$25,000 ........ More or Less ?
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Bou'bound
17-Jul-20
If you added up all the money you have spent on taxidermy work (not necessarily just what you have now, but all of it) would you fall into the above or below $25,000 bucket.
Include all costs associated with the work, mounting, prep, shipping, tips, etc.
From: LINK
17-Jul-20
Less but I haven’t killed as many critters as most of you guys. Mainly whitetails. I doubt I ever hit that mark though as I’ve pretty much quit mounting anything unless it’s a B&C type animal.
From: Rackmastr
17-Jul-20
I've done 90% of my own taxidermy work, but I'd imagine I've got close to that or maybe more if I was to use retail prices for the work I've done
From: BOHUNTER09
17-Jul-20
Less. 10 white tails, 2 bear , 2 antelope, 4 fish. First whitetail was $100. Last was $400. Probably won’t do anything but euros from now on.
From: Thunderhawk
17-Jul-20
Less. Shot slot of deer. Only mounted 4. The rest just hang racks. I like bear rugs but only mounted one and 2 sheep, and one elk,. I would rather not shoot a bull anymore, just a nice cow.....
From: Screwball
17-Jul-20
Less but my brother does my taxidermy work! 3 full mount bear, 2 half, 1 rug, 2 hanging, 1 turkey, 1 bobcat, 1 elk, 11 deer.
From: Zebrakiller
17-Jul-20
Above
From: Smtn10PT
17-Jul-20
Less, but hope to get there some day!
From: olebuck
17-Jul-20
i do my own taxidermy work, turkeys is what gets me. i want to mount every turkey i kill....
7 deer, one elk, 2 turkeys, ( 2 more soon) probably 50 euros, countless back skins tanned
I'm running out of room fast.
From: kota-man
17-Jul-20
Waaaay more...
From: JTreeman
17-Jul-20
WAY less.
—Jim
From: newfi1946moose
17-Jul-20
Under 10. Black bear have been somewhat of a habit along with whitetails.
From: 12yards
17-Jul-20
I have 4 whitetails mounted. I don't think I've spent that much on all my hunting trips + taxidermy costs.
From: 0hndycp
17-Jul-20
Waay more
From: Whocares
17-Jul-20
Way less. May do a mulie if I get a good one, otherwise done
From: foxwillkill
17-Jul-20
Just shy of $20000. That's crazy. Why did you make me think of that. Here's one wall of great room.
From: jjs
17-Jul-20
Was just at a friends place and he just received a box of Africa 10 tan hides to mount, ask him what it will cost his client, all he said he has money to burn. His living is from taxidermy and he tells perspective clients if they want cheaper is to take it down the road.
From: Kurt
17-Jul-20
More, my taxidermist years ago always introduced me as the guy that made his truck payment. That said I do not mount near as many critters these days. But I still am looking for a great caribou and a +7’ black bear!
From: PECO
17-Jul-20
Way below.
From: Pat Lefemine
17-Jul-20
Way more but I’m slowing way down on mounts. Nobody will want them and they will end up in a landfill. I still have one big brown bear on the menu then I’m done with full mounts. Just the occasional big whitetail.
From: Huntcell
17-Jul-20
Bou’ where are you $ at , above , or below?
In today’s dollars ???? A $500 mount years ago is $1209 now.
From: g5smoke21
17-Jul-20
Just about equal. BOU I would really like to see how you had your goat mount done from BC
From: fubar racin
17-Jul-20
I have a buddy so between 12 birds 3 deer 2 antelope and an elk Iv got about 2k into em.
From: Shiras42
17-Jul-20
Way below. I like DIY euro mounts and that means more money for the next hunt. The only thing I have had mounted is my mountain lion.
From: altitude sick
17-Jul-20
More, And ran out of room. I have given many to My daughter, nieces, nephews, a Local bar, and still have too many in my barn. Only Europeans from here out, if I even do that.
