Taxidermy and Mounted/framed Insects (and stuff like that)

[Rallygirl]

We have a wide variety of dead critters on the walls here, in fact a couple bucks are looking down at me whenever I am sitting at my desk. We also have boxes and boxes of antlers that are awaiting a future life as a living room chandelier. Why throw away anything that can be used for another purpose?

However, we most definitely eat what we kill and currently our freezer is stocked with deer, elk, moose & turkey. I hear them out back this morning, so you never know, by the end of the day, I might even have another yummy turkey in there.

I do have to admit that there is one critter here, that we did not eat. The coyote up in my dormer window was getting very, very bold and was shot for safety reasons.

[Hector]

Coyotes are fine...I don't like 'em...they are like big canine rats...so go ahead...smoke more of them...

[Hector]

Just kidding!

But seriously, if the coyote posed a threat, then I don't have a problem with his desmise.

[Rallygirl]

Coyote-Schmyote,...the neighborhood is buzzing this morning with news of another cougar sighting. We have coyotes, foxes, bob cats & bears, so a cougar isn't totally out of the question here. However I'll believe it when I see it,...preferably dead. The other are all small, even the bears here are only about the size of my dog. But cougars,...I have no issue shooting anything that comes into my yard thinking that I might be dinner.

[jessica]

Wow Rallygirl...you live out in the wilderness it seems! SCARY!! I'm such a city girl that it's beyond my comprehension.

[Hector]

Coyote-Schmyote,...the neighborhood is buzzing this morning with news of another cougar sighting. We have coyotes, foxes, bob cats & bears, so a cougar isn't totally out of the question here. However I'll believe it when I see it,...preferably dead. The other are all small, even the bears here are only about the size of my dog. But cougars,...I have no issue shooting anything that comes into my yard thinking that I might be dinner.

Yeah...if it poses a threat...you have the right to defend yourself.

But what do you think of taxidermy?

Do you think it's cool to display a dead stuffed animal in your living room?

[Rallygirl]

Yeah...if it poses a threat...you have the right to defend yourself.

But what do you think of taxidermy?

Do you think it's cool to display a dead stuffed animal in your living room?

We would never shoot something for the sole purpose of displaying it. However, if after shooting a yummy critter, it can also decorate our house, I am ok with it. We have deer heads, deer antlers, deer hooves, elk antlers and turkey tails displayed around our house. The coyote is the only full mount we have,...and the only animal that did not get eaten.

We are just a bunch of rednecks out here. My twelve year old niece shot her first deer last Sunday. However, she still ended up in tears because as she was cleaning it, the dog grabbed and ran off with the heart.

[Werewolf]

You have the right to do whatever...taxidermy is not illegal as long as it's not a protected and endangered species...but it's not my thing...still an ego trip...and still tacky...in my humble opinion of course.

What he said.

[Cmonster]

What are you trying to say, Sandy...you have some trophy hunting displays on your wall?

I guess I'm trying to say that if I fly to Montana, hike into the woods for 10 or 12 miles, stalk a 400lb elk for a day and half and then kill it from 25 yards away with a bow and arrow, yeah-- It's head is gonna hang on my wall. Of course, I'll eat the meat and share it with close friends (you haven't lived until you've had a venison or elk burger) but that mount on my wall is a great conversation piece to tell the story and acts as a symbol of my accomplishment, which I feel is special. There aren't a lot of guys who can take down an animal like that with a bow and arrow--

It's a COMPLETELY different game when you're 300 yards away with a high powered rifle and a scope that can see the gnats buzzing around his snout. This is really hard for me to explain and also for you to understand, because you're not a hunter and you've probably never stood in the shadow of an animal 3 times bigger than you, ****ed off and snorting, armed only with a bow, 6 arrows and a hunting knife.

Moments like that when it truly is man against nature (and I've had many in my life) define who I am as a human on this planet. Nature has taught me to fear nothing, but respect everything. To harvest what you wish from the forest and the sea, but eat what you harvest and never let an animal's life go to waste by not consuming it or killing simply for sport.

That's just me.

