the rules are a little different now for donating animals but I can tell you i donated some to a group that brought blind children and let them touch and feel and it was quite an experience to see the joy on their faces. now the financial aspect is not that great the feeling is.

I have only been on one safari-took mtn zebra, oryx, hartebeast and kudu and had all of them done on pedestal mounts. I'm going back this year and am trying to decide whether to bring anything back> I probably will bring back another zebra because I want a rug. I plan to hunt eland, steenbok, duiker and springbuck. My taxidermy bill cost as much as my first trip. I may just take tons of photos and have a nice photo collage giclee made-this company does nice work http://www.perchhill.com/ With the cost savings, I could hunt more often, see more countries, meet more new friends and live a little more.

quote:

Originally posted by mufasa:
Count me in the"if it's not mounted, you shouldn't have shot it" camp. I have enjoyed so much re-living the hunt of the mounted trophies I have.I am quite aware that no one will give a hoot in hell about a particular trophy after I'm gone but to look up at a particular mount and remember that special day and the way we took the animal means so much to me. I don't think I would shoot an animal unless I did something to commerate the trophy and the animal's death.

I can relate to that. No more shoulder mounts for me, though, unless I get a really BIG buff in Masailand next year. Then, maybe. How many big black ugly bastards I can hang from my limited wall space has yet to be determined. European mounts and a nice 5x7 next to the mount for me for everything else.

I have held (and used) a hunting licence in some jurisdiction every year since 1958. Yet, in many ways, I still feel like a neophyte. Yes, I have learned much over the years, yet I have so much more to learn. I consider myself a meat hunter rather than a trophy hunter, and yet I still have every set of horns or antlers from every game animal I have shot, as well as a good representation of mounted bird game. I mostly go the European skull mount route, but that is strictly personal preference. The day the trophies no longer mean anything to me is the day I give up hunting.

Hunting is a process, and honouring the trophies is a part of that process for me. If I no longer want additional trophies of a given species, then I no longer hunt that species, and move to something else.

This is a pretty personal decision, and there is no right answer. I know there are more experienced and more proficient hunters than I who care not a whit about the trophies, and that's OK. I will never be one of those hunters, and that's OK to.

We're in the realm of personal belief systems here, and we need to lighten up!

Thank you for bringing this back up. Another factor to be considered these days is the out of wack price increases for importing ANYTHING. Yes, fuel is an issue and so is relative strength(or in this case weakness) of the US dollar. I am just taking shipment for two safaris. My last shipment came in about the time this thread was "closed" in 2005. The cost of bring my stuff in has almost doubled in this short time frame. Working on my next trip and thinking about just what I need other than some great photographs. Like Allan, one day some of us might have to move all this!

Yes, I'm sick and tired of taxidermy bills and high trophy import fees, but I highly value my mounts. When I first started hunting, I put my first deer antlers (a spike) and my first elk antlers (a 5-point) on plaques on my wall. My college roomates who I hunted with, thought I was crazy for bringing the antlers out of the woods, as most locals at that time only brought the meat out. Every time I looked at those antlers it brought back the good memories of those hunts.

After college my hunting skills (or opportunities) improved and my income increased so that every year or two if I shot a larger or different animal, I could afford to have it mounted. This continued until about 20 years ago when the size and quantity of my mounts exceeded the space availabe for them in my house. So I built a 30'x35' high ceiling trophy room addition on my house. At the time, I thought it was more room than I would ever need. And it was, even with a few trips to Canada and Alaska.

Then I went to Africa. Then I went to Africa again. Now I've been to Africa three times, and I'm in trouble. Africa has such a variety of animals and they are all so unique and beautiful, that with only a few exceptions, I have hunted different animals on each trip. My 1000 sq ft trophy room is almost full, my taxidermist is still working on the animals from my second trip to Africa, and I was just notified that the capes and horns from my third trip to Africa are ready to be shipped. I have a serious remodeling project planned for my living room this spring.

I love to hunt and I love to hunt Africa, but I don't have the resources or the desire to pay hundred or thousands of dollars in trophy fees just to have my picture taken with someone else's dinner. It's just my opinion, but I feel that if you're not going to have a trophy animal mounted, why shoot it. Shoot a smaller animal and leave the trophy for someone who will mount it and enjoy seeing it for the rest of their life.

