Selling Taxidermy in Washington: What State and Federal Law Actually Allows
October 8, 2026
If you inherited your grandfather’s elk shoulder mount or you’re closing out an estate full of waterfowl and upland birds, the first question is rarely about price. It’s about whether you’re allowed to sell the piece at all. Washington’s taxidermy selling laws layer state licensing on top of federal wildlife statutes, and the two systems don’t always agree on what “legal” means.
This breakdown walks through when a mount can change hands in Washington, which species trigger an outright sale ban, what paperwork a buyer or auction house will expect to see, and where a state-legal sale can still turn into a federal case once it crosses a state line.
Is It Legal to Sell a Taxidermy Mount in Washington?
Washington law generally allows the sale of taxidermy mounts, but the state treats commercial taxidermy as a licensed activity rather than a casual hobby. Under RCW 77.65.480, the fee for this license is one hundred eighty dollars, and the application fee is seventy dollars. That license covers anyone practicing taxidermy for commercial purposes, not just people mounting animals they personally shot.
State law also draws a sharp line around who counts as a taxidermist in the first place. A taxidermist is a person who, for commercial purposes, creates lifelike representations of fish and wildlife using fish and wildlife parts and various supporting structures. Selling a mount you made for a paying customer, or reselling mounts you’ve acquired, can fall under this definition even if you never think of yourself as a professional taxidermist.
How you obtained the animal in the first place is where most sellers run into trouble. Washington’s hunting laws determine whether the underlying take was legal, and an animal taken outside season, without a tag, or over the bag limit carries that illegality forward into any later sale.
Important Note: Under Washington law, “trafficking” means offering, attempting to engage, or engaging in sale, barter, or purchase of fish, shellfish, wildlife, or deleterious exotic wildlife. A single unlawful sale can meet that definition on its own.
Federal Rules That Override Washington: MBTA, ESA, Lacey Act, MMPA, and CITES
State licensing only solves half the problem. Five federal statutes sit on top of Washington’s rules, and each one can block a sale the state would otherwise allow.
| Federal Law | What It Covers | Effect on Selling a Mount |
|---|---|---|
| Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) | Native migratory birds, including songbirds, waterfowl, and raptors | Sale of taxidermied migratory birds or their parts is prohibited with narrow exceptions |
| Endangered Species Act (ESA) | Species listed as threatened or endangered | Commercial sale generally requires a federal permit, even for inherited specimens |
| Lacey Act | Wildlife taken, possessed, or sold in violation of any state, federal, tribal, or foreign law | Turns a state-level violation into a federal offense once the item moves in commerce |
| Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) | Marine mammals such as polar bears and walrus | Sale is limited to “pre-Act” specimens acquired before 1972 or qualifying Alaska Native handicrafts |
| CITES | International trade in listed species | Import or export of covered specimens requires a permit regardless of state law |
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is the one that surprises the most sellers, because it doesn’t stop at eagles and owls. With some limited exceptions, sale of any type of taxidermied migratory bird or migratory bird feathers and parts is prohibited regardless of the age of the specimen, with exceptions involving limited purchase and sale of certain captive-reared and sport-taken migratory waterfowl. Anyone who has a Federal Taxidermy permit and a legally tagged waterfowl mount still needs to stay inside those narrow lanes; you may not sell captive-reared migratory waterfowl that have not been mounted, nor may you sell any migratory bird that has been taken from the wild.
Anyone mounting or selling ducks and geese in Washington needs to understand both the tagging rules covered under the state’s duck hunting laws and the federal permit layer sitting on top of them.
The Endangered Species Act and MMPA work the same way for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), polar bears, and other listed species. Sale of taxidermied specimens, rugs, clothing, and other fur articles from grizzly bear, jaguar, or other U.S. species listed as endangered or threatened is not allowed unless prohibited under state law — meaning federal permission is only the first hurdle, not the last one.