From: Bou'bound
17-Jul-20
Hunt - In the dollars you paid not todays dollars. I am below. just a half dozen shoulders / half mounts (deer, antelope, goat, bear), a few rugs, a bison hide, a couple musk ox europeans, and a bison european.
rest are racks in a tangled mess in corner of basement.
From: Jaquomo
17-Jul-20
Way less. I have a fe special ones mounted but everything else is Euro. I visited my wife's cousin last week who has a whole house full of full body mounts (really, making a guide skin and foot-out Stone and Dall's sheep up on the mountain, then pack them out?) He also has huge framed photos of himself with those same animals all over the walls. Sort of a shrine, I guess...
From: Medicinemann
17-Jul-20
More
From: Bake
17-Jul-20
I'm well under at this point in my life. But I aspire to be WAY over :)
Don't know if I'll ever get there. I don't kill much, I just like to sit in trees and go for hikes carrying a weapon
From: Spiral Horn
17-Jul-20
Way more - and when also figuring in all post hunt prep, import/export, expediting and shipping fees - I could have bought a European Sports Car instead. But quality taxidermy is still beautiful 20 years later and definitely lower maintenance.
From: LINK
17-Jul-20
Bake it sounds like you and I share the same passion of long walks and unquivered arrows. ;)
Jaq I don’t have any but I like the idea of a euro and below it a trophy pic or a picture of the people that I shared a camp with. Stuff that brings back more memories than just the animal. Maybe one of these days I’ll build my euro shrine.
From: Will
17-Jul-20
Got a smallmouth bass mounted a couple decades ago, not sure what I paid any more. I've never had a big game animal head/body part done, nor a turkey. Just clean off the skull caps and do basic little mounts myself. So... I've spent probably 200 dollars - that's for felt on the skull caps, borax, razor blades and similar bits and pieces...
From: mountainman
17-Jul-20
Under in actual dollar amount. But I started getting stuff mounted about 15 years ago. So in today dollars I may be getting close to 25.
From: Bowfinatic
17-Jul-20
Much less but my full mount cougar will jump things up for me. First high dollar mount
From: t-roy
17-Jul-20
Is this for this past year (Greenland :-( ), or total??!
Over, but like others, I’m gonna start doing more euros. It helps that I’m running out of wall space, too.
From: SBH
17-Jul-20
Way under.....all diy except the tanned hides. I love mounts and seeing them at peoples houses. We just do our own euro at our house. Funds allotted for hunting, gear, family trips and savings mean no mounts for me.
From: Dale06
17-Jul-20
I have about 25 animals mounted, about 1/2 Africa and the rest Noam. I think I’m under $25,000 because most of the USA ones were mounted 5-15 years ago. Cape buffalo was over $2 grand. Others with couple exceptions, under $1000.
From: Rickm
17-Jul-20
Way less. Heck I'm probably just over if I include what I spent on the hunts as well!
From: OFFHNTN
17-Jul-20
Above
From: pav
17-Jul-20
Way Less.....not even half that number.
From: wildwilderness
17-Jul-20
Would be nice to be over since that would mean I have money to burn. Which I don't.
It's also way more than just the money! As mentioned it's A LOT more work in the field to prep an animal for a good mount, probably at least twice as long to cape, and more weight or even a second trip to pack out the cape. So I may have the money but not want to expend the energy for the mount ;)
I'll do a DIY euro on a representative animal, but shoulder mounts only on something special, like B&C level animal.
From: iceman
17-Jul-20
Under for me so far, but I’m with Bake..I aspire to be over. Lol
From: Nick Muche
17-Jul-20
Sadly more and even though I've said for a few years I was done, I still end up adding a few each year. I really enjoy looking at them and they are great conversation starters when folks come over. I don't really regret it, but it's becoming a bit ridiculous at the Muche's with regards to room for more! We have a pile of Euro's as well, but the mounts are more impressive to many that likely will never see some of these animals in the wild, much less up close.
From: 12yards
17-Jul-20
Some of you guys are just braggin'! ;^D Nice job guys!
