7 months and 3/4 mile to the other side.

[heyoldguy]

After almost 20 trips back to look for it, my son found the other side of a nice mule deer shed that he had found earlier in the year.

I was leading this trip in and got off on the wrong trail while heading for a spot we were going to look for sheds in. Catching up and saying, "Wrong trail, wrong trail." He spotted a deer shed on the side of the hill and thought he'd better check it out. Hah! Dad gets lost and leads him to the rack he'd been looking for for 7 months. It was 3/4 mile, as the crow flies, from the first side.

The sheds were nice enough to mount them on one of his steel skulls and for him to make a steel copy of them.

 

[Bluehair]

Cool. ?? So fill us in on how you make those. Sand castings? Based on how cool they look Im inclined to think its a complicated process?

Bluehair
Splitting my time time between the winter and summer range......
May you live long enough to cash in those preference points. Amen

 

[heyoldguy]

>Cool. ?? So fill us
>in on how you make
>those. Sand castings?
>Based on how cool they
>look Im inclined to think
>its a complicated process?
>
>Bluehair
>Splitting my time time between the
>winter and summer range......
>May you live long enough to
>cash in those preference points.
>Amen


No casting and quite complicated.

The skulls are cut, bent and hammer formed out of exhaust tubing either carbon steel or stainless steel, then welded and shaped some more. Copper skulls are made from Type-L hard-drawn copper pipe.

The antlers are hollow and made from thin strips of exhaust tubing formed into the shape of the antler, welded, ground & welded for the texture.

The antlers are removable and slip off and back on the skulls in seconds. Skulls are made for anyone to mount shed antlers on or they are made for a specific set of antlers. Below is an any mule deer antler set.

 

[hook1969]

WOW! That's an awesome set! I am also very impressed with your skill in making the skulls and replica antlers, very cool!

 

[Bluehair]

Thanks, that must take over 100 mh per set? And your son is quite skilled. How about the store? You guys sell them or just display them? Just curious - my wife would kill me if I brought something like that home (again).

Bluehair
Splitting my time time between the winter and summer range......
May you live long enough to cash in those preference points. Amen

 

[heyoldguy]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-23-19 AT 03:00PM (MST)[p]>Thanks, that must take over 100
>mh per set? And
>your son is quite skilled.
> How about the store?
> You guys sell them
>or just display them?
>Just curious - my
>wife would kill me if
>I brought something like that
>home (again).
>
>Bluehair
>Splitting my time time between the
>winter and summer range......
>May you live long enough to
>cash in those preference points.
>Amen

We are in the process of updating the way-out-of-date website to show the video on how to mount the antlers to the skulls and all the new designs. There is an advertisement in Taxidermists/Idaho here on MonsterMuleys that shows the current website.

Oh.....the store. The store is the local sporting goods store....'The Bent Rod'. Every 2-4 weeks my son swaps the display out for an attraction in the shop and an advertisement of his work.

 

[Founder]

What a great feeling that had to be for him to see that 2nd side. Big sheds!!

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
@mm_founder on Instagram
LIKE MonsterMuleys.com
on Facebook!

 

[Gator]

That some awesome work.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]

 

[Dawgs]

Great persistence. I am currently looking for the second side to a couple decent elk sets myself. Your story helps with the mindset. One should be a seriously heavy 375 set and the other might tape at 385 if the second isn't missing 10 inches like the first side is.
Good job and thanks for posting.

 

[heyoldguy]

I suppose the idea is to never give up.

One winter my son made a video of a bull that was missing 1/2 of one ear, had a big knot on his forehead, and was skinny as a rail with his hipbones and ribs showing. That spring he went looking for his body figuring he would have died. No body....but he did find the shed antlers, 10 lbs each.

The following year he never found any antlers for that bull and figured he had died after shedding.

The second year after the video he again found antlers from the bull, 11 lbs each.

There was a set between years he hadn't found from the bull! So he went looking for those.

Yep....he found them too, 7 lbs each. The bull was so physically spent the winter my son had taken the video, that next year he put all his energy into rebuilding his health/body and his antler growth suffered.

Never give up. Never know what you may find!