Folks who buy their trophys from Taxidermists

4

4V50 Gary

Staff
There is one further point upon which nothing too strong can, it appears to me, be written or said. All over Eastern Canada, at any rate, the taxidermists and furriers sell moose heads at prices ranging from L20 to L50. For my own fifty-two-inch head a taxidermist who did not know to whom it belonged offered $200 "in the raw." Those who buy heads in this fashion are generally rich sportsmen, who, having started for the woods with the same plubicity which pervades their lives, do not relish returning to their native towns without a trophy. What manner of man it can be who is thus content to buy and to lie is a diffcult question.
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The quote is from Maj. Hesketh Prichard, who became the famous sniping instructor in the World War I British Army. Ask a taxidermists and they'll tell you about "hunters" who come in and buy mounted heads. The "hunters" didn't bother hunting and did other things, like gambling and spending hours in the company of ladies of leisure. While Maj. Prichard was a hunter, he was ignorant in the ways of the New World. :D
 
Clearly, I know next to nothing about the Canadian game laws of the time, but any game animal that shows up at a taxidermist's shop now better have a hunter's tag on it. Taxidermists can sell mounts that go unclaimed to anyone who wants to buy it. What's the difference between buying a mount from a taxidermist and buying one at an estate sale? Lying about one's hunting prowess is at least as old a game as lying about one's fishing successes. I think it falls into the same general line of hypocrisy as a married man saying he never paid for sex.
 
Drifting a bit: My father was popular at contractors' hunt leases. Not only a good hunter; he would take the poker players and whiskey drinkers along with him in his car, let them sleep, and shoot a deer for them. They'd tag it and then have something to take home to show Mamaw that they hadn't gone otro la'o del rio, over to Nuevo Laredo's Boy's Town.

I've no idea about today's world, but there was a time in south Texas when city hunters would mostly hang around camp or sleep off a hangover in a deer blind. One of the ranch hands might bring in a nice buck and offer it for $5 per point. A little hole between the eyes; he'd sat by a trail to water, through the night, and popped Bambi with his old .22 rifle.
 
I understand it is common practice with fishing secondary to catch and release. I used to go deer hunting in my youth as an anual ritual enjoying a crisp walk in the woods definatly not a real hunt but the license fee would help support public lands Dad always said to get the license every year if you go or not for that reason. I never got a deer tag only the standard hunting fishing and trapping that combination is no longer available here.
Sorry I digress if I had spoted a deer I may have considered buying a mounted head as I did have the means to harvest on my walk. I don't think that unethical
 
Not that much different from the guy who drops in on your camp and tells you blatantly BS stories about the 45 bulls he has killed, most of which would "make the book if I want to go through that hassle".

I never figured out why in the world people do that stuff - they are only lying to themselves.
 
davlandrum said:
they are only lying to themselves.
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I agree, and I've told some whoppers myself. However I think most guys are just plain folks, perhaps embarrassed by their lack of skills in the woods.

As you know, I work a lot at a sporting goods store. Now, you would think that if there was a place for pros, a store like that would be a magnet.

We have a never-ending supply of guys who can't clean a rifle, put scopes on backwards, can't re-wind line on a reel, cannot sharpen, need assistance buying WigWam socks, don't know the caliber of their rifles, cannot re-assemble a firearm once it's apart or do simple repairs on their archery equipment.

A biker buddy of mine that works at our local Ford dealership reports a similar story with guys who buy big F-250's and F-350's.

You teach them. You try and make them better hunters.

BTW, I don't like to field dress deer. I'm getting sqeamish.
 
How can you not know the caliber of your rifle? haha
I can see if you have like dozens upon dozens or 2+ models in different calibers...
 
I've sold several bison mounts to Steak Houses and Saloons. Somehow I think that the starter of this thread does not comprehend free markets and capitalism.

Jack
 
CmpsdNoMore said:
How can you not know the caliber of your rifle?
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You'd be amazed on how many people don't know the difference among 7mm Mag, 7mm Express and 7mm WSM.

In fact, with some of the Reminton proprietary calibres, like the 300 Short Ultra, I have to look at the barrel and the box several times before I make the sale.

Newbs always ask if a .38 fits into a .357 Mag. Some people are surprised when they actually see a .22LR and a .22 Mag placed side by side.

Then there was this .17 Mach 2 and the .17 HMR thing a year ago.

We know this stuff because we deal with it every day. But I must admit, I don't really know the difference between a Harley Soft-Tail and a Deuce, and I ride.
 
Selling mounts is the only way a taxidermist has of getting rid of mounts that clients don't come back and get.(You would be suprised how much that happens) Most taxidermists work out of a shop at their home, and have no way of storing mounts after a few years. I know people who don't even hunt that have bought mounts hanging in their homes. After all, what's a fireplace worth without a good looking mount above it?;)

Generally you can tell from what you are hearing from a guy, if he really shot a mount or not.(I stood in front of a really nice 12 point mount one time, that the guy said he shot with his ".309" caliber rifle.) I don't own a really nice mount, but I keep hoping some day I can harvest a really trophy buck, but if it never happens, I will still enjoy the process.

But NO, I would not buy a mount, just to have something to brag about.:)
 
I know people who don't even hunt that have bought mounts hanging in their homes. After all, what's a fireplace worth without a good looking mount above it?
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I see no difference between that and buying a nice painting to go on the wall. As long as you don't claim to have painted it.
 
Exactly, zerojunk.

I sure enjoy looking at all the purchased mounts I see in Bass Pro shops & Sportsman's Warehouse and other sporting goods stores here, and really enjoy them in just about every restaurant and store I go into in Colo. every year on the ski trip.

Art, those ranch hands must really have needed that money to be able to work all day and make themselves stay awake all night on a deer trail. I can't even stay awake all morning in the daytime when hunting. By 9:30 or 10:00, it's naptime in woods, baby.
 
Ya know, decoration is good angle to be considered.

I was thinking of buying a Hawken rifle with lots of shiny brass to hang over the fireplace in my living room.

I have never personally owned a black powder rifle. In fact, I have fired black powder firearms less than 20 times in the 40 years I have been a shooter.
 
Thank you Thank you Tnak you

Quote: "Ask a taxidermists and they'll tell you about "hunters" who come in and buy mounted heads. The "hunters" didn't bother hunting and did other things, like gambling and spending hours in the company of ladies of leisure."

This is the greatest idea I've ever heard. I can't believe I didn't come up with it.;)
 
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