There is nothing wrong with the first deer and will always have a great memory! My first buck I mounted and is only a 5 pointer. He is still a memory and in my head like the day I shot him back in 1999!
Heres my 2010 buck. I opted to do the euro mount due to him missing some points. I took a piece of old barn siding for the base.
Here's mine: I'm kind of disappointed in the quality of the mount, but its good enough for me I guess. This year I will be going to my original taxidermist if I get a big enough buck
Look closely at the pic of my mount and you can see a faint line right below the throat patch that runs horizontally across his neck. Someone had grazed him shortly before I killed him and just cut the hair. Sure am glad they didnt hit a little higher. Not a giant for all you midwest guys, but for an Alabama guy, i was pumped.
vectrix, if it is anything like the bucks I hunted in the past in South Carolina that is a monster you got right there! Plus, you got him on public land which make that guy even more special. Be proud!
I forgot about this picture, I'm on the left, and my buddy that came to the G2G is in the middle. Left to right they score 150, 149, and 135.
I'm still waiting on mine to be done. But seeing as how its in Illinois and I'm in SC, I won't get it back until I go back up there in November.
The grow some crazy big deer over there in Sparta. It's beautiful country. Didn't get a chance to see ya at the Rhinehart, hopefully the opportunity comes up again.