Inherited Mounts ...Whats the consensus

[Sliverflipper]

I have my Dad's mounts hanging in my den with most of mine. My wife now calls it the zoo. I was with him on each hunt and wouldn't stand for my sister to cut them up for some stupid art idea she had. I do wonder what will happen after I die but I probably won't give a shit at that point!

 

[Nick87]

I have all the skull caps of my uncles (never mounted any of them). I display them I'll probably have some of my dad's some day and display them as well. It's not like I'm claiming I killed them it's more something between them and I.

 

[Jape]

All mounts that have come into my possession with no connection to my family have either been sold or donated. All those that come into my possession from family are considered heirlooms because they are important to me. What happens to them after I die will be of no consequence since I imagine I will be preoccupied with other things.

 

[SFC B]

I hope that my bear, the mounts I have now (all euros) and what I continue to accumulate will go to my kids and their families to come. I will try to make sure pics and stories go with so it can become part of family tradition.

 

[JTHOMP]

Not that I am anxiously waiting for my uncle to pass away, but I look forward to the day that some of my grandfather’s prized mounts will be in my home.

 

[fishing4sanity]

If you like it, hang it up. I only have my own taxidermy now, but if I ever came across a nice buffalo skull I'd hang it up somewhere.

 

[oldschool.06]

You guys are awesome thanks again for all the reply's !!!

 

[Tiredofthebickering]

Yeah I'm not really joking about the Viking funeral... if I have kids and they want to sell them or keep a couple more power to them, but the standing order in the will is going to be to go to a cool spot in the hills and burn everything.

Shoot, that's how I want MY funeral to be. . .

 

[runningmt]

My grandfather only had a couple of the many, many dozens of big game animals mounted that he shot over a 70 year hunting career, I am very proud to have them in my game room keeping my mounts company.

Hang whatever you like on your walls, f**k anyone’s negative opinions.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Do your giving while you're living so that you'll be knowing where it's going.

A few months ago I got a call from the daughter of one of my customers that recently died (I'm a taxidermist) and she was wanting to sell the mounts. I explained to her that in CA a lot of mounts can't be sold legally and also the waterfowl mounts are federal so they can't be sold anywhere.
I told her that unless she knows the laws for each animal she'd be better off just donating them or giving them away.
Found out that she pulled everything down and literally tossed them in a pile for the dump. A friend went over there and rescued some mounts. Many of them were broken up because they were TOSSED into a heap.
It saddened us both to see what was so precious to someone became junk to those who inherited it.

Unless I die unexpectedly, I plan to donate most of my mounts. Maybe in about 4-5 years from now. I'll keep mounting and just take pictures and give them away. Yeah, stupid I know, but I like mounting them but just don't have room for them.

That's the first I've heard of a regulation forbidding sale of waterfowl that are mounted. If not on the CITES list and taken legally, I don't see the problem.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

That's the first I've heard of a regulation forbidding sale of waterfowl that are mounted. If not on the CITES list and taken legally, I don't see the problem.

https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/policies-and-regulations/3-200-8FAQ.pdf

You can’t sell grizzly mounts in AK except for those taken in specific units, and those mounts must be specifically marked.

Every state has its own rules, CA is notoriously strict.

 

[OntarioHunter]

My daughter and I are in the taxidermy business now. It's kinda ironic because I've never personally been a fan of fur and glass eyes in the home. Everything I had was cap mounts. We now specialize in euro mounts because the other two taxidermists in the area don't want to bother with them or do terrible work. We are usually swamped. Wives are much more amenable to skulls or horns on the wall than obtrusive shoulder mounts. Euros and cap mounts are also easier to decorate with/around, especially in a small house like mine. I actually prefer the naked euro mounts, especially against a wall that's wood panelling. The only fur mounts presently in my place are my daughter's class projects. None were shot by me.

If one is concerned about the disposition of trophies after travelling to the hereafter, I very much recommend cap mounts or euros. Much easier for surviving family to move and decorate with. I have a couple of whopping elk racks that would probably go to the dump or Chinaman's pharmacy after I die if they'd been shoulder mounted. And for crying out loud, take the time to write down the story for each trophy. I recently dug out a broken set of my dad's whitetail antlers and put them back together on a nice plaque. It was Dad's finest trophy but thrown in his garage attic for last forty years. Seeing that big buck hanging in a garage at Hungry Horse USBR "Bureau Camp" one frosty night is perhaps my earliest memory. My older brother and I figure it was 1955 after I had just turned three. Wish I knew the rest of the story (Dad died twenty years ago). That animal obviously left a lasting impression on me.

