Taxidermy Laws in Washington: License Rules, Species Limits, and Penalties You Need to Know
September 27, 2026
Mounting a deer head or preserving a prized steelhead in Washington sounds simple until you learn the state charges $250 for a commercial taxidermy license, one of the highest fees of any state that regulates the trade. Taxidermy laws in Washington cover far more than that price tag. Whether you plan to open a mount shop, take in work for pay, or preserve your own legally taken elk, you need to know which permits apply, which species you’re allowed to possess, and how state rules stack on top of federal wildlife law.
This guide walks through Washington’s licensing structure, the species restrictions taxidermists and hunters run into most often, the federal migratory bird overlay that trips up even experienced mounters, and the penalties for getting any of it wrong. Where the rules leave gaps, such as what happens to an unclaimed mount, that’s flagged too, since not every scenario has a clean statutory answer.
Do You Need a Taxidermy License or Permit in Washington?
Washington requires a taxidermy license only when you’re practicing the trade for commercial purposes. RCW 77.65.480 spells out that a taxidermy license allows the holder to practice taxidermy for commercial purposes, as that term is defined in RCW 77.15.110. The license itself runs one hundred eighty dollars, with a seventy dollar application fee on top, bringing the total to $250 before you mount a single animal for a paying customer.
That combined fee is notably steep compared to other states. A national review of occupational licensing burdens found that every state charges a fee ranging from $12 in Mississippi and North Carolina to $250 in Washington, with an average of $78, and confirmed that Washington requires $250 in fees, no exams, no experience, and no education for the taxidermist occupational license, according to a 2018 Institute for Justice analysis. If you also buy or resell raw furs, you’ll need a separate license for that too, since a fur dealer license allows the holder to purchase, receive, or resell raw furs for profit in Washington state.
| License Type | Covers | License Fee | Application Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxidermy License | Commercial mounting, tanning, processing | $180 | $70 |
| Fur Dealer License | Buying, receiving, or reselling raw furs | $180 | $70 |
Pro Tip: If your shop handles both mounts and raw fur sales, budget for two separate license fees. The taxidermy license does not automatically cover fur dealing activity, and vice versa.
Commercial Taxidermy vs Mounting Your Own Legally Taken Wildlife in Washington
The commercial-purposes language in the statute matters because it draws a clear line: if you legally harvest game under Washington’s hunting laws and mount that animal yourself for your own wall, you’re generally not practicing taxidermy for profit, so the licensing requirement in RCW 77.65.480 doesn’t kick in the same way. The moment money changes hands for the work, though, you cross into commercial territory.
Washington also treats a properly tagged animal as your property once you’ve legally taken it. State guidance notes that lawfully-tagged wildlife is personal property, and theft of wildlife should be reported to WDFW Enforcement or local law enforcement. That distinction matters if a taxidermist goes out of business or disputes ownership of a mount mid-project, since the underlying animal was never the shop’s property to begin with.
Where people get tripped up is the occasional side job. Mounting a buddy’s buck for a case of beer or a flat fee still counts as commercial activity in the state’s eyes, even if it feels informal. That single unlicensed transaction is enough to trigger the penalties covered later in this guide.
What Species You Can and Cannot Mount in Washington (Game, Nongame, and Unprotected)
Washington splits wildlife into categories that determine what a taxidermist can legally receive and mount. Big game animals like deer, elk, bear, and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) come with strict evidence-of-sex and tagging rules that follow the carcass to the taxidermist’s door. Specifically, it is illegal to possess or transport big game animals unless evidence of the animal’s sex is left naturally attached to the carcass until the carcass is processed or stored for consumption.
If you’re separating the head for mounting from the meat for processing, you don’t have to violate that rule to get your trophy to the shop. State guidance explains that if you need to take the head to a taxidermist and the meat to be processed, you can complete a taxidermy ledger or invoice, providing information outlined under “Possession and Use of Wildlife” for the taxidermist, and keep the tag with the meat at the processor.
Bighorn sheep carry an extra layer of rules that taxidermists should know before accepting a set of horns:
- It is legal to possess the horns of a bighorn sheep ram originating in Washington, provided the hunter harvested the sheep and presents the horns to WDFW for required marking within 10 days of the harvest.
- Horns of bighorn sheep found dead in Washington must be left in the field, so a client who hands over horns from a dead-on-arrival ram found in the woods is handing you a legal problem.
- It is unlawful to offer a sale, sell, purchase, or barter bighorn sheep horns without a written permit authorized by the director.
On the other end of the spectrum, several nongame species carry almost no restrictions at all. Rock doves (pigeons), Eurasian collared doves, starlings, and house sparrows may be taken at any time, while crows may be taken during the crow season or in the act of depredation, and magpies may be taken only in the act of depredation. Coyotes fall into a similarly open category under Washington’s coyote hunting laws, making them a common, low-friction mount for taxidermists to accept.
