Kudu Mounting Options
June marks the opening of the kudu hunting season in South Africa. If you were planning to hunt a kudu this year, now is definitely the best time, because these beautiful animals are in the rut, their coats are full, their necks are thick, they’re in the prime of their year.
Quite often, we hear clients saying, “if I’d known then, what I know now, I might have skinned my kudu in a different way for a different mount”. We want to give you the information up front, so you can make a great decision on how to mount your trophy kudu. Whether it’s a pedestal mount, full mount, shoulder mount, wall pedestal, European mount, or any of the extra items that you can put together from your trophy kudu, we have everything available for you in one simple solution at Splitting Image Taxidermy.
Kudu Pedestal Mount
A pedestal mount is a wonderful piece that can fit into almost any environment. It is lower to the ground, which means it can fit into rooms with a lower ceiling. You can put them in a library, trophy room, office, living room – they fit in very well almost anywhere. There are simple ways to change the aspect of your kudu, for example changing the pedestal base, you can make it more modern, with a cleaner more streamlined base, or classical by using old timber, engraving something into the front of the pedestal, or even put a custom piece of art into the pedestal base. But, never take away from the majesty of the mount itself.
The beauty of a pedestal mount is that you can look at all the finer details – the detail around the eye, the nose, the lines of the neck, the beautiful mane that these kudus have. They are magnificent animals and can be appreciated really, really well at ground level in a pedestal mount.
Kudu Shoulder Mount
While a pedestal mount is a great way to highlight the detail on a kudu, other aspects of the kudu may be missed. When you hang them higher you can see the breadth of the neck, they look magnificent higher up as if they are surveying over the trophy room. The classic mount has always been hung up on a wall. When you decide which you prefer, tell your outfitter to skin the animal further back. This gives the artist the opportunity to wrap the skin behind the mount when choosing a pedestal, or alternatively if you choose a shoulder mount, it makes it easy for the taxidermist to tuck the skin and finish off the mount perfectly.
For anyone who has spoken to their fathers or grandfathers about their hunting expeditions and their experiences, they will have heard family stories about looking up at a beautiful, majestic kudu or buffalo hanging on the wall as they relive the entire adventure. The classic South African mount is a good old straight-forward shoulder mount. But remember, you have a multitude of choices in how you mount your kudu shoulder mount. Whether it’s a straight slightly alert mount or a semi-sneak turning to the right – both are beautiful ways of showing off the elegance of these great animals.
Consider the height of your ceiling, how high up you will hang your trophy – those are the questions that, once you’ve answered them, you will be able to decide how best to mount your classical kudu shoulder mount.
Kudu Wall Pedestal
In recent times, a new style of mount has come to the front and at Splitting Image Taxidermy, we have been doing a lot of them, they are great pieces called a wall pedestal. Some refer to them as an offset shoulder mount, but the principle is simple – the head faces into the room and the shoulder turns into the wall. The beauty of it is you can see the detail in the neck, the turn in the neck, as well as the shoulder. It does bring the trophy closer to the wall, so where space is an issue coming from the wall out, consider a wall pedestal. They present really well hung at about 7-10 ft where they look into the room. Mounting a trophy too high, you need to adapt the angle of the face and the neck to accommodate the angle from the floor looking up to the mount – it’s just a small bit of advice we give to our clients, and be sure to speak to our team about your specific needs.
In the same way that a pedestal mount is skinned further back, we do suggest skinning your kudu further back behind the shoulder for a wall pedestal, giving us more space and skin to manipulate into the mount.
A wall pedestal is a beautiful piece, it hangs well, it looks impressive and at the end of the day the whole idea is to bring your memories back to life when you look at that kudu hanging on the wall.
Kudu Shield Mount | European Mount
Nowadays, we get a lot of clients coming in who may be shooting their second or even their third kudu. They might come with their children or a friend for a kudu hunt. You don’t always have to do the shoulder mount or a pedestal mount, or a full mount which is an incredible piece to have in your home but you have to have a big home to have a full mount. Consider your child’s first animal, or even your first animal. A great way of preserving the memory and keeping it cost-effective as well as saving space, is a kudu shield mount, also known as a European mount. Stemming from the fact that it was a European tradition to keep the skull of your quarry after a hunt and present it on a beautiful shield, be it ornate or a simple wooden shield.
When choosing a mount, it’s about your experience and about respecting the animal that you have hunted and harvested. Great taxidermy will always conjure up those wonderful sensations that you felt while going after that incredible animal. Be in touch with our team to discuss your mounting options before your hunt, we are here to advise and assist you.