I've changed my hunting here at home to basically meat hunting unless I find an exceptional buck or am lucky enough to draw another Bighorn Sheep or Goat tag. For example last year I shot a smaller buck with a limp and a doe instead of the largest buck in the herd of Pronghorn Antelope that I was hunting.

With the advent of digital cameras, I take hundreds of animal pictures, both alive and dead, but most the pictures reside in files or scrapbooks, with only a few favorites kept as screen savers or framed on the wall. In my opinion, no picture does as much for me as a well taxidermied (is that a word?) mount on my wall.

On the other hand, if you hunt abroad and don't bring your trophies home, you can hunt anything that you want that is legal in that country, and you don't have to worry about the CITES prohibitions and red tape that the US F&W has.

I'm running out of the limited space in my house to hang trophies. I have another safari planned this summer and the wife is already asking "Just where do you plan to put that buffalo?" We do hae palns to add on to the house though.

One plan I do have is to take duplicates of some animals for rugs; Mom would like one that I actually took instead of a skin I bought.

quote:

Following that logic, one could argue that the retention and preservation of the trophy is irrelevant.

That pretty well sums it up. It's my money and, last I checked, minus taxes, I get to spend it on what I want, not what someone else thinks is appropriate.

I have 6 shoulder mount plains game at the Taxidermist right now from a bow hunting trip to Namibia in August 06. I had my rugs tanned in Africa and my mount hides tanned in the US. It took almost an entire year just to get the rugs and hides into the US, with preparation, shipping, customs, etc, now plus the mounts,,, I really haven't put a pencil to it but this summer will probably be more rugs!!!!When the Namibian taxidermist gave the the cost it was in Namibian dollars which almost gave me a stroke before I figured that one out,, bottom line,,, worth every hard earned penny so far. I get to see the work at my local taxidermy shop and watch the progress and relive the experience.
On the flight home I was wondering to myself,,, where are all these new mounts going and how much is it going to cost,,, by the time I landed on US soil,,,,, didn't worry about that part,, I was wondering when and where was my next African hunt, August 14, 2008 Namibia!

Stopped shipping trophies back to the States nearly ten years ago when the collection at home reached somewhere around 50 heads and two lifesize mounts, my little cabin had more than a dozen, and a storage room had three big boxes of horns, antlers, and skulls.

I don't intend to stop going to Africa but I now am content to shoot only one or two animals -- or none. I'm retired so the cost of shipping and taxidermy and having no more room are factors, to be certain, but the real reason is I don't need to see heads or horns to remember a good trip. A photo is sufficient.

Incidentally, bringing only photos home isn't wasteful. I've never been in a camp in Africa where the meat was not utilized either for food or bait.

Bill Quimby

Does this mean that I have to clean out my barn, and my shop of heads, skulls, skins, then there is my house...

I would be perfectly happy to just keep my best Cape Buffalo, and my best Waterbuck and sell the rest...Anyone want to buy a truck load of heads, deer, elk, African antelope, Cape Buffalo etc. I have had some buyers but they all want to skin you alive..I have donated a lot of stuff to the schools for auctions etc...

It all wears on you after awhile...I think the pictures are your best memory...I think of all the hunts I took early on, and didn't bother to take a camera, all I wanted to do was hunt, wish I had that to do over...

Webster's "murder" : Unlawful premeditated killing of a human being.

...can't murder a critter.

quote:

but the real reason is I don't need to see heads or horns to remember a good trip. A photo is sufficient.

quote:

It all wears on you after awhile...I think the pictures are your best memory..

Written by two of our sages!

Jason

I used to be pretty obsessed with trophies and I still am to a certain degree BUT bringing things home does get expensive and from now on I´ll be going easy on new stuff.

If I shoot leopard or lion I´ll want the trophy, same goes for bear...but no more PG.

quote:

quote:
but the real reason is I don't need to see heads or horns to remember a good trip. A photo is sufficient.

quote:
It all wears on you after awhile...I think the pictures are your best memory..

Written by two of our sages!

This might be true for some folks and for some mounts but for a good taxidermy piece;

If a picture is worth a thousand words a god mount is worth more than a thousand pictures!

