Lost in the fire. 2 questions

[Dangerous Dave]

All of my North American mounts were recently either damaged or lost in a fire.
(1) Does anyone know how I value the mounts for insurance purposes?
(2) Is it possible to repair the damage caused by the smoke?
Thank you in advance for your input..
Dave

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Unless you had the trophies particularly insure for full replacement value (i.e returning to Africa and shooting replacements + shipping + taxidermy), I suspect you're claim will be very limited. Perhaps taxidermy costs at most.

Contact a taxidermist about cleaning your trophies. I'm fairly certain it's doable but it won't be cheap. I suggest letting him have a crack at cleaning one trophy and see how it turns out. You may have to shop around.

Two years ago a fella brought us a black fox that was in awful condition due to smoking and kitchen grease. I carefully cleaned it up with 99% isopropyl alcohol, comb, and rags. Also fixed some significant damage left from previous "taxidermist." Was a helluva job but it turned out very nice. I told that guy if he didn't put it in a glass case, I'd put my foot up his butt. He agreed.

 

[Hunt anything]

SCI advertises trophy insurance, probably won’t do you any good now but you can look and see how they value trophies. It’s not through SCI but the outfit advertises in their monthly newsletter.

 

[mdsalern]

How severe is the damage? My house burned once and there was nothing that was salvageable.

 

[RR 314]

@Buckwild may come along and see this. Others may have some in but as well. Good luck with everything. That would be sickening.

 

[PARA45]

@buck wild or @gizmo both are taxidermists might be able to help you. I would suggest maybe posting some pictures (if you have them), so they can see the damage. Or reach out to them directly.

 

[gizmo]

All of my North American mounts were recently either damaged or lost in a fire.
(1) Does anyone know how I value the mounts for insurance purposes?
(2) Is it possible to repair the damage caused by the smoke?
Thank you in advance for your input..
Dave

Hey if you will pm me your phone # and a good time to call I’d be glad to visit with you. I have dealt with insurance companies on this before and I’d be glad to help.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Thanks for all the input. I am meeting with the agent next week. Ill follow up and let you all know how it turns out. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt before I take a hard line.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

You should talk to a taxidermist first about restoration. Otherwise you'll have no idea if the adjuster's estimate is reasonable or ridiculous.

 

[buck wild]

All of my North American mounts were recently either damaged or lost in a fire.
(1) Does anyone know how I value the mounts for insurance purposes?
(2) Is it possible to repair the damage caused by the smoke?
Thank you in advance for your input..
Dave

The biggest issue I have had with the normal homeowners insurance policy is that, at best, you might get the market value for the mount i.e. go to Ebay and see what a shoulder mount sells for. Hint... pennies on the dollar.
If the mount is damaged beyond repair, you have lost the taxidermy value, and in most cases, the animal value. When dealing with my local ins agent over this debate, he quipped " We can't place a value on both mount and animals unless we have receipts or a way to set the value." Those two things aren't always possible and at times impossible. BUT... SCI has an insurance program through a company that has a set schedule for almost every average animal in the world that does exactly that- full replacement of the mount AND the hunt. A few area little low and others a little high, but it's a start. Then your ins agent will likely tell you, "Well, you needed an additional rider of these items that you don't have yada yada." I have a $180k policy on my taxidermy

Fire and smoke are brutal on taxidermy work and unfortunately not much can be done to restore them to their original without great expense. Very minor smoke damage can be fixed with treatments.

 

[K-man]

You might consider getting fresh capes and cleaning the horns. You will have a completely clean mount that way.