As I sit here bored, I have a question: how do y'all determine if you are going to shoulder mount a deer or not? Now, this question really only applies to folks that have several (4-5+) mounted, because when you are new to hunting or don't have much mounted, then the question is easy. You mount the biggest deer you have ever killed. But when you have killed a few and maybe been blessed enough to kill a really nice one (let's say 150"+) it is much harder to just say "I'll mount it if it is bigger than the one I have mounted". Anyway, how y'all do it?

Like a certain inch mark?

Sentimental deer only?

A wife that don't give a flying fornification and lets you mount everything?

If I am the person doing the killing, I am not going to mount anything under a 120 class deer. I will do a euro mount on anything smaller.

I had my son's first buck kill mounted. It is about a 95-100 inch 8 point. His second the same size got him a euro mount.

I have a nice 9pt on the wall. Until a few years ago it was my biggest. I have shot better, but none just screamed "mount me!" With that being said the next one I get mounted will have to be a nasty, wild, looking non typical, or will have to be big enough that when you walk in the house you say "damn that's a big freakin deer!" Currently though I am collecting several decent bucks that I have had euro mounts on that I want to put on a barn board or something unique.

125

currently, 130" for bow, and 140 for gun kills. I have a couple of older mounts that are smaller. The rest get skull mounted. If I'm not skull or shoulder mounting it then I'm not shooting it either. I have 25 shoulder mounted whitetail heads in my trophy room, I may have to up the minimum a lil...

With a gun main frame 9pt or less bout 140", mainframe 10 or more bout 150". With a bow my next full mount I hope is a net P&Y. But it all depends on the deer and my history with him, the hunt,age, something special bout him. Something like a heavy 130" 4x4 with a serious drop tine would get the works. Heck, good taxi work is pricey.

I agree, I don't shoot bucks I wouldn't mount either a euro mount or a shoulder mount.

I don't shoot unless it gets mounted or it is bigger than what I already have on the wall. So that would be 130" with a bow. Other than that I'll let them walk and grow. Have enough antlers from my younger years to make a couple chandeliers.

120" I shot one last Saturday that would have went 119" but he broke the end of
His main beam off sometime during the week.ended up with 114"

Let's see a picture of that trophy room!

Yea we def. should see a picture of that room, that's a lot of big bucks!

Really depends on the deer. I could sit here and spout scores as a minimum, but there are exceptions to every rule. I mounted a deer this year with a 21 1/4" inside spread that I had some history with. He won't score jack, but I mounted him anyway because he's the widest I've killed, he was mature, and he's just really unique. Throwing sentiment out of the equation I would say net P&Y with bow, 140" with gun. I have to either up my standards or just quit mounting them. Wall space is getting too hard to come by now.

Great question... I am not generally going to pull the trigger on a buck unless it's bigger than what I already have mounted or at least as big. With that said; I am much more likely to get a mount based on sentimental reasons. The smallest mount I have is a 6 pt and it was not the first one either. It did turn out to be one of the last times I was able to hunt with my grandad though. I am much more into the memory of the hunt than I am the size of the deer. I love killing big deer and it is how I hunt, but its still about enjoying the outdoors with friends and family for me at the end of the day. In most cases it's still going to take something bigger than what I have to go on the wall, but I would easily make an exception for the right situation.

For me its just according to the deer some of the biggest deer dont necessary score alot

I've only ever seen 3 or 4 bucks greater than 120" in my 17 year hunting career, so a "mounter" isn't justified by it's score to me...Every buck I kill either gets a shoulder mount or a horn plaque like these:



Of course, I have a handful of spikes and dinky bucks that I killed when I was a teenager or a hungry college student

My biggest buck (score wise) is a 120" 8 point and I've got him mounted, along with 3 other "special" deer to me...It all boils down to personal preference to me - history with the buck, bow vs. gun kill, etc.

I have several shoulder mounts that are between 130-145, all with a gun. Since my last big gun kill, 10 years ago, I have been mostly bow hunting. I am still waiting for a 125 or higher with a bow for another shoulder mount. I have 6-7 skull mounts that just did not make the cut.

For me its just according to the deer some of the biggest deer dont necessary score alot

It will have to be over 130" for my next mount I've got 4 on the wall that are 115-127 gross. The last I mounted was smaller than the two before it but it was the first buck I killed on my property and I found both sheds the previous year it's my avatar. I have several Europeans and a bunch just sitting in the shed.

If I shoot a buck it gets mounted. I have not seen a buck worth mounting in several years.
I might kill 1 buck every 5 years or so.

I would mount any decent first buck killed by one of my children, which I did; I mounted my first racked buck, a basket racked 7, special b/c I found him, hunted him, and killed him by myself. Since then I have only shoulder mounted 1, my best buck, a 150 + 8 pt I killed 2 years ago. I do Euros on any good or special bucks I now kill. The only reason I would get another shoulder mount would be a larger buck, a nice drop tined, or a really weird rack.