Mount'N Top Taxidermy

Black bears on barn boards, just kinda gives you that warm tingly feeling all over!

Just finished up this awesome Greenbrier county muzzle loader buck. 6 1/2 years old and grossed 155” proof positive of what we can grow when we adopt a let em go, let em grow philosophy.

Merry Christmas y’all!

Some more euros ready to head home!

A few euros heading to their new homes. I hope to have all this years euros back before Christmas. Good luck to all you smoke pole hunters.

As deer season waves good bye, it’s time to start thinking about what to get for that mother in law who seems to have everything! I’ll bet she doesn’t have a deer butt bottle opener? Just think of the look on her face when she realizes just how much you care!
Thanks for making this our best year yet. That said I am still taking deer and as of right now our turn around time is still this spring. Good luck late season archers and smoke pole folks.

Just finished these up yesterday, never ceases to amaze me how unique and different each animal is. Two of these were opening day bow season bucks and two had lived in their hunters freezers for a season or two before they made it to my shop. Good luck hunters!

Couple of things to keep in mind if you are planning to have your trophy mounted. The two things that will damage your cape are moisture and heat. The hair can start slipping within a day if it’s warm out. Don’t wash the blood off or pack ice against your cape but rather bag the cape first. If you need to freeze the cape, make sure it’s sealed tightly to prevent freezer burn. And please Don’t cut the cape off too short! Bring the whole cape in and let your taxidermist cut it off. Lastly taxidermists mount in the order they receive so a week difference in November can mean 4 months difference in the spring.

May God bless you all with a safe and successful hunt this fall.

Mount'N Top Taxidermy As a lifelong sportsman and big game guide, I know how important that trophy of a lifetime is to you.

MT rag horn all cleaned up and ready for his new home. He hung in the guys tree for the last year and by the time I got him he was black and still stinky. Don’t give up on those dead heads, they can often be salvaged. Just a reminder, but if you’re planing on having a deer mounted and you bring it to a processor often the cape is rotten by the time we get it. Take the extra time to bring it to a taxidermist ASAP. Hair can start slipping within a day in warm temps and will slip even after refrigeration if it’s balled up for very long. Happy hunting.

Don’t know about you? But I’ve definitely got the itch! This large based buck left the freezer and made his way to my shop this summer. He headed home this week. I’ve gotten in several fresh bow killed bucks and a couple more freezer bucks this week. Turn around is still only a few months but I expected that to change after fi****ms season. You snooze you loose.

Only one more month!!!

Finished up a couple of rainbows yesterday. Never ceases to amaze me how different the color variations between the same species. Both were painted to match the pictures of the fish when caught. The one on the right was so red he looked more like a sockeye than a rainbow. It’s really important to take a lot of good photos as soon as possible. If you want either a skin mount or replica. Wrap the fish in a damp cloth and then seal it in a plastic bag and freeze it flat as soon as possible. Or take some pics and length and girth measurements and let it go! Good luck

One of the latest craze is back pack mounts. Pictured here is a “bionic” buck I recently mounted. A client brought me in a cape he cut off way too short to use. I sold him a new cape for his shoulder mount. The antlers came off a WI road kill I picked up a few years ago. The tail end of the cape came off of a deer someone had dropped off to mount. My old pack frame has since been replaced but I packed a lot of game out of the back country with it over the last 40 years. The only limits to a mount is our imagination! I would like remind y’all that if you have capes that your not going to use I will buy them off you providing they are in good shape and come off an animal that’s at least 3 1/2years old. Good luck out there.

Only 6 more weeks till elk season! Gotta be my favorite critter to chase through the mountains as their eerie call echoes through the canyons. This particular bull met his maker 20 years ago. He answered my calls and I had the privilege to video tape him going down. 8 seconds from arrow impact to four legs in the air! He was euro mounted at the time, but after his antlers faded my buddy asked me to mount him and restrain the antlers. He'll soon be taking up residence in WI. If you are heading west this fall keep me in mind, I can always use capes. Blessings!

This was one of our clients when I was working in Alaska 2 years ago. Awesome bear, great young man, terrible circumstances! Violent storms, ship wrecked twice, 4 days straight with no sleep trying to keep it all together. God is good! We all made it out safely. Been working on my next book chronicling my Alaskan adventures as a sequel to “Outhouse adventures” short stories for sportsmen on the go.