Roadkill is a separate wrinkle. Not every animal found dead on a highway shoulder can simply be picked up and handed to a taxidermist; Washington’s roadkill laws govern who may legally salvage and possess a carcass before it ever reaches your shop. And regardless of how an animal was obtained, it is illegal to hunt, possess, maliciously harass, or kill endangered species without specific authorization, a rule that applies just as much to a taxidermist accepting a specimen as it does to the person who took it.
Key Insight: The 10-day marking window for bighorn sheep horns is one of the shortest compliance deadlines in Washington wildlife law. Taxidermists who routinely handle sheep mounts should confirm marking happened before accepting the work.
Federal Overlay You Still Must Follow: Migratory Bird Taxidermy Permits (MBTA)
State licensing is only half the picture for anyone mounting waterfowl, doves, or other migratory species for clients. Federal rules require their own permit layer, and the two systems are designed to interlock rather than operate independently. USFWS guidance is direct on this point: a Federal Taxidermy permit is required to perform taxidermy services on migratory birds or their parts, nests, or eggs for someone other than yourself, and applicants must apply as an individual and be at least 18 years old.
The federal permit doesn’t stand alone, either. It’s explicitly tied to whatever Washington requires at the state level: your permit is not valid unless you also are in compliance with State requirements, meaning that if your State requires a permit to perform taxidermy on migratory game birds, you must hold a valid State permit for your Federal permit to be valid. In practical terms, a taxidermist working on ducks or geese for hire needs the Washington taxidermy license and the federal permit together, not one or the other.
Not every bird carries this burden. English sparrows, common starlings, and feral pigeons (rock doves) are not native to the United States and are not protected by Federal law, so mounting those species for a client doesn’t require the federal permit at all. Anyone regularly working with waterfowl taken under Washington’s duck hunting laws should treat the federal permit as a standing requirement rather than a one-time paperwork exercise, since renewals matter too: a renewal application must be submitted at least 30 days prior to expiration, and if received on time, the permit remains valid beyond the expiration date until a decision is made.
Endangered, Threatened, and CITES Specimens in Washington
Endangered and protected species carry the strictest handling rules in the state, and taxidermists are not exempt just because they didn’t personally take the animal. Washington’s endangered species statute makes clear that a person is guilty of unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the second degree if the person hunts for, fishes for, possesses, maliciously harasses, or kills fish or wildlife designated by the commission as endangered without authorization. A repeat violation raises the stakes further, since a person is guilty of unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the first degree if previously convicted under that provision within a five-year period.
Protected species that aren’t formally endangered still carry criminal exposure. Unlawful taking of protected fish or wildlife is a misdemeanor, and the court must also require payment of a criminal wildlife penalty assessment for each animal taken or possessed when a conviction results in the death of listed wildlife.
Eagles deserve special mention because taxidermists occasionally receive eagle parts without realizing the legal weight involved. Under Washington’s wildlife rehabilitation rules, a primary permittee must send any and all remains of a golden eagle or bald eagle, including all talons, feathers, and other parts, to the National Eagle Repository following U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instructions, rather than allowing a taxidermist to mount them for a client.
Important Note: This article summarizes Washington and federal statutes as research located them, but CITES-listed international species, subspecies-level protections, and rapidly changing federal listings can shift outside of state law entirely. If you’re asked to mount anything involving imported wildlife, ivory, or a species you’re unsure about, confirm current status with WDFW or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before accepting the work. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific situation.
Recordkeeping, Tagging, and Inspection Rules for Taxidermists in Washington
Every licensed taxidermist in Washington operates under a detailed recordkeeping rule, and it’s one of the most frequently overlooked compliance areas in the trade. Under WAC 220-400-060, it is unlawful for a licensed taxidermist or furdealer, upon receiving wildlife for mounting, tanning, storage, or processing, to fail to record the taxidermist’s name, address, and business phone; the date the item was received; the hunter/taker’s name and address; the owner’s name and address; a description of the species received; the county where taken; the license, tag, permit, and seal number; and the date the completed item was returned to the original customer.
| Required Record Field |
|---|
| Taxidermist’s name, address, and business phone |
| Date the item was received |
| Hunter/taker’s name and address |
| Owner’s name and address |
| Species description |
| County where taken (GMU if available) |
| License, tag, permit, and seal number |
| Date completed item was returned to customer |
These records aren’t just for internal bookkeeping. The rule requires that the record be maintained for a minimum of two years or as long as the wildlife is retained by the taxidermist, kept in a central location either in a department-provided ledger or on sequentially numbered pre-printed invoices, and all records and wildlife held under taxidermy or furdealing statutes must be open to inspection by a wildlife agent at reasonable times. That includes voided paperwork, since taxidermists using invoice systems are required to keep every sequentially numbered form, not just the completed ones.