SC

[Rallygirl]

I guess I'm trying to say that if I fly to Montana, hike into the woods for 10 or 12 miles, stalk a 400lb elk for a day and half and then kill it from 25 yards away with a bow and arrow, yeah-- It's head is gonna hang on my wall. Of course, I'll eat the meat and share it with close friends (you haven't lived until you've had a venison or elk burger) but that mount on my wall is a great conversation piece to tell the story and acts as a symbol of my accomplishment, which I feel is special. There aren't a lot of guys who can take down an animal like that with a bow and arrow--

It's a COMPLETELY different game when you're 300 yards away with a high powered rifle and a scope that can see the gnats buzzing around his snout. This is really hard for me to explain and also for you to understand, because you're not a hunter and you've probably never stood in the shadow of an animal 3 times bigger than you, ****ed off and snorting, armed only with a bow, 6 arrows and a hunting knife.

Moments like that when it truly is man against nature (and I've had many in my life) define who I am as a human on this planet. Nature has taught me to fear nothing, but respect everything. To harvest what you wish from the forest and the sea, but eat what you harvest and never let an animal's life go to waste by not consuming it or killing simply for sport.

That's just me.

SC

[mikeoz]

I’m a hunter (though I don’t have much time to do it) and completely understand what Sandy is saying. Unfortunately, my wife wouldn’t let me hang a deer head in the house, so I’d never spend the money to have one mounted. However, I do understand those that do choose to display theirs.

Speaking for myself, I have a sincere appreciation for the animals I hunt and their meat. The hunt is also a time I share with my children that I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Before the hunt, we scout out areas where we believe there to be animals. We wake up early on the morning of the actual hunt and take in the sunrise. We hike over ridge tops and through valleys enjoying the scenery, smells and ruggedness of the land. Sometimes we hike several miles in untrailed country. The kill itself not only completes a goal, but adds to the spiritualness of the hunt. At this point, and I know this’ll sound like a cliché, but I truly feel one with nature. Hunting is not over at this point, though The animal still needs to be gutted, possibly quartered, and hauled back to camp – something that’ll leave even the most fit person with a thumping heart and a sense of exhaustion. We take the meat home and spend a day cutting and wrapping it so that it can be frozen and eaten throughout the year.

Also, when I eat the meat, I know that I’ve been a part of harvesting something that sustains me. I think farmers and ranchers also experience this and I’m sure they have a deeper appreciation for food than someone who picks up a plastic wrapped T-bone steak off a refrigerated shelf in a grocery store.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I did mount the head of an animal, for me it would not be a trophy, but rather a reminder of an awesome experience I shared with my children, the mountains and the animal. For me, it wouldn’t matter whether I killed the animal with a bullet or an arrow (and I’ve hunted both ways), it’s about the experience and the respect and appreciation of the food.

[Werewolf]

I think I'm on Hector's wave length on this. I'm not at all against legal hunting. But, you've already had the experience and nothing can replace that and since the experience is what matters I don't get the the need about showing off or bragging rights on an stuffed animal corpse. I just think keeping the animals mounted corpse around as some sort of trophy is kind of morbid and egotistical.

I went to a sporting goods store recently with my Dad to help him pick out some fishing gear and the store was full of mounted deer parts. It was really creepy and not in a good way.

[Mikey]

I'd like to stuff a turkey and display it in my belly

[Werewolf]

My Dad fished a lot in his youth and wants to get back into it when he retires. To him, it was the experience of fishing he enjoyed. If he wasn't going to eat what he caught, he put it back. No matter how big or impressive, he didn't need a dead fish to stick on his wall as a reminder. That's not what mattered to him. He just liked to be out in the fresh air, relax and fish.

[Cmonster]

But, you've already had the experience and nothing can replace that and since the experience is what matters I don't get the the need about showing off or bragging rights on an stuffed animal corpse. I just think keeping the animals mounted corpse around as some sort of trophy is kind of morbid and egotistical.

Like I said-- super hard to explain to someone who doesn't hunt. Trust me, when that beast lumbers out of the tree line in front of you and bugles-- It goes through you like nothing else in this world. And when you're close enough to the animal to hear him breathing and snorting because he knows you are there, it's hard to explain the feeling--

I have the same discussion all the time with people who don't surf or skydive-- Trying to explain the feeling of being in the tube or free falling from 12,000ft to someone who has never done either of those things, is impossible. You just have to do it to find out.

So, go stand next to a bear or big elk or bighorn sheep in HIS environment and then tell me if you'd have the huevos to shoot at that thing with a 2.5 ft long, pointed stick. Trust me, if you're against hanging a trophy on your wall, you don't.

Nuff said.

SC