FOR THE LOVE OF THE MAN… DECORATING DESIGN HELP WHEN YOU’RE MARRIED TO A HUNTER!

by Arizona Custom Home Builder on January 5, 2010

Decorating Design with Dead Animals… Are You Kidding Me?

Not many women plan to decorate their homes with mounted hunting trophies, some just won’t. Many mounted hunting trophies have ended up at our local archery shop because wives will take no part in decorating design around a dead animal. If they do, they relinquish a place in the garage, basement or husband’s den for such items. For those women that will, we offer decorating design help.

First of all, why would any woman, that isn’t an active hunter herself, want a mounted hunting trophy in her home? The best answer that I have is because that it might please your husband, and at what real expense other than to allow something that he is proud of to be displayed in the home that belongs to both of you.

A mounted animal head is actually a trophy; an earned trophy. Sometimes earned while hunting in freezing rain, sleeping in a cold tent or camper, hiking to the tree stand before dawn and back to camp at lunch while most animals bed down, just to go back out again near dusk and back to camp long after dark. In my family’s case, each trophy is an archery trophy, where scent, site and sound must be minimized to make a shot at less than 40 yards. One of my husband’s most prized trophies, shot while hunting with a few broken ribs after falling fifteen feet from one rocky cliff edge to another, was a Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep. Even with a few broken ribs, he couldn’t come home and wait for a better day or for his ribs to heal, as this was a once in a lifetime hunt. Meaning that an Arizona resident can only be drawn once for this hunt, so successful or not, there is only one hunting opportunity once drawn.

According to statistics, less than 5% of the American population participates in the sport of hunting and even less in archery hunting. Yet to many, hunting is a long-standing family tradition in many American homes. In our house growing up in the Midwest it meant every Thanksgiving morning, any man capable of handling a gun would venture out for squirrel or rabbit while the women stayed home and prepared the great feast. Most young boys in our family really did want that Red Ryder for Christmas. I’m not saying this is right or wrong: that is just how it was growing up in my family. The first day of pheasant season was clearly marked on the calendar each year, and if you didn’t know it by the calendar you would know it by the massive number of hunters wearing their hunting camouflage, bright orange vests and caps, walking the barren harvested cornfields, often covered in snow.

Back to the original point, if you don’t think you would mind having a few hunting trophies in your home, as an Arizona custom home builder we have some decorating design help.

Rather than locate each mounted hunting trophy in one room, place them throughout the home. We have constructed Arizona luxury homes where there is a room dedicated for the trophies, however, that is pure luxury and doesn’t happen nearly as often as building a custom home where hunting trophies are placed throughout the home.
Avoid putting large mounts in small rooms; this can definitely overpower a room.
Use the ceiling pitch in a room for hanging a wall mounted trophy.
Display trophies in different styles. Rather than have trophies finished as a wall-mount, have the animal mounted on a pedestal that can fit more discreetly in a corner, or a bear rug.
Have a nature-based home decorating theme in your home. If your home is full of sea shells, bright blues and lots of white wicker, the mount of a North American Elk will likely look out of place above the fireplace and more appropriate for a mounted Marlin.

Fishing themes can be handled the same way if you’re married to an avid fisherman. Despite being just a sport or a hobby, any trophy earned for fishing or hunting is probably something that your family members are proud of, and wouldn’t they even be more proud if those trophies could be displayed in their home? How is this any different that a family composed of avid golfers, the same goes for golf? Wouldn’t your husband, daughter or son be proud if you displayed a trophy earned in an amateur tournament? Decorating design with mounted hunting trophies can be a beautiful addition to many homes and make your family feel good about their love for the sport. These trophies are actually valuable and there are people that would love to decorate with these trophies but they need to purchase the mounts. Antler chandeliers, antler candlesticks, imitation antler flatware are popular for a reason. I once found a black bear rug in an upscale shop in Atlanta and I was shocked to see how much it cost.

Contributed By Darolyn Wall