Why does considering never mounting another animal bother me so much?

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Hornedfrogbbq

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All, I have been struggling thinking about having any further taxidermy. The cost has become enough and with limited space and my daughters not keen on mounts, has me strongly considering not mounting anything going forward.

For those of you that have already made this decision, how has the reaction from your PH/outfitter been that you take a trophy animal but do NOT mount it? How have they handled the meat, horns and skins?

I know you can take elephant and other species as non-exportable but I am not a cat or ele hunter. I am hooked on buffalo and love shooting plains game. So we are really talking about taking those and not mounting anything.

There is something deep in me that while I know this would be a good decision for me, it feels wasteful and a tad disrespectful honestly.
 
Shoot cull/non trophy animals. Everything gets used over there. Don’t feel bad about it at all. I have one more set of taxidermy left and that’s it for me as well…..out of room for it to look tactfully done.
 
If I get a brown bear this spring, it will be one of the last things I mount. Taxidermy costs have become offensive to me and worse than that is the wait time to get things home from Africa. As far as I am concerned forget the taxidermy and spend the money on more hunts and besides I would have to spend a small fortune to add on to the house, I am over stuffed the way it is already.
 
Man there seems to be a big anti-taxidermy sentiment here lately. Glad I still like it. ;)

I don't think the PH or outfitters care all that much. Taxidermy isn't their business. Year in and year out most of them shoot loads of animals for meat, culling, or even personal trophies. At most, they send a handful to the taxidermy shop.

The meat will be treated no differently than ever. I've never seen any go to waste..... even stuff I wouldn't consider fit for starving people.

I've been to farms where there were 40+" gemsbok horns and 50+" kudu horns laying in the gut pile. Go do what you want to do. Take photos. Just hunt and be there. Hunting is just as fun (and sometimes more fun) than trophy hunting anyhow. Less stress.
 
I know the struggle. I have been infatuated with taxidermy my whole life. I probably have issues, sometimes I find myself just starring at my mounts.
Yea, I have a problem. lol
 
I’m in a similar situation. I’m staring 70 in the face. No kids. Not much space left for mounts. Add to the the ever increasing cost of shipping and taxidermy that could finance, or a least partially, another hunt.
I’ve resigned myself to, provided I shoot them, having a Nyala and bush pig mounted, a buff skull, euro kudu and the rest pictures. I’ll have the experiences and memories and the locals get fed.
 
There is a satisfaction to placing your hands on the trophy you have bagged, though in some cases even that involves dealing with a bit of disappointing "ground shrinkage." But when you do shoot something really exceptional, it could bother you not to keep it. Who would honestly throw away a 50 inch buffalo?!
Too bad some museums don't need mounts like they did in Teddy Roosevelt's day...
 
BryceM said:
Man there seems to be a big anti-taxidermy sentiment here lately. Glad I still like it. ;)
Click to expand...
There certainly does.

I’d love to see someone in the “no more taxidermy for me” crowd put to the ultimate test and dump a 200+”whitetail buck on their sacred hunting grounds stick to their guns and say “nope. Not going to mount one more thing. Taxidermy is just not worth the cost. Besides, my kids are going to pitch it in a dumpster when I’m dead.”

That man would be a God amongst men with the NTC’s (no taxidermy crowd, yes, I’m coining NTC as a label for you guys)!
 
My one and only mount is of my Dall ram. He lives on the wall in my son’s childhood bedroom. I’ve got a BC record book BG bou that lives in the storeroom. I’ve got plenty of other trophies that reside in places far and wide.

I think I’ve realised that I’m not the type of person to get attached to stuff.

I really just want to go hunting. For me it’s about making new adventures and memories.
 
is a B&C 401 and a bit BG caribou in the same category as a 200 + Whitetail buck ?
IMG_1221.jpeg
 
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Generally I’m in the NTC. I’m in the process of booking my first Africa hunt and I chose animals specifically because they tend to make decent euro mounts and eliminated some that wouldn’t work as a euro mount. For example, I intend to hunt wildebeest but I’ve eliminated zebra. I also haven’t eliminated the idea of photos only. If that’s what I decide to do then zebra is back on the list.

The reasons are many. First, cost. Second, space at home. Third, no import/export/customs/shipping nonsense to deal with. Fourth, I have some nice whitetails on the wall but they don’t foster any special memories. I like them but I enjoy the euro mounts hanging in the barn just as much.

The one fly in the ointment is cape buffalo. It’s been a bucket list item for about 40 years and if I kill one I might have to have it euro mounted.

I’m honest about it though. If I kill a particularly awesome trophy of any species I’m open to reconsider.
 
Is there a discount if you don’t require dip and pack?
 
I have some on the wall but the the only taxidermy I care about going forward are animals I’m not allowed to have (polar bear, tiger) so I view it the way I view fish now. I’ve caught some real trophy class in certain species and I’ve mounted none. Some I have pictures of and some I have friends or family that was there and only memories not even pictures from lack of smart phones at the time. Hasn’t changed the experience or memory.

The outfitter gets payed regardless of you taking home animals no matter where you hunt so I’m sure they won’t care.. and if they do I’m sure there are plenty of great PH’s out there that will take your business.
 
Betterinthebush said:
There certainly does.

I’d love to see someone in the “no more taxidermy for me” crowd put to the ultimate test and dump a 200+”whitetail buck on their sacred hunting grounds stick to their guns and say “nope. Not going to mount one more thing. Taxidermy is just not worth the cost. Besides, my kids are going to pitch it in a dumpster when I’m dead.”

That man would be a God amongst men with the NTC’s (no taxidermy crowd, yes, I’m coining NTC as a label for you guys)!
Click to expand...
Used to shoot long range at a high fence game ranch and there where stacks 4 foot high of racks (Sheds but also some whole heads) that once every couple years a man from Colorado came to get. Seen multiple heads from deer that killed each other or died of sickness in the 180-240” range but he had a few clients who killed the deer from other countries and would just leave them.

On a side note whitetail mounts are cheap in the states compared to anything from another country. And easy to transport.
 
NO
 
The cost of shipping and customs really bothers me. Then add the taxidermy on top of that and the bill at the end is ridiculous. The costs just keep stacking up. Hard to stomach. I will mount a few, the rest will be euro's.
 
I first hunted the Cameroon savannah back in 2000, ever since then I dearly wanted a savannah buffalo. Three years ago I returned to the savannah of Cameroon and shot a very pretty reddish/black buffalo, I was so happy, a dream of 20+ years realized, I got a few pictures of myself with it and walked away.

All of us should do as we wish to do, for me, I'd much rather go back to Africa more times than have to wait every 3-4 years to save up money because I spent money on taxidermy.

Someone mentioned what outfitters think of not getting stuff mounted, trust me, they don't care, it is one less thing for them not to have to deal with.
 
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