All about the deer hide
Our Western Bungalow | Dining Room | 2023
Ever since I met Collin, his family had a tradition of hunting in North Texas every December. I remember one of the first times I went over to his apartment in San Clemente and I saw his 12 point buck on the wall, which (rightfully so) he was very proud to show me. Well fast forward 2 years later when we moved in together, that 12 point buck became the focal point of our dining room and ended up being the piece we designed our entire dining room around.
In December 2021, Collin came home from his hunt with an 8 point buck. We had already discussed the fact that we had NO more wall space for another mount so Collin brought home the antlers, sent the hide off to a taxidermist and had the venison shipped to our home.
Albany, Texas | December 2021
Since we had the antlers right away, we styled them on the dining table and utilized them as a center piece. The venison arrived a month or 2 later and Collin enjoyed cooking up his specialty: Ciervo (venison) tacos. This was the very first time I had ever tried venison and although I was hesitant, it was actually really good and very lean meat.
Ciervo (venison) tacos
Fast forward to December 2022 and Collin was out in Texas for their annual hunt. We had yet to receive the hide from his hunt in 2021 as it continued to get delayed and further delayed. When I picked up Collin from the airport, I immediately saw something fluffy sticking out of his backpack: “IS THAT THE DEER HIDE”? I yelled with excitement and Collin’s response was “UH how did you notice that? I wanted to surprise you when we got home!”
Let’s just say it’s hard to surprise someone who is VERY attentive to details like me, I could have spotted it from a mile away! Either way, I was so excited to finally see the hide which was absolutely beautiful and extremely soft. We went back and forth on where to place the hide and finally decided that the perfect place to showcase it was on the dining bench. In early December, we received the sideboard for our dining room and now have the antlers styled on the sideboard.
We love having pieces in our home that tell a story. Every time I look at the 12 point mount, the antlers and the hide, I think about our trips out to Texas. Now I’ve never been on a hunting trip and will leave that to the boys but I love to reflect back on our days spent out on the ranch, enjoying the outdoors and all of the animals around us.
Stay tuned for another mount and hide to arrive next year from his 2022 hunt!
