Jeff, you are correct. I actually had no intention of doing a shoulder mount on this deer, or any deer for that matter. I just had a hard time justifying the money, just to put a deer on the wall.

The day I shot him, I called my best friend, Dave. After talking to he and the wife, she absolutely, postively, after threatening to change my gender, w/out argument, told me to get it mounted, and they would pay for it. So I did. Begrudgingly, truthfully. But she is just not someone a guy wants to argue with, and she caught me in a moment of weakness. 10 minutes after I shot him, I would have agreed to pretty near anything.

I've told them several times that "thank you" just didn't seem like enough, but it's all I have. I thought of something else the other day. I'm gonna pay it forward. At some point in my future, some young hunter will be in the position I was in last year, and I'm gonna mount his buck for him.