Which Species You Can and Cannot Sell as Mounts in Washington
Washington splits wildlife into edible and nonedible parts, and that split decides most of what you can legally sell. Washington law makes it unlawful to knowingly buy, sell, or exchange the raw fur or carcass of a wild animal trapped with a body-gripping trap, and it is separately unlawful to offer for sale, sell, purchase, or barter edible parts of wild animals or game birds. Nonedible parts are a different story under WAC 220-200-110: nonedible portions of wild animals and game birds may be sold or traded, including antlers, hides, and teeth, which is why a legally taken deer mount, elk cape, or coyote pelt can typically be sold once it’s tanned or mounted.
A handful of species and parts are carved out as exceptions no matter how the animal was taken. Nonedible parts of bighorn sheep or mountain goat, bear gall bladders, claws or teeth of bear not permanently attached to a full bear skin or mounted bear, and velvet antlers of deer, elk, or moose cannot be sold, purchased, or bartered unless the department has granted a permit. Bighorn sheep horns get their own separate rule on top of that: it is unlawful to offer a sale, sell, purchase, or barter bighorn sheep horns without a written permit authorized by the director.
Washington also keeps its own endangered species list, and possessing or selling anything derived from these animals can violate state law before federal statutes even get involved. Endangered species in Washington include the pygmy rabbit, fisher, gray wolf, grizzly bear, several whale species, woodland caribou, Canada lynx, Cascade red fox, marbled murrelet, western gray squirrel, and sandhill crane, among others. Predator mounts are usually fine to sell if lawfully taken — Washington’s coyote hunting rules don’t restrict resale of a legally harvested coyote mount — but a gray wolf (Canis lupus) or Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) mount is a different matter given their protected status.
Salvaged roadkill is another gray area worth flagging. Washington’s roadkill laws allow certain species to be salvaged under a permit, but that permit typically governs possession and personal use — it doesn’t automatically convert into authority to sell a mount made from a salvaged carcass.
Proof of Lawful Take, Tags, and Bills of Sale You Need Before You Sell in Washington
Every legitimate sale traces back to paperwork, and Washington puts the recordkeeping burden squarely on licensed taxidermists and fur dealers under WAC 220-400-060. Taxidermists and fur dealers who receive wildlife for mounting, tanning, storage, or processing must record the taxidermist’s name and business information, the date the item was received, the hunter or taker’s name and address, the owner’s name and address, a description of the species, the county or game management unit where it was taken, and the license, tag, permit, or seal number. Those records must be maintained for a minimum of two years, or as long as the wildlife is retained by the taxidermist or fur dealer.
If you’re the one selling rather than the one who mounted the animal, buyers and auction houses will typically ask for the same trail of evidence: the original tag or seal number, a copy of the hunting license used to take the animal, and any invoice from the taxidermist who performed the work. When a hunter splits an animal between a taxidermist and a meat processor, keeping the tag with the meat while providing a taxidermy ledger or invoice for the head satisfies the state’s documentation requirements.
Pro Tip: Ask for the original taxidermy invoice before you buy or consign a mount. Missing paperwork doesn’t automatically mean the piece was taken illegally, but it makes proving lawful origin much harder if a wildlife agent ever asks.
Estate Sales, Auctions, and Special Permits in Washington
Estate sales and auctions are where Washington’s species restrictions show up most often, because heirs frequently inherit mounts without any of the paperwork described above. Auction houses handling big game increasingly build state-specific conditions directly into their listings. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife requires taxidermy of threatened and/or endangered species to sell within Washington state only, meaning no out-of-state sales are allowed on those lots.
That residency condition is why some auction listings specifically require proof of Washington residency before a buyer can remove a mount from the premises. It isn’t a formality — it’s the auction house protecting itself from a Lacey Act problem on your behalf.
Nuisance and problem-wildlife mounts raise a separate permitting question. If a mount originated from an animal removed under a wildlife removal permit rather than a standard hunting tag, that removal permit usually doesn’t authorize commercial sale on its own, and you may need to contact WDFW directly before listing the piece.
Interstate Sales: When the Lacey Act Makes Another State’s Ban Your Problem
A sale that’s completely legal under Washington law can still become a federal matter the moment it crosses a state line, and this is the part of taxidermy law that catches even experienced sellers off guard. The Lacey Act imposes civil and criminal penalties for wildlife trafficking activity and generally prohibits transacting in fish, wildlife, or plants that have already been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.
