Royal and Bill;
One big thing that I like about getting them from Africa is that they use native species of wood... I want some small stuff mounted on a branch and want that to be of an African tree.
For something local, try a cabinet maker, like for kitchen cabinets.... We bought a rental house several years ago from a guy who worked at a cabinet shop and had scores of various cabinet doors stashed there, think they were seconds he pulled out of the garbage but a lot were nice.... A cabinet maker might have pieces that ended up being the wrong size or that he will through out anyway and might sell cheap or customize for you reasonably?
Did you see the old barnwood one on that website? How about taking a chainsaw out in the woods and cutting a stump or log to mount them on? Used furniture repurposed? Some old metal thing (not sure what but I'll be watchuing for ideas as I travel around. I might be tempted on the right species to get skid loader and carry in a big rock, drill into it and lag something down. I think there is all kinds of ways to get creative yet keep it real.
We looked at very nice lake house that had a maple tree with a big burl in it built into the corner of the entry and a matching one for a mantel... He had a guy sort of sandblast it to get the bark cleaned off... (corn blasting or something, not sand). Anyway, very nice, showed the worm holes in the wood and all the other character. If your hunting this fall, keep an eye out for a tree with possibilities.
Maybe you could get your taxidermist to build the shipping crate out of African lumber with character you can salvage and plane/sand into something presentable?
Anybody done something out of the ordinary?