Your Friend Afield
Mike O

As an AR member, this one slipped by me somehow, but you might like to know it DID make it to the Taxidermy.Net. Some of your have become very VERY popular over there and you might have to look up to see whale crap.

Why did "taxidermists" get drug into this. Most of us live on a shoestring budget and can't afford to hunt out of state, much less out of country. Then you bring your attitude and your "I can't afford 4 safaris AND a taxidermy" into my shop looking for a "deal". That's about as insulting as it gets for us. I don't know of a single taxidermist in the business who ever garnished your wages to force you into our shops. If any of us have "retirement plans" they came from our "day jobs" and we don't get paid vacations, but you insist on us working at less than $10 an hour, 16 hours a day, 7 days a week just so you can get your mount back before YOUR NEXT SAFARI. Guess I'll just need to postpone my hernia surgery or my kids graduation so I can fit you in. (Does that insult YOU as much as what's been said here insults US???) You get a Cape done in my shop for about $2000 and you bitch. Yet what did you tell the travel agent when she told you a tourist class ticket from NY to Joburg would run you $2200. None of that includes the skycap tips and rental cars/parking fees/taxi service. If you come into my shop with the bullshit that I've heard here, I'd just as soon you stuck with European mounts. I'm already limited out on assholes with mounts in my shop. (Note: Those are STRICTLY my opinion. Most taxidermists need the deposits so they can order supplies and will just grin and bear your tirades.)

quote:

Originally posted by george roof:
As an AR member, this one slipped by me somehow, but you might like to know it DID make it to the Taxidermy.Net. Some of your have become very VERY popular over there and you might have to look up to see whale crap.

Why did "taxidermists" get drug into this. Most of us live on a shoestring budget and can't afford to hunt out of state, much less out of country. Then you bring your attitude and your "I can't afford 4 safaris AND a taxidermy" into my shop looking for a "deal". That's about as insulting as it gets for us. I don't know of a single taxidermist in the business who ever garnished your wages to force you into our shops. If any of us have "retirement plans" they came from our "day jobs" and we don't get paid vacations, but you insist on us working at less than $10 an hour, 16 hours a day, 7 days a week just so you can get your mount back before YOUR NEXT SAFARI. Guess I'll just need to postpone my hernia surgery or my kids graduation so I can fit you in. (Does that insult YOU as much as what's been said here insults US???) You get a Cape done in my shop for about $2000 and you bitch. Yet what did you tell the travel agent when she told you a tourist class ticket from NY to Joburg would run you $2200. None of that includes the skycap tips and rental cars/parking fees/taxi service. If you come into my shop with the bullshit that I've heard here, I'd just as soon you stuck with European mounts. I'm already limited out on assholes with mounts in my shop. (Note: Those are STRICTLY my opinion. Most taxidermists need the deposits so they can order supplies and will just grin and bear your tirades.)

That's an interesting way to introduce yourself to new members like myself that will be looking for a taxidermist in the near future.

"As an AR member, this one slipped by me somehow, but you might like to know it DID make it to the Taxidermy.Net. Some of your have become very VERY popular over there and you might have to look up to see whale crap. "

I could not find the thread on that site. Got better directions?

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
"As an AR member, this one slipped by me somehow, but you might like to know it DID make it to the Taxidermy.Net. Some of your have become very VERY popular over there and you might have to look up to see whale crap. "

I could not find the thread on that site. Got better directions?

Bill Quimby

Here is the Link . It's funny, because there are taxidermists that appear to have similar feelings about the need for mounts as expressed in this thread.

http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,72777.0.html

Or go to: http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/ Scroll down to the "Taxidermy Industry and read the post entitled "Interesting taxidermy talk" by Jim Marsico

dla69, again, I ask why the veiled threat like that. Years ago, taxidermists were much like India's caste system where we were expected to stay away from the mainstream of civilization. Work was done in barns "out back" and everyone thought you were as bad as an undertaker. No one expected to have to meet you in public. Most of us have escaped that generation but there are some like what I've read here who would like to think of us in that light. All we ask is for an honest wage for honest work. When you die, the undertaker simply siphons your insides out, fills you with polyfill, drains your veins and pumps you full of chemicals to slow you rotting. Then he dresses you up and puts makeup on your exposed skin. He charges from $6-8000 for simple work. A taxidermist does one helluva lot more than that and is expected to do it for less than minimum wage. I hope you find a good taxidermist when you need one, but the least you can do is to treat him like he's a human deserving of the same respect that you desire.

