When it come to big game, this is one question I get over and over again and sadly, there is no one answer. In fact, there is no rule, no book, no quote, nothing to go by for what is right and what is wrong. I saw this because I have image which break all those knowable rules I’ve read with amazing sales. In fact, I have broken my own “rules” and took one image of a buck/doe Pronghorn, a vertical image with the two looking at each other just as a “do not do” image for teaching that I submitted and it was used as a cover! This brings me back to where we started, there is no one answer to the question, “Where do you crop of big game?”
What I can tell you is what I tell everyone else when asked this question. If the crop feels “uncomfortable” visually then it’s probably not good. Here are two examples of what I’m talking about both suffering from “wall mount syndrome.” Wall mount syndrome is what I call how taxidermists present big game. For example the top shot of a Bison, how many times have you seen this exact same “crop” hanging on the wall of your favorite western or BBQ restaurant? The bottom photo of the Pronghorn is a very common wall mount pose hanging on many a hunter’s wall. Neither come across with their magnificent wild stature and that’s really the only gauge I use myself or can provide you. There are rules like, “don’t cut off the hooves” and “don’t cut off antlers/horn” but I’ve done that with great success. So the only guide to give you is, if the critter still looks majestic and not like it came from a butcher shop, you’re golden!
And if you were wondering, I shot these images last week in South Dakota for this post. Shooting with the D4s, 80-400 & 800mm, I framed these up as quick as I could, clicked and then forced myself while editing to not delete them. They bug the crap out of me.