What’s the plan for your taxidermy after you die?

[4090Sharps]

I inherited a pile of taxidermy and have taken great pleasure in letting my kids play with all of the tanned animal skins that were hanging on the walls of my dad and grandfather’s homes or housed in some trunk—neither category to be played with. It seemed a terrible waste to me as a kid and still does.

I have no interest in hands-off mounts. Life is too transitory for that, in my opinion. My family can do what they want with the skulls and antlers, sell them for dog chews for all I care. Hopefully the furs are well worn out by the time I go.

 

[TaperPin]

The estate sale and a giant dumpster will take care of anything the kids don’t want. *chuckle*

 

[thinhorn_AK]

My family has a couple of mounts from Sagamore Hill - Theodore Roosevelt’s house.

I’m not saying you’re lying, but I’ve had half a dozen or so people claim the same thing. Maybe he had so many mounts that there are that many floating around. Sort of like those Picasso drawings that are on napkins that can be had for a few hundred bucks.

 

[S.Clancy]

This is why I have sold all of my elk antlers but the last 6 or so, and I really should just sell them too. Too big to really put anywhere and no one else would want them

 

[mainbeam pursuit2]

My son wants all of mine.

 

[CMF]

Family can do whatever they want with them, I won't care.
I don't do many actual mounts, mostly skull mounts. I only have one whitetail shoulder mount and its at deer camp. The kids are on the way to having more mounts than me, barbary and oryx when we get it back.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I also read the title as “What’s your plan for getting stuffed upon your deceasement?”

My will clearly states this: I am to be left in the deep freeze for a week. Then sharpen my head with an axe ( it’s pretty much solid bone). Take me out to the tundra, stand me on my head, and have a pile driver whack my feet til I disappear. Then tequila shots for all participants.

 

[Mr. October]

I'm not sure I care.

 

[Yoder]

Nobody wants or cares about your taxidermy. It will be a burden to your children and family. Get rid of it all before you die unless someone specifically wants one of your trophies. I want one of my dad's deer heads. We were hunting together when he killed it, and it was a great memory. The rest of them will just make me feel bad selling or giving them to my dogs to chew.

 

[*zap*]

What taxidermy?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I’m not saying you’re lying, but I’ve had half a dozen or so people claim the same thing. Maybe he had so many mounts that there are that many floating around. Sort of like those Picasso drawings that are on napkins that can be had for a few hundred bucks.

There were an absolute ton of them. Sagamore Hill is still stuffed with them. They only kept the more spectacular ones at the house. There was a huge sale back in the early 1950s of TR and his son’s “overflow” trophies. My grandfather bought a seladang or gaur for the princely sum of $8. It dominates my older brother’s sitting room. There’s some other smaller SE Asian bovine with swept back horns my mother got for $2.

 

[rookieforever33]

Ultimately this question goes wzy beyond taxidermy, and its the same answer for everything you own.

 

[taxidermybycam]

Taxidermy is virtually worthless. Even if you try and sell a mount you won a world championship title with.
When you pay for taxidermy ,your paying for the supplies,overhead and labor of the mount. It is what it is.
To me taxidermy is a beautiful piece of art that represents the animal in a natural eye appealing state.it captures a moment in time and does the animal justice for the life it lived and it's death.

Yeah you can be a cheap nihilist ( a real poo poo the world person ) and say "it's just going into the garbage anyways " but if I spent the money and time to hunt something . You can bet I'm gonna do my best to preserve that moment forever. You cant take your money to the grave . Spend it . I've never had a customer tell me I wish I didnt get that deer mounted 5 or so years ago. But I have heard countless times "I should have gotten that deer mounted ".

Look at jewelry, such as a super bowl ring. When you melt it down it's just gold and silver and diamonds. They might be worth something. But you won't see Tom Brady melting it down or selling it. It's an achievement you worked towards and a great "trophy".
It's great decor. You work hard for your money and buy a nice house. You wanna dress it up and put taxidermy in it and plant flowers outside and etc etc.

When I die I hope the children keep the pieces they like and whatever they don't want. Donate to the DCNR (pa park service ) and let the general public see good quality taxidermy up close. See what animal should look like and animals they might not ever get the chance to see in the wild. There is so much taxidermy out there for nothing schools and libraries should have it for education. It's an inspiration to people that didn't grow up in the lifestyle. Just look at the reasons alot of people hunt. They went to a friend's or families house and seen a deer head or duck on the wall and thought it was really cool and wanted to get into it .

 

[Billy Goat]

I plan for a viking type funeral.



Big pyre, throw all those antlers in the mix too.

 

[Pescetism]

Hopefully, I've got at least another 40 years so not making plans now. If I was to die "young" I can't see my wife getting rid of them. She'd keep them or give them to our kid(s).

The small amount of taxidermy I have was taken on family property so I'd prefer they're put up there rather than sold or thrown away. But I'll be dead and have no idea what happens.

 

[dtrkyman]

I stopped getting things mounted, it’s a start anyway.

I would sell all of it now but it is currently 1000 miles away!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LostArra]

It's probably sacrilegious to mention but I've thought the same thing about guns I inherited and rarely if ever shot. I have four adult daughters, two of which hunt. They've taken what they want so I sold all the rest and gave them the money. I didn't want them to deal with valuations, sales or even safe storage of the guns. I asked and they didn't want to deal with it. I was fortunate to find three different collectors who bought the whole lot.

I'm only euro mounts and they seem to be easier to give away since you can hang it outside. My brother is in the wholesale food business and has provided some mounts to bars and restaurants.

It's actually illegal to sell taxidermy of native species in Oklahoma with a few exceptions (licensed taxidermists who have mounts that aren't claimed/paid for and estate sales with written approval by wildlife dept).

 

[thinhorn_AK]

It's probably sacrilegious to mention but I've thought the same thing about guns I inherited and rarely if ever shot. I have four adult daughters, two of which hunt. They've taken what they want so I sold all the rest and gave them the money. I didn't want them to deal with valuations, sales or even safe storage of the guns. I asked and they didn't want to deal with it. I was fortunate to find three different collectors who bought the whole lot.

I'm only euro mounts and they seem to be easier to give away since you can hang it outside. My brother is in the wholesale food business and has provided some mounts to bars and restaurants.

It's actually illegal to sell taxidermy of native species in Oklahoma with a few exceptions (licensed taxidermists who have mounts that aren't claimed/paid for and estate sales with written approval by wildlife dept).

My dad recently had this discussion with me about guns. It made me really think because my dad has multiple large safes full of guns, like ~ 100+ rifles. Some of them I’d love to have, others don’t really have any value to me. Of course there would be sentimental value but in reality, when the time comes, I’ll be down south trying to figure out what to do with all of them and how to get a bunch of them up to AK and what to do with the ones I don’t want. It’s going to be quite an operation.

 

[roadrunner]

Don't care. I'm dead.

 

[LostArra]

My dad recently had this discussion with me about guns. It made me really think because my dad has multiple large safes full of guns, like ~ 100+ rifles. Some of them I’d love to have, others don’t really have any value to me. Of course there would be sentimental value but in reality, when the time comes, I’ll be down south trying to figure out what to do with all of them and how to get a bunch of them up to AK and what to do with the ones I don’t want. It’s going to be quite an operation.

It's definitely not like selling dad's house or old pickup.