George, you seem awfully sensitive and VERY defensive for someone posting on the internet. No one is attacking you or your profession. If you think that's what this topic is about then you have gotten the wrong impression.

I went and read the other forum topic as well. Those guys are saying the same thing we are...some of us don't need to mount everything we shoot. No big deal either way.

quote:

Originally posted by george roof:

dla69, again, I ask why the veiled threat like that.

I have no idea what veiled threat you're talking about. I was merely letting you know that there are potential customers out there that are going to be very put-off reading your post. I'm one of them.

Unless I missed a turn somewhere along the way none of this thread was about the evils of taxidermy and how all practicing taxidermists need to be shot. In fact I could think of no group in the world more fond of taxidermists than big game trophy hunters. The real crux of this whole thread has been whether of not someone "needs/has" to bring back every trophy they take, not whether or not we need to eliminate taxidermists and their practice. I for one fully intend to use one for the select trophies I choose to bring back.

quote:

They managed to piss me off and I told them what they could do with their game.

Speaking of veiled threats George, what can we do with our game????

Perhaps I AM sensitive to the issue as it, unlike hunting, is not a hobby for shits and giggles with me. It's a job and a tough one without customers who demand to be pampered. "Who's sick and tired of taxidermy bills and trophy mounts?" et all certainly included "us" in the grand scheme. You can't imagine what we listen to on a daily basis. And then the post about looking for a taxidermist came right to the front when I objected to "taxidermists" being included in the fray. I'll be the first to tell you that our industry has no sanctioning and therefore, anyone who says they're a taxidermist can be one. Us old farts who've done this for all our lives live on our reputations and we've found long ago, they're only good for as long as you don't piss some loser off. Just as soon as he starts badmouthing you, then you're guilty to the hunting public regardless of the issue. So sensitive? Damned right I am. If you want to play you have to pay. I certainly have no qualms about a guy electing not to get his animal mounted, but then I'm talking whitetails that I intend on eating myself. My PERSONAL opinion is that if it wasn't worth mounting, then you should have settled for a far inferior quality animal for those who do. And YES, I know it's your money, but it's MY OPINION. So I'll just apologize for being "touchy" but if you had to live with what we hear every day, I'm sure you'd be a bit touchy as well.

It sounds like you need a vacation...hey, go to Africa! If you are that irritable about customers in general then you might be in the wrong business. Do you think that taxidermists are singled out to receive nasty comments or whatever? Welcome to the real world. You wouldn't want to trade places with me if that stuff bothers you so much.

Leave that stuff at the office where it belongs. There are more important things in life than getting hung up on things like that. Don't take it so seriously. You keep saying "we" but you're the ONLY taxidermist with an attitude problem here.

Go eat some ice cream...you'll feel better.

Well, I do think you are taking it a bit personally, but if the shoe was on the other foot I guess we might all see things differently. As to selecting non trophy game in lieu of leaving behind a trophy animal, you have something there, but remember we all have different means. I for one will wind up with nearly two years of saving and sacrificing to have a decent(not extravagent in any way)plains game safari in RSA, so while I hope to afford some taxidermy, I seriously doubt that I can or will be able to afford to do all of them, yet still desire the African experience.

yukon delta, did YOU read the title of this thread? Rhetorical question, sorry.

Jcarr, best of luck on your hunt of a lifetime. As a kid, I lived Africa vicariously through Ruark and Patterson and even O'Connor, but as I grew older, I truly fell in love with North American game and Africa has never called to me as it has others. If I got past the kudu, the Cape, and perhaps a zebra and warthog, I'd be done there. I'm mounted many of the species but they just don't "turn me on" the way a full curl big horn or a big monarch bull elk would. Just me I guess.

I guess I am tired of paying tuition bill for my kids in college but it "is the cost of getting an education". If you want a head to hang on the wall as trophy, then you must pay the price...

If you do not like it, do not do it.

