Time has come to find a new home for my collection of average ( 110-130 class) whitetails.Shoulder and European. Your ideas, thoughts and experiences are appreciated..Thank you.

Tag

A friend dealt with this a few years ago with passing of his dad. 96 whitetail shoulder mounts, 4 mule deer, 2 full body bear and an elk. Ended up giving a few away then put rest on a sportsman’s auction here in Iowa. Was sad as most mounts brought between $75-250. One of the full body bears was cinnamon phase and brought 580. Some ppl will buy for a cabin but average sized deer that people didn’t shoot themselves can be a hard sell.

Made me think of how I would handle trophy’s going forward. May be worth reaching out if you have any interior designers in your area that specialize in rustic cabins or homes.

That's why I sell all my would be mounts to knife makers. Have pictures of kills that's good enough for me.

GLWS

Honestly, that's a lot better than the auctions I've been to around here. I've been to several gun auctions where they had taxidermy for sale. While the guns go for crazy amounts, the deer heads are usually in the $5-20 range if they even get any bids at all.

This is the auction company that friend used. Not sure how close you are but there were lots from all over the country. Also cannot say what the seller fees were.

https://circlemauctions.com/fall-whitetail-classic/

Holy heck the comments are hard for me to swallow. I live in Iowa and have nearly 30 mounts...mostly whitetails 160 -200 class. I have thought recently what it going to become of them ....knowing we pay for Taxidermist work for the memories but always thought I'd (kids when I'm gone) get decent money back out of them.

I guess this is a reality check. On the flip side, I recently visited a few "bone and fur" shops in South Dakota and that had extreme prices on euros and shoulder mounts.... like several thousand dollars on above avg stuff. Heck, euros were couple hundred.

I guess it will always depend on buyers, desires and timing on value. Hopefully you do well with your selling and to all of us who have a trophy room ....when that time comes.

I’ll have the same dilemma some day. I have 25 or so mounts, about half from Africa.
I’m assuming their worth is close to zero. I enjoy them, but I shot (arrowed) them. I wouldn’t give anything for someone else’s mounts. Good luck.

Might contact bass pro , cabelas , gander mountain local outdoor store ect. and see if they need displays ? Just a thought.

257wthbylover,
If ever you get a chance, snap a few pictures of
Your collection of 160-200 class Whitetails.
I would love to see them.
Iowa is where they grow them like that!

Few thoughts. First there is a thrift store in a mountain town here that occasionally has exotic (African) mounts and they are priced in the several $100s to even $1k+ range. They do sell. That said, I've been to this thrift store quite a bit and I can't ever recall seeing a deer or elk. Maybe they are just too common. Point is, perhaps you could find a secondhand or consignment shop in an area where people have vacation homes, as there will be demand for rustic decorator items.

Second, the Sportsman's Warehouse here used to be full of mounts (before remodel). Some were priced and available for purchase, I assume directly from the owners. So if you have a large sport shop nearby then check with them.

Finally, I'm not saying I participate in this, but from what I hear if you take photos and put something on Facebook Marketplace for an attractive price people will immediately come out of the woodwork to take away your stuff.

I’ve seen them and they are impressive.

This is why I'll only do Euro mounts for now on. I find it alot easier to lose $100 than $700 or more.

Hey Sean, I hope your season went well for you last fall.

When I read the original post I thought about the herd you have. It would seem like Bass Pro/Cabela’s would have an interest in a few of them.

Bluntly, 110 - 130" whitetail mounts are going to have next to no value (outside of sentimental for you and maybe your family).

Probably net more taking a sawzall to them and selling as dog chews to ladies at the farmers or flee market.

Mulrshoe..... Thanks and yeah I am sure my time will come. It's probably closer then I would like. Past season I was able to get a 189" beauty. That after I somehow missed on a 182", but was lucky and found both sheds so I have them at least (and how I know how big he iwas/is) He even had a broken split and I think he has a yr of growth yet. Hopefully we meet up this fall and I win the next encounter.

Cab1958..... PM me and provide a cell # i can text to. I am one of those sad saps that still struggle with pics on this site. I have pics on phone I can send. Keep in mind these come from 25yr+ of hunting in area I was born and raised. Started doing the 'trophy' hunting around 2000. EHD has put a big damper on it but still fun trying...love therapy time in the outdoors. Biggest is 238".

I have seen quite a few people mention they only do Euros now days. Reasons given were cost and able to handle them and see from all angles, space. All very valid and this thread has me thinking I just finished doing last shoulder mount. As it cost 1,000 now days for quality work.
I have my deceased fathers 2 mounts (120-130") and am happy to have those as I was on the hunt with him on both those hunts years and years ago (1990s) and I look at them and have memories of him and that day. Guess that's were price doesn't matter at all to me. Miss him!!

The big part of this is if you like them get them done. I will most likely offer to mount my kids first bucks, but after that they on their own. I have a pheasant at taxidermist now, not biggest by any means but was the first public land wild bird over my newest pointer. Memories are the special part. Lots of pp will never see a deer over 130”.

