Okay, it is hard to be from Wyoming and not love a jackalope (a Wyoming creation!). Maybe even a jackalope playing poker. I am not a big fan of the lamps, etc. made of feet. However, I have seen some beautiful things made of antlers and magnificent mounts made of many animals. I wear antler, walrus ivory, and elk ivory jewelry that are miniature works of art. So I guess that beauty is really in the eye of the beholer/buyer, and deciding if the animal is treated respectully is up the beholder/buyer. It doesen't make it any easier on us hunters though!

Yikes, this is a tough one for me. I do like a fair amount of modern art. (There always has been, and always will be bad art. It's not just limited to modern pieces.)

I assume these animals were killed specifically to be used in the artwork (which for me, is a personal no-no. I won't kill anything I'm not going to eat.) They certainly aren't being displayed in a respectful manner either, although I don't know if its really any worse than the hundreds of dust-coated animals I've seen stuffed and molding-away in garages and rec-rooms.

I'm gonna take a pass on this one...

I suspect that this is not going to reflect well on the hunting community no matter what rationalization is given. I read no where in the linked article that the people doing this actually hunt or understand anything about hunting or the philosophy or values behind it. Beyond that, while I love the jackalope and the armadillo with the beer bottle at Texas Road house, mounting animals in the way these artists are doing just doesn’t seem right to me.

I like jack-a-lopes, but my favorite is the Alabama Swamp Monkey. Has anyone seen one of them?! Do these artsy people know you have to have a valid hunting license to pick up road-kill?

That's certainly different. I'm big on "To Each Their Own", but like mentioned, did they kill these just for their "art" or what?
I like making things from the animals that I've taken. I make Spur Necklaces from Turkey Spurs, I have a pair of turkey feet in the walking position and I have a whole collection of turkey feathers that I use for various things. Deer antlers sit on my tables and some hang from my walls/shelves as places for my to hang items from the tines.
All of that is not what I call art, its more of recycling and reliving my hunts.

More on unusual taxidermy, I got an e-mail forward of a Coyote hanging onto the back of a trucks tailgate. Certainly an attention grabber, but I don't think I'd go as far as to do that.

As the old saying goes "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I've been reminded of tis over and over when attending different functions where some aspiring artist tries to create something miraculous, wonderful in their eye, but to the politically correct crowd it's not good. But they are protected under the constitution, just as we are, and whether we agree or disagree on what the artist has put up, they have every right to do so. With that being said, I feel that some of these creations are blashphemy, disrespecting the animals remains. But PETA won't go after them, because they are artists. But PETA will go after us hunters and fishermen because we aren't artists, we use the remains of our kill to feed and clothe our selves, and do so conservatively, where these artists get out of hand and buy up mass kills to make up handbags, ash trays, endtables, etc.

I also am from Wyoming and agree that Jacee pretty well summed up this blog. The only thing wrong with antler art, chandeliers, lamps, etc. is the astronomical price attached to most of them. Now you can get a guy in Billings to make up a set of mule deer antlers almost any size and shape you desire. Your taxidermist simply attaches them to your little 4 x 4 mulie and immediately your friends see that you are a great hunter/huntress. Sort of takes something out of it doesn't it?