I heard that you have gotten more than 200 buffalo, and was wondering what you do with the skulls, I could see you taking home the first 10 but what about the others? Do you have a big collection at camp?

I took some of the trophies home, but most were left for the PH to do whatever he wanted with.

We hunted from many different camps, in both Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Savikataaq Jr:
I heard that you have gotten more than 200 buffalo, and was wondering what you do with the skulls, I could see you taking home the first 10 but what about the others? Do you have a big collection at camp?

This is a great question. A lot of guys on this site think that you shouldn't shoot it unless you plan to mount it. That is pure BS.

The real trophy is the memory you take from the hunt. That will stay with you as long as it matters.

A stuffed head, hopefully it will last your lifetime, but who will be burdened with it once you are gone?

JBrown
You make a good point. When you get right down to it, most could care less about your mounts. Thats why im having my buff done euro and spending the other $1,500 twoards a moose hunt.

quote:

Saeed, that is incredable.

Do you have a passion for any of the other Big 5??

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:

quote:

Saeed, that is incredable.

Do you have a passion for any of the other Big 5??

Buffalo is my favourite animal to hunt, then elephants.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Savikataaq Jr:
I heard that you have gotten more than 200 buffalo, and was wondering what you do with the skulls, I could see you taking home the first 10 but what about the others? Do you have a big collection at camp?

This is a great question. A lot of guys on this site think that you shouldn't shoot it unless you plan to mount it. That is pure BS.

The real trophy is the memory you take from the hunt. That will stay with you as long as it matters.

A stuffed head, hopefully it will last your lifetime, but who will be burdened with it once you are gone?

I've got a fair ammount of taxidermy here and I'm comfortable with the idea of it all ending up in the dump before or after I'm dead. My guns won't be treated like I'd prefer, all the photos I preserved won't continue to be, the bird dogs grave markers will be kicked over and that'll be that.

I'd rather that not be taken as pessimistic or dreary, but the truth is we as individuals prioritize things that others don't, regardless our admonitions or their promises to the contrary. In the case of my giraffe, shoulder mount, I think its neat, I'm glad I have one, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow the only burden the kids will feel is driving my ratty flatbed to the landfill and pitching the mounts into the bin.

"I've got a fair ammount of taxidermy here and I'm comfortable with the idea of it all ending up in the dump before or after I'm dead. My guns won't be treated like I'd prefer, all the photos I preserved won't continue to be, the bird dogs grave markers will be kicked over and that'll be that.

I'd rather that not be taken as pessimistic or dreary, but the truth is we as individuals prioritize things that others don't, regardless our admonitions or their promises to the contrary. In the case of my giraffe, shoulder mount, I think its neat, I'm glad I have one, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow the only burden the kids will feel is driving my ratty flatbed to the landfill and pitching the mounts into the bin. "[/QUOTE]

I agree-When we die they will likely write your name in a newspaper one time and soon after you will be forgotten. I have no concerns over the longterm future of my taxidermy and even less concern that my feelings will really matter at that point.

The only thing I bring home is pictures and memories of the hunt that I relive daily.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King: ...if I get hit by a bus tomorrow the only burden the kids will feel is driving my ratty flatbed to the landfill and pitching the mounts into the bin.

Nobody bins Ivory!

I only have a few things of my fathers, a few pieces of furniture that he refinished, a couple of .22's that we used to shoot, some tools, trinkets from the gas station he owned, and his favorite shovel. But they do have great sentimental value to me, which I have tried to convey to my children. It is what was important to him, or that which we shared together. It may only be a sampling of a person’s life, but I do think enough live on so that the memory of the person does not fade, at least for another generation or two.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King:
I've got a fair ammount of taxidermy here and I'm comfortable with the idea of it all ending up in the dump before or after I'm dead. My guns won't be treated like I'd prefer, all the photos I preserved won't continue to be, the bird dogs grave markers will be kicked over and that'll be that.