However with cost I am debating what to do as I have an Africa trip planned this fall. For cost of taxidermy and shipping I could go on sr one hunt or add 4-6 more animals while I’m there. At the point I’d rather have the memories than a bunch of stuff to get rid of down road, seen a lot of guys going through this and being only 38 it starting to make sense to me to go on more trips than have more mounts collecting dust

I enjoy looking at other’s trophies but will only pay to mount my trophies. Buying a mount feels like cheating…

About 8 years ago I went thru this as wife and I were retiring, downsizing, and moving. Had lots of African stuff (mostly euros), bear rugs, etc. If you think about it they are like 'hairy bowling trophies' that attract dust. Contacted a lot of taxidermists and got virtually no interest. Ended up selling them at a regional auction and perhaps averaged $50 each. Even had two motivated bidders that I'm sure took them home to claim them as their own.

I did keep my leopard hide, elephant stuff, and biggest deer. Swapped out my bear rugs (griz and various blacks) to a mountain man type for a claw necklace.

Good Luck.

Same thought bud, but I do my own Euros so I can waste that $100 here in the classifieds 😂

Sold mine to a computer that decorated restaurants and bars. Got back what the mounting costs were

If you were closer to SW Georgia I could put you in contact with a local outfitter/sporting good store. I see that they are always adding new mounts inside.

We also have a fairly large plantation/lodge here that caters to high dollar hunts. It has a lot of mounts and exotics throughout their various buildings, lodge, and guest homes.

Maybe you have something similar near you? Who knows, contact them and they may swap a bird or deer hunt for some mounts.
https://huntsouthwind.com/

238" ! Holy cow ! Passed a giant ten point some years ago late muzzle loader , windy and getting dark , I can still see him standing there. I made the right choice.

You could give them to the biology department or something at a college or university and then maybe claim a tax deduction. You should talk to your accountant about it. Not sure how to value the donation but if you can get that valuation high enough it could save you some taxes. We give all kinds of clothing, household items, tools etc to thrift store charities each year and get a bit of a write off.

Bb

I have a friend that cut some of his euro mounts up and made handles and knobs for his kitchen cabinet doors and drawers at his hunting cabin. They turned out really nice.

Round Oak had quite a collection.

Restaurants are usually in the market for mounted animals too.

dcd,

Years ago I downsized my house and sold a bunch of taxidermy at Lolli Livestock Market in Macon, Missouri. They have a website that explains their auction procedures.

Though everything that I had with them sold, some of the prices were shockingly low. The most important thing to me was getting rid of the trophies without throwing them in a dumpster. This is what I accomplished.



RS

Guess I touched on a soft spot for all of us. Many good thoughts experiences and ideas. Hope we all have time to try them. The most important thought is hold onto the memories. They can't be sold, bartered or traded. You have them forever.They don't take up much space and are yours to visit any time you want or need to. I have some great ones and have shared some wonderful adventures. A few of you know that I have fought Parkinsons for eleven years now and am smart enough to know, as Kenny Rodgers says,
"when to fold them." Believe me when i say "letting go is not so hard to do". The mounts will find new homes. The guns will go to the wood and fields again. The rods will bend f4or another fish and the most precious part of all this, the memories, will forever remain with me.! Most of us are wandering the same path and encountering similar forks in that path. Take one, I promise you it will at the very least provide for another memory. Remember its just "stuff". So give it a chance to be someone else's stuff.
Make no mistake this was written with many teary eyes. And so it should be. All this stuff is important to me. Thank you all for your thoughts, ideas and experiences. I will use them . Remember.The memories are yous to

I will be dead when I die so Im not too worried about it, but it would be cool to go emperor burry them with you...

ttt

dcd, thanks for starting a good thought starter. Our mounts are a great reminder of our hunts and bring back memories for us, and maybe our kids and friends. Other than that, they are just mounts to others. Mine will probably be sold off after I am gone... I certainly don't have any world record animals but all mine are records to me. One thing that I am doing is to write a story about all my successful hunts. I started many years ago and have them from my first deer to the deer I shot last year. 58 stories so far and I can go back and read them and I am right back in the woods or tundra or mountains where it happened.

I'm done with mounting deer heads. Like other said, not many folks care for your cherished possessions if they aren't worth much. I have not hunted Africa yet but said if I ever did, I wouldn't pay to have the trophies brought back. I've seen real nice African taxidermy sell for peanuts at auctions. If I wanted a representative of something I killed in Africa I would just buy one. 99.9 % of people looking at them couldn't tell if it was the animal you killed or an imposter. Most of my deer are in the 100-130" range killed with a bow. They are trophies to me but to anyone else they are just average deer. They started charging $150 for Euro on plaque around here. It was worth it when it was $50. A good shoulder mount is now $700+ I would rather spend that on a used gun. I fear most of my mounts will end up next to the garbage can out on the street after my funeral.

^^^^^^^^^

It certainly is not my intent to offend the taxidermists among us. My apologies for any hint of negativism. DCD.

wknd crowd

ttt