Deadmount finally coming together!

M

Matt Masters

Active member
Let me start off by saying thanks to Shane Smith, a great taxidermist and great man to be around. My goal is to have mounted a pair (drake and hen) of all the North American species that you can differentiate the sexes apart. I'm slowly checking off the list and generating trophies each year. My goal during the 2010-2011 hunting season was to get a perfect pair of Mallards to get mounted, and those who hunted with me that year knew I was bound and determined to do so. It was probably my best year for Mallards harvesting probably 60+ all on public land in Alabama except for two. Well low and behold I wound up harvesting nine trophies that year, or at least in my book. This is going to be probably one of the largest deadmounts anyone has ever done. It will have 22 birds total upon completion, the 11 North American Puddle Ducks. I know there are others that could fall into this category but I decided to keep it to the most common puddle ducks; Mallards, Black Ducks, North American Pintails, Gadwalls, Wood Ducks, North American Shovelers, Mottle Ducks, Bluewing Teal, Greenwing Teal, Cinnamon Teal, and American Wigeon. I had an idea and after brainstorming with Shane we come up with a plan and the work started. There was a lot of planning, thought, and error go into this. I am overwhelmed how well everything came together. Shane did his part with the birds and glasswork and I did my part on building the display. I could ramble on and on about this but pictures are worth a thousand words. So here they are......

With the glass on
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With the glass front removed
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Closeups
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I am very pleased with how everything turned out. To be honest I did not have much faith in myself when building the display but now I can say I am proud of my work. At first I had no idea how I was going to have all the birds mounted (flying, standing, sitting, swimming, habitat scene etc.) but I decided on a deamount and everything will turn out perfect upon completion. Just 12 more birds and a couple of trips out of state and it will be complete.
 
Matt, I don't see a widgeon yet, if you want a shot at some good ones we shoot a ton of them out here in December and January that are awsome, just ask Shane about the ones he has mounted for friends who have hunted out here with me.

Fred
 
Matt, I don't see a widgeon yet, if you want a shot at some good ones we shoot a ton of them out here in December and January that are awsome, just ask Shane about the ones he has mounted for friends who have hunted out here with me.

Fred
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Yeah that's one that well be hard to get a real good one around here. I hope I can get lucky on some of the other trips but if not I guess I will have to head out that way. I've killed plenty but none around here that I am too proud of. I am hoping to add a pair of Blacks, the hen Wood Duck, and hen Greenwing next year.
 
I dont see Spoonies like that around here until March when they are headed north.
Very nice display.
 
I dont see Spoonies like that around here until March when they are headed north.
Very nice display.
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I about knocked out one of my friends swinging to shoot those before he ever had the chance to pull up his gun. As soon as I saw his feet hit the water he got pounded and got the hen as she was scrambling to get away.
 
Very Very Nice!! Where do you plan to display this?
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It's sitting in the corner of my trophy room. The display is a corner style display. To put it into perspective it is 80" tall 60" wide and 28" deep, the actual display section where the birds are is 48" tall. This things weighs 200lbs +.
 
Matt,

Great work on the display. I really like the uniquness of it, something I strive for in every one of my memories. Shane certainly is one of the best and that work shows it.
 
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