Skull Display Update

I had so much fun making that bobcat display that I just had to try it again. This time I went with a rectangular display, burned the wood, and then stained it. Looks pretty good, and putting the shelf in for the skull wasn't as hard as I had expected. The pictures don't really do it justice, though - it's actually slid into the main piece, and it's very sturdy. The picture is of my dear ol' Dad with a giant gray fox (12 lbs, actually) and his trusty .22 rifle. Quick tidbit about my Dad and .22 rifles: he pretty much kills everything with a .22 to the head. Need to kill a quail at 80 yards? A .22 to the head will do it. Need to shoot a fox that's running into the call? No problem - .22 to the head. Got a wounded elk that needs put down? Wild dogs in your neighborhood? You guessed it - .22 to the cranium. Let's just say that he's ready for anything that a potential zombie invasion could throw at him. Rock on, Dad.




And here's another view of the bobcat display, this time hanging on the wall. I'm pretty sure that these displays will become a part of my skull cleaning services if I can generate the interest. I'd like to do some engraving on them, such as scientific names, date of the hunt, common name, etc. And I'd really like to tackle a display like this for something big, like a bear or a cougar. Even a javelina would do. Guess I have some hunting to do!

A New Way to Display

My collection of skulls arranged on top of a cabinet in my office looks pretty cool, but I decided that it could use a little spice. So I rubbed a few brain cells together and came up with this:



It looks awesome hanging on the wall, and it's a great way to display the skull along with a picture of the animal it came from. I also think it looks a lot better than The Copper Cat, which I made a couple of years ago. I had a lot of fun making this and so I'm off to the store to get more supplies! Keep your eye on my blog to see what I come up with next, though I imagine I'll probably stay with the wood theme. But you never know . . . .

A coyote is "blown" away

I realized today that it's been a month since I wrote anything here! I have been so busy with training lately that except for a few quick stands I haven't been out hunting much, and I'm sad to say that those few quick stands haven't produced anything. So I decided to drag an old story out, dust it off, and share it with you!

I have a friend who will probably want to remain anonymous after this story, so I'll make sure to give Casey a false name . . . oh dang, well I guess the cat's out of the bag now! On with the story . . . .

Casey and I headed out early one morning before dawn for a few hours of hunting not too far from my house. Our goal was to setup on the top of a hill and stay on stand for a half-hour or so in order to draw in any coyotes from the surrounding hills and deep washes. I sat above Casey, as I was doing the calling, and he sat in a really prime shooting position.

30 minutes came and 30 minutes went and I hadn't seen anything. I signalled to Casey that the stand was over, and once I received the "all clear" I stood up and looked over at him. He slowly raised himself up, stretched his arms wide and tall and then . . . . BRRRRRRPPPPPPP! He let loose with the biggest fart I may have ever heard. As he started to say "I've been holding that in for a long time" I caught movement to my right and turned my head just to see a coyote that had been on approach, and made it pretty close to us, do a full-speed 180 turn and make for the horizon. The realization that Casey's "gas attack" had scared this coyote away suddenly had me laughing me so hard that I never even raised my rifle! Through my tears, which had now come on full strength, I watched the coyote speed away down the hill and across a large opening. I walked over, slapped Casey on the back, and congratulated him on the most unique method of "blowing a coyote away" that I had ever seen.

Of course, he loves it when I tell this story. Here's to you, Casey!


This is what that coyote looked like through my tears of laughter. When he finally stopped and took a breath, I wonder what he was thinking about.