I'd rather that not be taken as pessimistic or dreary, but the truth is we as individuals prioritize things that others don't, regardless our admonitions or their promises to the contrary. In the case of my giraffe, shoulder mount, I think its neat, I'm glad I have one, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow the only burden the kids will feel is driving my ratty flatbed to the landfill and pitching the mounts into the bin.

Scott even a person like Saeed who could build a trophy room the size of Grand Central station to house all the animals he’s taken if he wanted to, he sees little need for that when it is really the memories that count. IMO a small amount of representative mounts is enough for me as simple reminders and act only as decoration of a man cave will suffice.

My wife has already been told that when I pass unless she or the kids want any of the mounts to not just throw them in the dump, but donate them to a small gun store owner if he wants them to place in his shop. Rifles shotguns and bows and re-loading equipment and tools are to be sold by my wife to turn them into cash. The trophies that matter to me personally are the hunts in my memory, and my sig line below explains it all about what is most important to me about my life in the hunting fields.

..............................................................................................

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King:
I get hit by a bus tomorrow the only burden the kids will feel is driving my ratty flatbed to the landfill and pitching the mounts into the bin.

My point was not to say that it would be a "huge" burden, but rather to point out that the mounts would become burden rather than a treasure. The truth is you kids might hold on to them out of respect for you, but then they would probably become a burden none-the-less.

I have nothing against taxidermy, but do think that it holds little value to anyone but the hunter.

If I had it to do all over again, I would do far less taxidermy. I have something like 200 mounted animals.

Saeed makes my 41 buff seem like nothing!

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
If I had it to do all over again, I would do far less taxidermy.

It's funny, but I have never heard anyone say that they wish that they had done more taxidermy.

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
My wife has already been told that when I pass unless she or the kids want any of the mounts to not just throw them in the dump, but donate them to a small gun store owner if he wants them to place in his shop. Rifles shotguns and bows and re-loading equipment and tools are to be sold by my wife to turn them into cash. The trophies that matter to me personally are the hunts in my memory, and my sig line below explains it all about what is most important to me about my life in the hunting fields.

An all time favorite line, "My wife has already been told,....."

All I meant to suggest was that I thought there was no right answer. Saeed apparently has taxiderm'ed some, photo'd others. Larry has 200 trophies, I know others have quite a few, some as has been said possess memories. I enjoy having some taxidermy and appreciate my shoulder mounted kudu and deer more than a simple photo of which I don't have near enough, but I have no illusion about who its for. The wife was as excited as I was about its arrivals over the different times but shes not indicated any desire to go collect her own.

I know of a man that spent 60 some years pursuing his passion for auto's. The incomplete list of the collection included Model T's and A's, 32 Fords, 56 Chevy's, antique drag trophies, Bonneville salt flat trophies and the cars that he built and drove to win the trophies. The car enthusiast died not long ago and in less than a year it was all gone. Trophies in the garbage bin, cars sold, inherited, removed from the premisis. The legacy or the bequeathed treasure melted like fog in Arizona. Its not that he was some terrible guy and his family was very much involved in his hobby but man the carcass wasn't cold before the kin was erasing his figurative fortune.

I'd see nothing wrong with Saeed taxiderming every single one of his hypothetical 200 buffalo. I'm certainly not suggesting he hasn't taken 200 and a higher number wouldn't suprise me but he hasn't offered and I won't ask. If he wants it, he outta have it. Why not. Conversely I see nothing wrong with a photo album and nothing more. Hunted game is generally utilized, things like prairie dogs being an exception, so leaving the skin and skull afield isn't wasteful.

When I was a little boy a classmate brought silver dollars to school that he sold for a paper dollar each. I think I have a 1920's and a 1900's. I heard from his sister later, that his grandfather had recently passed and he'd ended up with a collection, I don't remember if he came by the collection honestly or not.

These things we have, these possessions and trophie we collect, they're for us whether its a paper on the wall, a digital photo frame or an elephant tusk, (sorry to disagree Bill.). I've no doubt in many cases our progeny will honor our memory and what we bequeath them but not in all cases and certainly not in the case of their spouse or childrens step children.