Some of the wildlife crossing a taxidermist’s counter arrives under a damage or nuisance permit rather than a standard hunting tag, particularly for animals removed under Washington’s nuisance wildlife laws. That permit number still has to make it into the ledger, since the recordkeeping rule doesn’t carve out an exception based on how the animal was legally obtained.
Unclaimed Mounts: Can a Taxidermist Sell Abandoned Work in Washington?
This is one area where Washington’s taxidermy statutes go quiet. The research located for this guide covers licensing, species rules, and recordkeeping in detail, but no dedicated state statute spells out what a taxidermist may do with a finished mount a customer never picks up. That’s a genuine gap, not an oversight in this summary.
In practice, taxidermists in this position are relying on general contract terms and broader personal-property principles rather than a taxidermy-specific abandonment law. A written work order that spells out a pickup deadline, storage fees after that date, and what happens if the customer never returns gives a shop something concrete to point to if a dispute arises.
Common Mistake: Assuming an unclaimed mount can simply be resold or discarded without documentation. Because the underlying wildlife was received under a recorded ledger entry tied to a specific owner, disposing of it without closing out that record the way WAC 220-400-060 requires can create a separate compliance problem on top of the ownership dispute.
If a shop regularly ends up with unclaimed work, it’s worth building the deadline language into every intake form rather than trying to sort out ownership after the fact. Taxidermists who also handle wildlife removal jobs alongside mounting work, a common overlap covered by Washington’s wildlife removal laws, face similar documentation gaps when animals or parts go unclaimed after a job.
Penalties for Unlicensed Taxidermy or Illegal Possession in Washington
Washington doesn’t treat unlicensed commercial taxidermy as a minor paperwork slip. Under RCW 77.15.600, a person who practices taxidermy for commercial purposes and does not hold a taxidermy license required by chapter 77.65 RCW is guilty of a crime, and engaging in commercial wildlife activities without a license is a gross misdemeanor, the same classification as unlicensed fur dealing.
Even licensed taxidermists aren’t automatically clear. A person who holds a taxidermy license is guilty of unlawful use of a commercial wildlife license if they fail to have the required license in their possession while practicing taxidermy for commercial purposes, and unlawful use of a commercial wildlife license is a misdemeanor even when the license itself is valid and current.
| Violation | Classification | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial taxidermy without a license | Gross misdemeanor | RCW 77.15.600 |
| Practicing without license in possession | Misdemeanor | RCW 77.15.610 |
| Unauthorized taking/possession of protected wildlife | Misdemeanor + penalty assessment | RCW 77.15.130 |
| Unlawful taking of endangered wildlife (repeat) | Elevated misdemeanor | RCW 77.15.120 |
The financial exposure compounds quickly on the wildlife-possession side. Where a violation involves protected or endangered animals, each individual animal unlawfully taken or possessed is a separate offense, meaning a shop caught with five illegally possessed mounts isn’t facing one charge, it’s facing five. District courts share jurisdiction with superior courts over misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, while superior courts handle any felony-level violations that arise under the broader fish and wildlife enforcement code.
Important Note: This section summarizes criminal classifications under Washington statute for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice. Anyone facing an actual charge or compliance question should consult a licensed Washington attorney or contact WDFW directly.
Where to Apply and Who to Call in Washington (Wildlife Agency + USFWS)
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is the agency that issues the state taxidermy license, and the process runs through a single form. A taxidermy license allows the holder to practice taxidermy for profit in Washington state, and applicants apply through WDFW’s Special License Application, where applicants must comply with criteria stated in the Washington Administrative Code.
- Complete WDFW’s Special License Application for a taxidermy license.
- Pay the combined $250 in fees: $180 for the license and $70 for the application.
- Set up your recordkeeping ledger or sequentially numbered invoices before accepting your first animal, per WAC 220-400-060.
- If you’ll handle migratory birds for clients, apply separately for the USFWS Federal Taxidermy Permit using Form 3-200-8.
- Include a copy of your current Washington state license with any federal renewal, submitted at least 30 days before expiration.
On the federal side, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office handles both new applications and ongoing account changes. Any address or location changes or other circumstances affecting your permit must be reported to your Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office in writing within 10 days so the permit can be amended. Keep both your state license number and your federal permit number on hand any time WDFW or USFWS conducts a records check, since either agency can request to see them together.
Between the state license, the recordkeeping ledger, and the federal permit for migratory birds, Washington’s taxidermy framework asks for more paperwork than most hobbyists expect. Getting each piece in place before you accept your first paying client is far simpler than untangling a gross misdemeanor charge after the fact.