and Gryan said.. I can look at anyone of my mounts and remember the " story behind it" as it happened yesterday.

BarnesX.308

Thanks for the responses guys. Good stuff. Also, $418 for a deer head is better than 12 million dollars for a Picasso. My 15 month old boy could paint me a prettier picture for free.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

Miller Man

I agree with all replies and the memories are a very big part. One more aspect to me that is important is hunting is a sport and the mount is a trophy that the hunter recieves as a symbol of his hard work, dedication, and love for the sport. Would a football player not want to have his Super Bowl Ring?

BarnesX.308

Great analogy, Miller Man.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

JD IN ALBERTA

Why do people frame their first dollar ever made in their own businesses? You see them in almost every little store or shop in North America. It' s up there for everyone to see, but is no different than any other dollar...EXCEPT to the guy who it belongs to! You probably will never be able to explain why we have mounts to non hunters (at least I' ve stopped trying), but you know what it' s like when another hunter sees it, you can usually talk for hours. You do it because you can, that' s the beauty of it! The memories of the hunt are the icing on the cake JDinAB

hardluck71

One Word................RESPECT