From: DEMO-Bowhunter
17-Jul-20
Nick, you need a bigger house!
Put me in the more category.
From: Trophyseeker
17-Jul-20
More... and every dollar spent is worth the memories.
From: milnrick
17-Jul-20
With the mix of whitetails, javelina, exotics, bears, etc in the trophy room we're "a bit" over that $25K mark. Hopefully, we've found our stopping point for adding to the taxidermy collection.
From: Tradmike
17-Jul-20
I have about 100 mounts. Been giving the away. Well over 25k. Not mounting anything now but still hunting alot.
From: Teeton
17-Jul-20
The lasy 4 years I keep saying I'm not doing anymore.. Well I just got my Pa bear back and waiting for a Pa deer to come back. So I'm not doing very good in the,, I'm not doing anymore mounts category. :(
From: Chukar
17-Jul-20
A touch over
From: bowbender77
17-Jul-20
Over and over and over again plus.
From: Eric Vaillancourt
17-Jul-20
More...lots more if you count the building.
From: rock50
17-Jul-20
Way over..................but I prefer to think of it as Dennis Razza artwork.
From: badbull
17-Jul-20
Bou, Interesting dollar number you came up with as I did a quick inventory ( at todays dollars ) and found that all of my taxidermy would cost me right at 25k if mounted by others ( I mounted all my own). This does include mounts done for my sons. I did not take into consideration the money that I actually spent on taxidermy supplies so I don't know what they actually cost me. ....Bob
From: EmbryOklahoma
17-Jul-20
Pshhh!! No where close to 25k. Maybe touching 8k in 13 whitetail shoulder mounts and one shoulder mounted Elk, and a couple euros that I farmed out. The rest of the euros I’ve done myself.
Now, if pigs were a hot commodity and people were killing them for their cutters, like people kill antlered animals... I might be around 15k. Maybe?
From: 4nolz@work
17-Jul-20
The worst part is 2 generations after you die they'll be sold at yard sales and on the wall of a Texas Roadhouse somewhere with sunglasses and Christmas lights.
From: Bou'bound
17-Jul-20
"The worst part is 2 generations after you die they'll be sold at yard sales and on the wall of a Texas Roadhouse somewhere with sunglasses and Christmas lights."
2 generations................ how about two hours. Sold..... how about given away to the garbage man on the following Wednesday morning's pick up.
If you mount them for the memories then it goes to show they are valueless to anyone but the hunter since only the hunter has the memories. No surprise there if reliving memories is the reason in the first place. Tough to monetize the memories when it comes time to lose the stuffed stuff
From: EmbryOklahoma
17-Jul-20
Bou... funny enough, I saw a a friend on social media post a pic of 6 or 7 bulls that were either skull mounts or antlers with the skull plate. He posted “free” on a local marketplace or craigslist. A guy came over and gave him $100 anyhow. They were all rag horns tops around 240”. Seems he’s ahead of us/most in getting rid of stuff. :)
From: Kurt
17-Jul-20
You can get a few $/# selling antlers for dog chews. I did when I moved to BC. Got basically the taxidermy $s back from the various shoulder mounts and one life size I sold when slimming down the collection.
From: t-roy
17-Jul-20
Kurt X2^^ The antlers bring a decent price per pound for sheds, and I’m betting the racks will do the same. I friend has sold a bunch of sheds in past years, for anywhere from $3-$5/lb for older chalky ones, up to $10/lb for top quality ones.
From: JL
17-Jul-20
Way under $25K. Just have 5 horned, shoulder critters on the wall (bou, lope, whitetail, blacktail and muley) plus a full body bear, a bear rug and a big tanned bear. A bunch of euros and horns in the garage I did myself. The elk, 2nd bou and moose are just racks. Got two fish on the wall. I've got two skulls (bear/hog) that have been in the freezer for about 5 years. Just trying to find a local beetle guy...hopefully the freezer burned skulls don't kill his beetles. The full body bear was the spendiest so far. I would like to get a coues one day to round out the deer.