 

[OntarioHunter]

https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/policies-and-regulations/3-200-8FAQ.pdf

You can’t sell grizzly mounts in AK except for those taken in specific units, and those mounts must be specifically marked.

Every state has its own rules, CA is notoriously strict.

Thanks for that tip. We don't do any birds. There's a new young guy here who does nothing but birds and is excellent so we steer clients to him.

Every year the Montana FW&P used to auction off all kinds of confiscated trophies. I seem to recall some grizzlies even going on the block. Anyone know if they're still doing it? Might be a great way to pick up something really nice for my daughter's business showroom.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

My daughter and I are in the taxidermy business now. It's kinda ironic because I've never personally been a fan of fur and glass eyes in the home. Everything I had was cap mounts. We now specialize in euro mounts because the other two taxidermists in the area don't want to bother with them or do terrible work. We are usually swamped. Wives are much more amenable to skulls or horns on the wall than obtrusive shoulder mounts. Euros and cap mounts are also easier to decorate with/around, especially in a small house like mine. I actually prefer the naked euro mounts, especially against a wall that's wood panelling. The only fur mounts presently in my place are my daughter's class projects. None were shot by me.

If one is concerned about the disposition of trophies after travelling to the hereafter, I very much recommend cap mounts or euros. Much easier for surviving family to move and decorate with. I have a couple of whopping elk racks that would probably go to the dump or Chinaman's pharmacy after I die if they'd been shoulder mounted. And for crying out loud, take the time to write down the story for each trophy. I recently dug out a broken set of my dad's whitetail antlers and put them back together on a nice plaque. It was Dad's finest trophy but thrown in his garage attic for last forty years. Seeing that big buck hanging in a garage at Hungry Horse USBR "Bureau Camp" one frosty night is perhaps my earliest memory. My older brother and I figure it was 1955 after I had just turned three. Wish I knew the rest of the story (Dad died twenty years ago). That animal obviously left a lasting impression on me.
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I like that you have pictures of the hunt and animals hung along side of the skulls. Good way to capture the adventure.

 

[geetar]

Unless I die unexpectedly at a young age mine will be divided up amongst my kids and grandkids. As I get older I’ll probably have a will written that includes this and my gun collection to have the same done with it.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I like that you have pictures of the hunt and animals hung along side of the skulls. Good way to capture the adventure.

Thanks. Here's a couple more of the business trophy room. The mini frames are from Michael's craft store. You can probably order them on line. I bought the Africa montage frame at a second hand store. They sell them at Walmart. It had some blurb about family in central panel. I covered it over with a label made with a graphics program and printed on sticky back Avery 8x11 paper. Dad's repaired whitetail rack is the one with no photo. The shoulder mounted whitetail is a rack salvaged from a 1974 roadkill the birds had got to. Good for my daughter to use for first attempt at a shoulder mount. A friend of mine gave her the antelope horns.

 

[44hunter45]

I very nearly sold my dad's African mounts to Cabela's but decided to keep them. Mrs45 likes them and has acquired some of her own from various places for home decor. (She does not hunt)

I learned that, at least before Bass Pro, Cabela's has a whole department of mount purchasers. Ask for the phone number at the customer service desk of any store and they will hook you up with an agent. They consider B&C score, provenance, condition, etc when giving you a price. The agent I talked to seemed well versed in the legalities.

 

[glass eye]

That's the first I've heard of a regulation forbidding sale of waterfowl that are mounted. If not on the CITES list and taken legally, I don't see the problem.

This ain't even a state issue, this is federal and applies to all states. You can't sell waterfowl that are native to North America unless they are captive reared and marked.

 

[2rocky]

All my mounts have the tag stapled to the back of them at least. Some might have a score written on them.

Need to come up with a better way to ID the Euro Skulls.

Do that for your family so they don't thing that the book Tule elk is a raghorn Rocky Mountain elk.

 

[OntarioHunter]

And if you don't take them, where do they go?

My grandpa had literally dozens of mounts (probably 60+) that we don't know what to do with. There are a few we'll keep in the family like his African lion, elephant tusks, elephant ear painted on by Hayden Lambson, leopard rug, and my great-grandfathers 235” muley, but we're struggling with what to do with the rest. Who really needs four warthogs they didn't shoot, or five caribou, etc....?

It's so sad, but a lot of them only had memories for the departed.

Maybe a university will want them for a museum or something?

I suggest contacting some taxidermy schools. They're often looking for good stuff that students can remount for their business showrooms.