Muskies!
Ya Gotta love the behemoths of fresh water fish. The fish of 10,000 casts is what What they say but Seriously whoever coined that phrase needs to go back to blue gills and night crawlers. Ive been blessed to have boated many of these toothy bad boys, My largest was 49” and I caught him on a light action pole, 6 lb test out of a canoe, in the rapids below a dam walleye fishing. Took a few pic's and slid him back in the drink to fight another day. Truth be told I love Muskie fishing and have boated many but none as large and pretty as this gal. I’m a firm believer in catch and release but some times the fish is hurt and will only die. If you find yourself in that predicament? I'd be to happy to help you out as I do both skin mounts and replicas. Good luck out there.
Oh and if your serious about Muskie action, here’s a tip. Wait till the rivers are down in July and August. Put on your old jeans and tennis shoes, wade the rivers and hit the holes where they are pooled up. I’ve pulled as many as 5 out of one hole in 35 minutes. All between 30-40” on a medium action bait caster. That much fun should be illegal, but I’m sure glad it’s not. Blessings.

When this buck came through my shop door this past March my jaw hit the floor. He had been number one on my hit list for the past two years! I had dozens of pictures of him as well as several encounters but I was never able to release an arrow. The successful huntress turned out to be a incredible 9 year old girl! She saw him first thing in the morning and would settle for nothing less. She passed up several other bucks that day before he finally showed back up late in that afternoon. Way to go Alexis! I couldn’t be happier or more proud of you!
I was later asked if I was upset “my buck” was gone? My reply was simply this “if you can’t be happy for others blessings, how can you be trusted with your own”.

It’s fishin season! Otters and blue Gil’s what can I say?

It’s turkey time! I Don’t know about you? But for me there’s nothing quite like the sight of a gobbler in full strut! It’s the last weekend of season here in WV and beautiful weather is forecast so don’t squander it doing chores! After all, you’ll have to wait 11 more long months before you get another opportunity.

Just finished up a couple of war birds from this season. It’s a unique way of displaying your trophy. There are over a dozen different famous Native American faces to choose from. Pictured are Pocahontas and Chief Red Cloud.

Took a break from mounting turkeys to finish up these varmints.

Went a little retro with this guy. 40 years ago the plaque and feet were all the craze. Nice muzzle loader buck headed home today. Monday I start on turkeys, hunt them in the mornings mount them in the afternoons! Good luck hunters!

Hey it’s fishing season! Go get em before the otters do! I Just finished up this display today, it’s heading to the Walmart sporting goods department tomorrow along with some other mounts.

Just noticed I hadn’t posted anything in awhile...oops. Here’s a couple of Wisconsin game farm birds from last winter. Only 25 weeks till elk season...just sayen.

Willard posted a picture of this (his) buck on his wall a few days ago on one of my posts. I figured I’d post his glamour shots.

64° yesterday on February 9th! Time to break out the grill and the Mathews. This euro is a Montana buck that made the mistake of letting me sneak within 15 yards. Nothing better than grilled bacon wrapped back straps as you savor the memories of a successful hunt. It’s not too late to bring in those dead heads.

This 5 1/2 year old buck was taken by an older hunter this past gun season. He excitedly told me it was his buck of a life time. This Beautiful animal is proof of what our area of WV can produce if we adopt the quality deer management practice of “let em go let em grow” philosophy. Think about it? If his antlers aren’t big enough to mount and your just going to throw them in a box in the garage, why not shoot a doe instead? They taste better and imagine what that buck will look like next year! Just sayen.

You never know what you might find when you flesh out an animal. I removed a .22 slug from this old guys cheek. The buck was 6 1/2 years old and the wound was all healed up. So glad he was harvested by a legit hunter.

What a privilege to bring this monster back to life! The anticipation, the preparation, the adrenaline rush, and the arrow hitting home will all be remembered fondly as the proud hunter stares at his prize through the long off seasons to come. Preserving memories is what it’s about.

Not sure what Santa was thinking when he was asked to deliver Blitzen on Christmas Eve? But the 15 year old girl who shot him last month was pretty excited nonetheless. Merry Christmas y’all and may the good Lord fill your freezers and adorn your walls with the incredible evidence of His creation!