At age 76 with a few health problems, I'm well aware of how briefly we are on this planet and am taking steps to make things easier for my heirs after I'm gone.

I've begun to sell my collection of more than 2,000 big game hunting books. At the rate I'm going I won't get it done, though. I had intended to start selling the guns I had collected over a lifetime, but thieves relieved me of that problem when they broke into our winter home and stole 35 rifles and shotguns in September, leaving me only the few better ones I had kept elsewhere. My 60 or so animal mounts will be the last to go.

My mounts and books won't be hauled to the landfill, though. My wife and son-in-law will have lists of companies that specialize in selling and finding homes for such things.

Bill Quimby

Guys, before you instruct your wife and kids to just discard your trophy collection, consider whether it has potential value. While a great many mounts may have minimal, if any value to anyone but the owner, others may have real value. Cabelas buys mounts for their stores, Lolli Brothers regularly auctions off taxidermy collections at substantial prices. There is a market for decorating restaurants, lodges, etc.

While there may be little demand for pronghorn mounts, ordinary whitetails, etc. you might be suprised at the market for Stone sheep, Brown bear, Kudu, zebra, leopards (but not across state lines) and the like.

Take a little time before you kick the bucket and educate yourself and your heirs about the possibilities for real financial benefit from your mounts. They will thank you for it.

Man, this thread turned morbid and depressing fast!

Reminds me of the ad in Safari magazine: "What to do with the trophies after the hunter has gone . . . ."

Ouch!

I am still at a point that there is zero chance that I would leave them behind. I want every last one of them at my house but I am still a youngster in most regards. Yes, I spend thousands on taxidermy and don't regret one penny of it. Just a personal preference. Do I have the room, no, but I just cram them into spaces.

I am not worried about what happens to them when my kids or wife have to deal with it. That is up to them I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
If I had it to do all over again, I would do far less taxidermy.

It's funny, but I have never heard anyone say that they wish that they had done more taxidermy.

I wish I had done my Brown Bear as a full body and not a rug.

Frostbit
The answer to your problem is simply "kill another one".
That's as good an excuse to go hunting as any to me.
Just tell Baitbabe that you NEED a full body mounted brown bear or else tell her I said you needed one. She'll go for it, trust me.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Man, this thread turned morbid and depressing fast!

Reminds me of the ad in Safari magazine: "What to do with the trophies after the hunter has gone . . . ."

Ouch!

Sorry, entirely my fault.

All I really meant was to submit a sort of parallel to what Bill Quimby posted, "Shit Happens," even to our hunting stuff. Bills guns were stolen, cars get dented, taxidermy is disposed of. Its just stuff.

Scott, true words. I can trace ancestors bearing my family name back to the first millennium. Yet all I own of theirs is the flag from my father's coffin. A similar fate awaits my meager possessions, I'm sure.

I just don't necessarily like to be reminded of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
If I had it to do all over again, I would do far less taxidermy.

It's funny, but I have never heard anyone say that they wish that they had done more taxidermy.

I wish I had done my Brown Bear as a full body and not a rug.

I thought several times that I should add a disclaimer about wishing that they had done more taxidermy to a particular "pinnacle" animal.

quote:

Originally posted by JBoutfishn:
The only thing I bring home is pictures and memories of the hunt that I relive daily.

Ah finally a post that I have tried to get some answers to before. Like JBF that is all I will desire from my African hunt too but how do the outfitters/PHs feel about this attitude? Does it diminish their effort to find you a trophy especially if just wanting a good representative animal or an old one that can be 'culled' before it dies of starvation, old age, or from a predator?

Of course I would like a great hunt, stalk and shot and not just the first animal that hoves into view on the first day.

Do PHs care too much if you are not the mad keen hunter with a tape measure and deep pockets after the biggest and best (not that I have anything against those that fall into this category)?

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:


The real trophy is the memory you take from the hunt. That will stay with you as long as it matters.

A stuffed head, hopefully it will last your lifetime, but who will be burdened with it once you are gone?

A few nice mounts do help tp keep ypur animals alive. I prefer to spend my money on hunts but I would like to get a few special animals mounted.