Yes, I read the title...and everything that followed. You are reading too much into this and clearly taking it personally. I just think that's unnecessary. Have a good weekend and don't forget about the ice cream.

George is a helluva lot more vehement about it than almost any other responder I read on the linked forums. Seems to me if someone is pinching pennies themselves, which is what most of the taxidermists say they are doing, then they should easily understand why someone else is diverting resources from a TO THEM lesser value item (mounting dead animal heads or bodies) to a greater value item TO THEM of going hunting more often.

I'm not opposed to anyone having their game mounted, nor am I for them NOT mounting it. IT IS THEIR DECISION AND THEIR MONEY.

This quote from one of the posters got my ire up a bit tho......

quote:

I thought his response was shallow and vain and disrespectful, and I pray I never feel that way about an animal I hunt. I realize that's just my opinion, but when you're killing for the sake of a photo... I have trouble with that.

He is talking about an above post of shooting the better of two animals even if you know you're not going to mount it, I'd certainly like to know the difference between hunting and then killing an animal BECAUSE YOU HUNTED and having a photo or having it mounted. Do you think the animal cares? The only people who really give a damn are those who make money off your decision and that is understandable but IT IS YOUR MONEY AND YOUR DECISION and if they don't like it they can go piss up a rope as far as I'm concerned.

As an aside, I and my son are going to Namibia in July and I am certainly going to mount SOME of our trophies since this is his first African hunt, and I am certainly NOT going to mount all of them. MY MONEY, MY DECISION.

Gatogordo, you and everyone else seem to be missing the point here. The title is "sick and tired of taxidermy bills". Several posters here implied that taxidermists were gouging them for the work. MOST taxidermists are hunters. We became taxidermists because we couldn't afford to PAY taxidermy bills. So we do understand that you may not desire to have an animal mounted. None of us would ever begrudge that, but the IMPLICATIONS were that when you did, you were being taken advantage of by the taxidermists. In all honesty, at my age, I could really give a damn if I get another piece. I don't have brains enough to turn them down sometimes because my industry seems to use that as an indicator of a taxidermists success. But I know, dollar for dollar, dime for dime, your taxidermy bill is the best deal you get when you go on an African hunt. YES, I'm sensitive, perhaps overly, but from my perspective, the title of the thread could have been worded a bit more descriptively without the implications that it's the TAXIDERMY BILLS AND TROPHY MOUNTS that are overpriced.

George:

I read this thread pretty thoroughly and I'm not going to go back and re-read it for an argument's sake but I didn't get the impression that anyone was really complaining about the actual cost of taxidermists, just that paying those prices and associated charges (dipping, packing, shipping and finally the actual taxiderist charges) can effectively double the cost of a plains game hunt in Africa. So, whether you've got a houseful of mounted trophies or none, the decision can easily come down to, do I REALLY want those mounted animals or do I want to go back to Africa instead. Like I said, that's the individuals call.

This is a good read. I have a new client that hunts dall sheep in alaska every year. However, he doesn't get any mounts. I believe because his wife won't let him. He only does european mounts. I'm doing a euro for his january mexico coues deer right now. When this fall comes around and he kills his dall sheep again and I'm doing a euro and not a pedestal or lifesize, it's gonna make me sick However, it's his decision (or his wives) but he'll still be a good client. I can understand when people spend the big nut in Africa on 10-20 animals and then don't want 15,000 dollar taxidermy bill. I charge what I charge, and if that's too much for them, they should have thought about that before addind that sable to the list. If a picture is enough for you, then be happy with it, But don't bitch about high taxidermy bills. This is a business and I treat it as such. I gotta make a living too.

www.rjrtaxidermy.com

All of you must excuse George Roof the taxidermist. He has embarassed good taxidermist and decent people every place he goes.

George has a chip on his shoulder and he tries to argue with people for no honest reason other than to fight and make himself look important.

All of you have valid points to a degree. Just remember that professional taxidermists will not act like an ass like this George Roof clown.

One more point, Most taxidermist associated with "taxidermy.net" brag about how much they charge their customers. They show their ribbons but the work you get is less than what they do to get the ribbons!

It is true that many taxidermist over charge the hunter and the hunter SHOULD TRY TO REQUEST a better price.