7 Interesting Deer Head Mounts

If there’s one thing all hunters can agree on, it’s that the most important part of the hunt is the experience itself. Remembering past hunts is one of the things we love best, and that’s exactly what taxidermy is all about: Preserving a memory to help us revisit it over and over again.

With the exception of several European skull mounts, my deer mounts are fairly typical. I do have some nice poses, but they’re all wall-hung shoulder mounts. That’s what I can afford, but if I had plenty of resources, I might do some different things. Maybe like these.

The tailgate mount above is pretty great — and unless I’m mistaken, it’s part of a Ford Ranger pickup from the 1980s. I had one of those, and I blooded the tailgate with more than one buck (albeit much smaller than this one).

Then there’s the shoulder mount with extras. It’s cool if that’s what you like, but I can’t say it really turns me on.

A full body mount is pretty amazing, and how much more so when it’s leaping from the second floor of your mansion?

I’ve seen numerous mounts designed to make the buck look like he’s caught in the act of doing something — but they don’t always capture it. One double mount depicting fighting bucks made them appear as if they were kissing… and this antler-rub buck just looks weird to me.

Perhaps most interesting to me are the backpack cape mounts, designed to look like you just shucked a buck and are packing the head and hide out of the woods on your way home.

Some are done better than others, but all of them look good to me.

Add an old hunting license, a knife, a woolen bedroll, and some spare rope and you really have an interesting piece to hang on your wall.

What do you think of these mounts? Let us know in the comments below.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.