# 2012 Cougar Mount Finished



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Well, it took a bit with more hiccups on the way than I care for. But the end product seems to be quite well done. Granted, I've only seen pictures of it and heard from my dad who picked it up that it looks good since the taxidermist didn't complete it before my move, or by either of my trips to Utah this fall as he had promised. So I don't know when I will get to see it, as I haven't scheduled my next trip to Utah yet, but thought you guys might like to see some pics anyway.

Packout did the skinning, wet tan, and skull cleaning for me and I have nothing but praise for his work. The other taxidermist I had not used before, but I called and spoke to many of his prior clients (both ones he gave me and others I found through my lurkings), I met with him at the Western Hunting Expo in 2013, and again in 2014 to see in person his work before sending him my cat. However, communication issues, repeated delays, and a serious lack of professionalism would prevent me from recommending his services. I won't publicly post his name, but feel free to pm me if you feel like you should know. I will say that the taxidermist is NOT located in Utah.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Looks awesome. I like the mount. I hope it even looks better in real life. How long was he nose to tail?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

7'3" on Packout's studio floor the day after I killed him. His skull ended up surprising me a bit. An official measurer wouldn't round him up to the 15" even, but he's closer to 15 than he is to 14 7/8". Not to shabby for a harvest objective, "grab a tag in case you kill your bison early" bonus cat!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

That's a nice looking cat. 

I thought about getting cougar tag when I was on my coues deer hunt in Southern Arizona at the end of the year but didn't. The only predator that I saw was a two legged coyote running down a wash in the middle of the first day.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Cats are hard to get right. That one looks excellent. Nice job on an great trophy. Stinks that you had to wait so long to get him back.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

johnnycake said:


> 7'3" on Packout's studio floor the day after I killed him. His skull ended up surprising me a bit. An official measurer wouldn't round him up to the 15" even, but he's closer to 15 than he is to 14 7/8". Not to shabby for a harvest objective, "grab a tag in case you kill your bison early" bonus cat!


That is a good cat, mine was a 3 year old tom and went 6'10". The taxidermist took 3 years to get him back to me but when I would call him every few months I told him I didn't want a rush job but just don't forget me. It turned out really good too. In fact it is similar in the type of mount. Red sand stone.

My mistake was thinking that paying in advance would be incentive.:shock:

I love the full mount cats when they are done right.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Sometimes it helps to pay up front and then there are times that 1/2 now the rest on delivery is better. 

I was in my taxidermists shop one day and he said that he needed some more money. I could hear the gears clicking in his head as he thought about what mounts he could finish and get that money when the customer came into his shop. All this while I had a couple of mounts waiting for him to start after paying him in full 6 months before.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

It was the first time I've ever paid in full up front, and I wouldn't have some so... Except I had the money then and between school and family if I didn't use it for my cat it would have gone elsewhere and he'd still be in the freezer. Oh well, at least it is done, and done well, and back in "my" possession


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Very nice mount. Love the rocks he put it on. 

I had a guy do one for me back in the early 90's. He said he would put it on a sandstone rock. 
When I got the mount back the "rock" looked like the cat was sitting on a pumpkin. :shock:
The cat looked quite good, the rock looked like &$#@. 
I cut the cat off the rock and set the cat on the floor. Looked great that way. 8)

Yours looks great !!!


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

looks great! congratulations


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## LanceS4803 (Mar 5, 2014)

Beautiful cat.
Any idea what the final weight of the whole mount was? (Curious about how to install on a wall.)


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

My dad said probably 50lbs I think


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## LanceS4803 (Mar 5, 2014)

johnnycake said:


> My dad said probably 50lbs I think


Wow, not bad at all.


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