Taxidermy

[Dixie07]

I just got notification that my deer mount is ready to picked up from 2011, along with a picture of it. The first thing I noticed was that it was looking to the right, rather to the left like I requested. I have not talked to the taxidermist about it. I was wanting to know how you guys would go about handling this?

 

[Ryan Avery]

I had a friend have this happen to him. He told the man either he was getting a nice discount or the head was getting redone! I believe he paid half price for the mount. This of course only works if you have that option. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Dixie07]

I am planning on going to talk to him tomorrow, so well see how it goes...

 

[trevore]

Do you have a copy of an invoice or work order that states your directions?

 

[Dixie07]

I do not have a copy, from now on I will be getting one. He did write it down, so hopefully I can look at that.

 

[Matt Cashell]

A good taxidermist won't want you spreading bad news about him. Ask him nicely to work with you.

Once you agree on something, have him write it down, and document everything from here on out. Make sure he lists on this agreement what you have already paid him, and any refunds he gives you.

 

[johnson taxidermy]

I am thinking that when you both talked about the turn of the mount,he took it as if you were standing behind it,it would be looking left. If you are looking at it then it would be looking to your right.I always ask as if I was standing behind it which way do you want it looking.

 

[Dixie07]

I am thinking that when you both talked about the turn of the mount,he took it as if you were standing behind it,it would be looking left. If you are looking at it then it would be looking to your right.I always ask as if I was standing behind it which way do you want it looking.

When we talked about it, he suggested looking left as if you were standing behind it, which I agreed would be the best, and he wrote that done, but then did the opposite. I guess mistakes just happen some times.

 

[Evan Williams]

I know that it happened to mine this year. I had made the request that he be turned a certain direction because a quartering too shot and left a hole that would have to be stitched up and if he was turned the opposite direction it would be a cleaner mount. And when I got it back he had mixed up my form and my boss' form.

He did a really good job cleaning things up and I didn't make a fuss about it because he did the work for free as "advertisement" to hang it up in the shop. Most guys don't notice it and he is a stellar mount.

I would be sure to have a calm and THOUGHT out conversation with him. Like it was mentioned about. Taxidermists aren't looking for a bad rep because the majority of their business is word of mouth referrals and he should be willing to work with you but you need to also be willing to work with him.

 

[WV Hunter]

Maybe the picture is mirrored

 

[Dixie07]

I know that it happened to mine this year. I had made the request that he be turned a certain direction because a quartering too shot and left a hole that would have to be stitched up and if he was turned the opposite direction it would be a cleaner mount. And when I got it back he had mixed up my form and my boss' form.

He did a really good job cleaning things up and I didn't make a fuss about it because he did the work for free as "advertisement" to hang it up in the shop. Most guys don't notice it and he is a stellar mount.

I would be sure to have a calm and THOUGHT out conversation with him. Like it was mentioned about. Taxidermists aren't looking for a bad rep because the majority of their business is word of mouth referrals and he should be willing to work with you but you need to also be willing to work with him.

Yeah, I'm not planning on being a dick. He is a super nice guy, I'm sure if anything it was just an honest mistake. The mount doesn't look bad by any means (from the picture anyway), so I suppose I will just find out this evening for sure.

 

[Dixie07]

Maybe the picture is mirrored

I thought the same thing originally, but due to the symmetry of the rack, you can definitely tell that is not the case.

 

[Dixie07]

Well, I went and picked up my mount on Wednesday. I don't know if I just told him to do the wrong thing, or he didn't understand or what, but anyways I thought it looked very nice the way it ended up. I ended up not even saying anything about it. I would definitely take another animal to him, I will just be more precise next time. Anyways, here is a picture of the mount on my wall.

 

[muleman]

Nice buck, love the eye guards. Glad your happy with the end result.

 

[WV Hunter]

Turned out great and a very nice buck. The important thing is you're happy

 

[Titaniumman]

Sweet buck, sometimes we just have to chalk these things up to experience and move on

 

[Jared Bloomgren]

I think the buck is turned in the best position. The way it is now his stronger side is more visible.

Picture this. You kill 2 nice deer, one early season one late season deer....you go pick them up and the hides are switched around on them. Needless to say I did not take anything back to that guy.

 

[bigmoose]

I think the buck is turned in the best position. The way it is now his stronger side is more visible.

Picture this. You kill 2 nice deer, one early season one late season deer....you go pick them up and the hides are switched around on them. Needless to say I did not take anything back to that guy.

Yeah, no kidding. My father and sister both killed good bucks in Nevada one year and I took them in to be mounted. One buck had a real nice dark cape and the other a red/light brown cape and the taxidermist switched them when he mounted them. It was very obvious when I showed him the photos but he swore he got it right. It still bugs me when I visit them and see the heads on the wall.

Moose

 

[Matt Cashell]

That is terrible, Jared!

Did you have them remounted?

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I may have one of the worst taxidermy stories of them all. I almost cry thinking of it.

My son at 14 years old, with 4 bonus points beat the odds and drew a non resident Arizona desert sheep tag. He took a very nice 160 class ram. My son loved the looks of European mounts, so we left the ram with a reputable taxidermist in Arizona to do the European mount and my son sold the cape through the same taxidermist. That was December 2008. The sheep had sinusitis and was missing a chunk of horn near the base of the right horn. The taxidermist and I spoke many times and he was understandably having trouble pulling the horn off the core on the weakened horn.

After over 2 years, and many calls to the taxidermist, I said if the horn broke trying to pull it, we would just have to do that and then repair the horn, but we really needed to get the ram finished and to my son. I continued to make follow up calls.

Two weeks ago after 3.5 years the mount arrived. It was packed in a cardboard box which made me cringe when I saw it as I have always received mounts in wooden crates. I unpacked the box and the mount was sparsely wrapped in bubble pack. The weak horn was broken completely off and there were several large flakes of horn floating around in the box (it is clear the horn had been broken at the taxidermist and repaired because of the exposed metal all-thread inside the horn). Besides that the skull had been cut off down to the skull plate and wrapped in brown leather which is not a European mount. It was on an oak base and even not considering the broken horn, it looked terribly cheesy. The taxidermist has since told me he was unable to save the skull, yet never called me to see if it was okay to cut the skull off.

I have spent many hours over the last couple weeks on a local hunting forum and calling and emailing taxidermists in Oregon to find one who I felt comfortable could handle the repair. I chose one and got a quote.

I then contacted the original taxidermist and left a detailed and respectful message about the broken mount. He returned my call and said "what did you do to it". He said I could sent it back to him for repair. I told him I was very uncomfortable doing that considering the history. He understood, and has agreed to pay for the repair. I still have not said who the taxidermist is, as he has worked many years to build his reputation. That could change if he is unwilling to pay fully for the repair.

The guy I have located here in Oregon I understand is apparently one of the top sheep taxidermists in the state. He also does his own reproduction skulls, and from the photos I have seen, they look amazing. Tomorrow, a guy from his shop will be in my area to pick up the ram (taxidermist is 3 hours away). He has promised to be done before Christmas (6 months) which I greatly appreciate. That will be right at the 4 year mark since my son shot the sheep. He was a freshman in high school when he got the ram, and just graduated from high school.