I suppose at some point soon it will just be all euros or give-aways. However if the wife ever gets a buck or nice salmon, that will likely get mounted.
From: brunse
18-Jul-20
I bought some commercial grade peroxide... once....so more like $10 I guess.
From: Rock
18-Jul-20
Had not thought of this until now and I am way over but like many I am pretty much done mounting things now, but will still do Euro's.
From: drycreek
18-Jul-20
Way less, probably less than $2,500, but then you can’t mount backstraps.
From: Scooby-doo
18-Jul-20
If I kept mounting whitetails I would be maybe be close over the last 50 years. 1st mount was a giant raccoon that my dog treed when I was 7 and I shot him with my 4/10. I tried to carry him home but he was 31#s and had to leave him and go get help. It was $35 to mount him in 1971. I now will only mount an animnal if bigger than my biggest. Whitetails make up 90% so I have to shoot something over 180"s and even at that I may just do a European. Over 200"s I will mount it! Shawn
From: JL
18-Jul-20
With all the folks throttling back on their mounts, the taxi's reading this thread may have a frown on their faces.
From: caribou77
18-Jul-20
Probably very close to half that. Would easily pay for my next big adventure...
From: TXRandy
18-Jul-20
Waaaay more. Getting older and starting to regret it somewhat. I've been trying to give some of them to the grandkids but they are babies, the oldest only 4, and it's not the easiest thing to push them into a non-hunting family, not anti-hunting but non-hunting.
From: EmbryOklahoma
18-Jul-20
JL, I was thinking the same thing!
From: Kevin Dill
18-Jul-20
A lot, but didn’t elect to keep a running tally. Then I began to see it (taxidermy and trophy display) in a totally different way for me. Within a very short time I came to realize that taxidermy (for me) was literally a dead end waste of my money. I suppose it was at the same time I realized I had been mostly hunting for the next big animal to mount. When I stopped hunting primarily with a taxidermy or display objective, well.....I’ll just say it was the right choice.
I’ll probably never mount another animal, no matter how fine. And I still hunt for big, mature animals just like before. I look at the ones in my display and honestly wish I hadn’t burned the money and effort back then, but that was a different time. Today I come home with trophies that can’t be mounted or digitized.
From: JL
18-Jul-20
I try to take alot of vids and pics of my hunts whether successful or not. It's not so much about the animal but the overall experience.
From: Mudslinger
18-Jul-20
I'm above that
From: Hawkeye
18-Jul-20
Less
From: glidingindian
18-Jul-20
Trophyseekerx2!!
From: 'Ike' (Phone)
19-Jul-20
$7500-10,000....Somewhere in there, maybe! As others have said, I’ll leave instructions to sell the antlers, they’ll get more for that than trying to sell the mount itself...
From: WV Mountaineer
19-Jul-20
Less. I’ll never spend another dime on mounting any animal except European style. With a buddy that does it for me at $50 head, I’ll never kill enough to come close $25,000
From: Halibutman
19-Jul-20
It cost almost $3,000 to ship the head/cape of my ibex from Kyrgyzstan to Texas. If I’d known that, I’d have left it there.
Pictures are free. Take good ones and who needs a mount?
From: Shug
19-Jul-20
I ain’t playing this game my wife comes here
From: SteveB
19-Jul-20
Way less. I’m picky so I don’t mount much. I don't at all mind coming back from a good hunt empty by choice. Nowadays I will mount much less too as I realize clearly that after I’m gone no one will really care.
From: KSMike
20-Jul-20
More
From: South Farm
20-Jul-20
WAY WAY WAY Below..
I guess the older I get the more I wish I had the money I've spent on mounts back in my pocket so I could blow it on other things that now holder higher importance...a new boat for example. The memories of past hunts are all in my brain and photo album anyway..
From: Fuzzy
20-Jul-20
Counting 2K worth of bear rugs I'm at about $2,700
From: Stekewood
20-Jul-20
More
From: MTNRCHR
23-Jul-20
Way more...