The mechanism is what trips people up. Where the first-step violation is of a state or foreign law, that violation alone doesn’t create a federal case — federal jurisdiction arises from the second-step prohibited act occurring in interstate or foreign commerce. In practice, shipping a mount to a buyer in another state can be the exact act that converts a paperwork gap into a federal Lacey Act violation. Transport across state lines for personal purposes, such as taking a mount to a taxidermist, satisfies the interstate commerce element just as much as a commercial sale does.
Important Note: Some states ban species Washington allows, and some allow species Washington restricts. Before you ship a mount out of state, confirm the buyer’s state law separately — the Lacey Act can turn their state’s ban into your federal problem.
Dog and Cat Mounts: Why Federal Fur Law Blocks Commercial Sale
Pet taxidermy occupies an unusual legal position, because federal law was written to stop the international fur trade, not hobbyists preserving a family pet. The Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 makes it unlawful to import into, or export from, the United States any dog or cat fur product, or to engage in interstate commerce in any dog or cat fur product, though this prohibition does not apply to a personal pet that is deceased, including a pet preserved through taxidermy.
That exception covers keeping your own preserved pet or transporting it for noncommercial reasons — it does not cover selling one. The moment a dog (Canis lupus familiaris) or cat (Felis catus) mount changes hands for money and crosses state lines, federal law prohibits the introduction into interstate commerce, manufacture for interstate commerce, offer for sale, sale, transportation, or distribution of any product made with dog or cat fur.
Common Mistake: Assuming the “personal pet” exception in the Dog and Cat Protection Act covers a sale. It only covers noncommercial possession and transport — listing a pet mount for sale is exactly what the law targets.
Penalties here are steep enough to take seriously even for a one-off sale. Violators can be assessed a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation. Washington sellers dealing with free-roaming or unowned animals should also confirm how the state treats ownership before assuming a preserved specimen even qualifies as a “personal pet” — the feral dog laws in Washington and outdoor cat laws both affect who legally owned the animal in the first place.
Penalties for Selling Illegal Taxidermy in Washington
Washington’s own penalty for operating without the required commercial license is comparatively modest. A person who holds a fur dealer’s license or taxidermy license is guilty of unlawful use of a commercial wildlife license if they fail to have the required license while engaged in fur buying or practicing taxidermy for commercial purposes, and unlawful use of a commercial wildlife license is a misdemeanor. That’s the baseline exposure just for skipping the license, before species restrictions or federal law enter the picture. You can read the full penalty statute for the exact language.
Federal penalties escalate quickly once a Lacey Act violation is involved, since the Act was built specifically to punish wildlife trafficking. The Lacey Act also prohibits false labeling of wildlife, and its substantive trafficking provisions cover importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing illegal wildlife. Dog and cat fur violations carry their own tiered civil penalty structure: up to $10,000 for each separate knowing and intentional violation, $5,000 for each grossly negligent violation, or $3,000 for each negligent violation.
Stacking is common in real cases. A single mount sold without a license, made from a species with sale restrictions, and shipped across state lines can trigger a state misdemeanor charge and a separate federal referral at the same time.
Who to Call Before You List a Mount in Washington (Wildlife Agency Checklist)
A five-minute phone call before you list a mount is cheaper than a citation after you sell it. Work through this checklist before advertising anything:
- Confirm the species isn’t on Washington’s endangered list or a federally protected list before you write the listing.
- Locate the original tag, seal number, or taxidermy invoice showing lawful take.
- Call WDFW’s regional office to confirm whether the species requires a state sale permit.
- If the buyer is out of state, verify that state’s import rules before shipping anything.
- If the mount involves a migratory bird, eagle, marine mammal, or CITES-listed species, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service directly rather than assuming the state answer settles it.
WDFW is headquartered in Olympia and maintains the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Code as its key enforcement document, and its regional offices are generally the fastest way to get a species-specific answer before you commit to a sale. If the mount came from a problem-animal situation rather than a hunt, checking Washington’s nuisance wildlife laws first can save you a call you didn’t need to make.
None of this replaces a direct answer from WDFW or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for your specific specimen. Wildlife law changes species by species and sometimes case by case, and this article is for general informational purposes only, not legal advice — a short verification call is far less costly than an enforcement action after the sale.