What's the best way to sell these? Taxidermy Animals (African Game)

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Phoenix_III

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These belonged to my passed Great Uncle. He was a Great White Hunter who traveled to Africa etc to hunt dangerous and other game. All pics here at my hosted page.

How should I go about selling these? List a couple on Ebay with link to all? Are there taxidermy sites? Cabelas? Input welcome.


*edit* Also if you guys can ID or Guess ID any of these let me know! The picture names (pics (xx).jpg) and then what it is would be great!
 
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Sorry I cannot help but that is one hell of a collection. You need some pretty pictures but the collection is likely worth quite a bit. Your Great Uncle must have been one hell of a hunter.
 
Preacherman that's my mom, just there to see the SCALE of some of those beasts. HUGE! I could fit in the one's NECK. =)

p3
 
I'd check with your local natural history museum... you never know if you have something they'd be willing to procure. (I'd guess the polar bear to be worth a small fortune.)


That lion needs to be re-done, he's shrinking.

I'd also check local/national laws reguarding CITES certification... some things might NOT be legally transferable.

If anyone of our member is an SCI member thay can help explain that better.
 
I think the Black Mane's are A) Smaller than normal 'grazing' lions, and b) may be a 'teenager'.

But thank you, we do not want to donate them at the moment, would rather sell.
 
Be very careful about transferring that raptor. Here in the USA possesion of even a naturally molted feather from a raptor without a license is a crime that brings very hefty fines, and in the case of an entire bird, the possibility of jail time. The only exceptions to that are for certain members of Indian tribes who can posses such items for religious purposes, and some educational institutions can have them as learning tools without permits.

Given the size of that collection it may be worthwhile to have a lawyer look over it for any animals that might be tricky/impossible to legally sell.
 
Raptor? Which one is that? =) All of these animals were procured before any import laws so hopefully grandfathered. The Black Rhino I know is a problem to sell, and we want to keep it I think.

Thank you for any additional input/ID you have.
 
pic 20(0), three large heads left to right, Gemsbuck, Nyala, Sable

Pic 20(2) 4 heads l-r sable, bushbuck, kudu, gazelle(?)

The giant head above your mom where she first appears is an Eland, the two larger heads in the lower left are waterbuck... there are indeed some monsters in this collection.
 
Dr. Rob, thank you so much for the IDs and CITES info. I will have to look into that. I already received an email about some one interested in the cat. I suppose ignorance (mine) is no excuse if I break a transfer law. Looking forward to more posts, will do some googling when I can.
 
I think I would try, Ebay, to keep it all together. As long as you have some paper work, and talk to a lawyer, you should be cool. I would love to have that collection:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)


Kevin
 
I know of a fellow up here that sold his to a Sportsmans Warehouse store. They hang them up for people to see. Ebay has gotten so politically correct, they might not allow these things to be listed.

Here is their policy - they've got more somewhere on this subject if you want to dig around.

eBay generally does not allow the listing of live animals or pets on eBay. In restricted cases, some stuffed birds and the pelts and skins of some animals are permitted. Sellers who wish to list these items should review the specific rules in the “Some Examples” section below to ensure their listings comply with eBay policy. We also encourage members to educate themselves on the laws governing the regulation of the sale of animals found in the additional information section.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/wildlife.html
 
Holy mother of something else!!!!!

I am sorry for the passing of your uncle, I am sure he had many tales to tell in the harvest of so many real trophy animals. A really magnificent collection.
 
Perhaps a different approach would be to donate these to a 501C-3 non-profit organization. The tax write off would be substantial. I helped one of our club members donate his collection for our club house, donation totaled more than $260,000.

IRS has specific guidlines for doing this, get an appraisal from a top Taxidermist that specializes in African mounts (ie: Jonas Brothers, Colorado & New York ). Appraisal will bring more if the mount is record book, should include cost of hunt and taxidermy. A Dall sheep head could be worth as much as $10,000-$20,000. Bear's could bring $10,000-$30,000. Documentation and a signed appraisal along with a reciept from the non-profit could be a better financial avenue than trying to sell these through E-bay.

Might check with Safari Club International on non-profits that would be interested.

http://www.jonastaxidermy.com/jt/main.cfm?PageID=48&Sec=2

http://www.jonasbrotherstaxidermy.com/index.html
 
just for curiousity's sake, whats the ask on some of those critters??

say, the moose, bear, elk... etc.?? i havent the slightest idea what pre-hunted critters are going for ;)
 
Your best bet is to contact some of the big auction houses in New York City about putting the entire collection up for auction. They have the marketing lists to ensure willing buyers are aware of the sale and the legal and political expertise to get around international laws and regulations. It not only the easiest route for you, but also probably the most potentially profitable.

You might also want to contact Cabelas or Gander Mountain, both of whom purchase collections. The NRA or the NRA Museum might also be able to send you in the right direction (and put you in touch with the right auction house).

As for ebay/internet sales - I'd avoid it. Too many potential legal pitfalls and I don't think you are going to attract the interest or the prices that a reputable auction house gets you (of course, they will also take their usual 30% cut of the sale). In any case, do research on the market and value of the mounts before signing an agreement with any one particular auction house - ask for complete list of past trophy auctions and the prices they drew - and then go from there.


.
 
No offense, but that lion looks like he might have had an unprotected interaction with the locals.
 
Try Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's. I think Cabela's is looking to build a new store in Michigan and these are the sort of mounts they like to decorate with.
 
yeah, i was going to say cabelas too, they have whole rooms full of mounts in their stores, and buy collections I believe.
 
The article I mentioned above on selling trophies is from the August 2005 issue of NRA's American Hunter. Its about selling trophy whitetails and goes over pricing and has some names of folks who do it for a living. Worth checking out. If you want, I can try to scan it and post it or email it for you.
 
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