At what point do you start calling your taxidermist?
- Thread starter Currycm
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FlatlanderAZ
Well-known member
Has he called and asked for your horns yet? My current taxi is about 8 months on most animals, even my moose. But the last one took over 2 years and moved to another state with my B&C antelope.
If he cant complete it before the following(and its new business) season he shouldn't take your work. I got my 2020 muley back last month, fall taxi i expect back in spring/summer, bear hides getting fleshed and tanned take about 3 months. I do know there were some supply issues with molds and eyes last year coming from china but he should communicate that with you. When you take a mount in ask "when should i expect it" if its more than a year take it elsewhere, if you leave it stop by or call guy when he told you to expect it.
He's had both racks since I dropped the hides off.
When I dropped the elk off, he said 6 months as he planned to move it up in the order since it has a large drop tine. Then the pandemic impacted the eyes. Then all of his wood working tools (to build the pedestal) were in Wyoming since they had spent most of the summer renovating their cabin. When I took him the pronghorn, he said he'd get them both to me at the same time.
thusby
Well-known member
Yes, its not uncommon for any grade of taxidermist to take longer than a year. I had a walleye take 2-1/2 years before the guy called me. It takes Birdman about 2 years to finish a duck. I got back a life-size bear mount in 5 months. It almost feels random.
RobertD
Well-known member
Working for a taxidermist the past year and a half, I can talk a little inside baseball that might help you out here.
I don't know your guy or how busy he is, and I don't know if he tans in-house or not. All that can make a difference.
Right now there are issues w/ materials that are plaguing taxidermists nationwide. COVID stuff, scarcity of foam due to demand and (from what I've heard) a plant that burned down, etc. has made getting forms all screwed up. Currently we're waiting on an order of whitetail forms for the third or fourth time this year, knocking us off schedule. Have had to jump around and use different suppliers and such to keep forms around just to be able to continue making progress on our deer.
Also COVID knocked a lot of tanneries out of production last year and they're now dealing with serious backlog issues. We just got two bear hides back that were sent out last fall. Came in a few days ago. We tan shoulder mounts in-house but those who don't may be running into the same issues there as well.
So there are a few reasons to cut him some slack - it's just a weird time in the taxidermy world.
All that being said your elk has taken long enough that you've got a right to feel a bit impatient. If he truly takes limited customers it ought to have been done by now or at least soon. The pronghorn is still within the range of what I'd call normal, though. Just give him a call and ask to check on your animals and hopefully he'll have some insight.
I don't know your guy or how busy he is, and I don't know if he tans in-house or not. All that can make a difference.
Right now there are issues w/ materials that are plaguing taxidermists nationwide. COVID stuff, scarcity of foam due to demand and (from what I've heard) a plant that burned down, etc. has made getting forms all screwed up. Currently we're waiting on an order of whitetail forms for the third or fourth time this year, knocking us off schedule. Have had to jump around and use different suppliers and such to keep forms around just to be able to continue making progress on our deer.
Also COVID knocked a lot of tanneries out of production last year and they're now dealing with serious backlog issues. We just got two bear hides back that were sent out last fall. Came in a few days ago. We tan shoulder mounts in-house but those who don't may be running into the same issues there as well.
So there are a few reasons to cut him some slack - it's just a weird time in the taxidermy world.
All that being said your elk has taken long enough that you've got a right to feel a bit impatient. If he truly takes limited customers it ought to have been done by now or at least soon. The pronghorn is still within the range of what I'd call normal, though. Just give him a call and ask to check on your animals and hopefully he'll have some insight.
brownbear932008
Well-known member
I just dropped by a few weeks ago to say hi and hang out and talked to my guy. He actually repeated some of the same issues stated above. He is now two years out in work. He gets a ton of bears and it really slows him down also as it's a lot of full body mount work and takes time.
The price of lumber he said has really put a hurting on him also recently. Lots of abnormal things going on right now it seems like.
The price of lumber he said has really put a hurting on him also recently. Lots of abnormal things going on right now it seems like.
Nick87
Well-known member
Guy I used to use was 18 months, hes retired now. I always figured the quality was worth the wait. The taxidermist is one guy I never try to rush as long as it's right I dont mind waiting a little bit.
OntarioHunter
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The pandemic has really screwed things up for sure. We've had trouble getting supplies ... and getting the right stuff on our orders. Really pisses me off when the big supplier sends the wrong eyes ... repeatedly. I don't think they have ever not screwed up an order. In desperation my daughter tried a new outfit for repro fish mannequin. Big salmon arrived this week and it is absolute JUNK. Like $500 junk! "Oh, you should have ordered paint-ready if you didn't plan on doing any work." It would take 200 hours to make that thing half way presentable ... and even that much work would be a crap shoot. No taxidermist could ever make money fixing up something like that. He's balking at taking it back. I'll post his name on here if he doesn't!
We have a half done muley pedestal mount setting in the basement now because I'm stuck in quarantine and baby grandaughter is bouncing in and out of hospital. Daughter dropped off a fresh tanned whitetail cape yesterday for me to put in the fridge and I gave her hell for taking new clients. I feel she should turn them away if they can't get their stuff done in eight or nine months. I don't have storage space for a dozen half finished projects.
We have a half done muley pedestal mount setting in the basement now because I'm stuck in quarantine and baby grandaughter is bouncing in and out of hospital. Daughter dropped off a fresh tanned whitetail cape yesterday for me to put in the fridge and I gave her hell for taking new clients. I feel she should turn them away if they can't get their stuff done in eight or nine months. I don't have storage space for a dozen half finished projects.
I am extremely patient with taxidermists as they have a skill that I do not and I generally just leave them to do their work and hope to be called in a reasonable time to pick it up. At this point, when I take something in, regardless of who it is, I expect a full year to pass before I expect to hear from them or I even think to bug them about it.
What I have going on right now is a different situation. I took a whitetail in December of 2019 and it's still not finished. The taxidermist has posted several completed animals that were killed during the fall of 2020. I understand maybe those people paid more to get their mounts done early, but getting my mount and money pushed to the back of the pile and now being almost 18 months out rubs me the wrong way. If he was having issues with supplies, materials, tanning, etc that was pushing work back to 18-24 months I would be understanding. But seeing social media posts of animals done in 4-6 months and still I am waiting at damn near 18 months is becoming an issue.
What I have going on right now is a different situation. I took a whitetail in December of 2019 and it's still not finished. The taxidermist has posted several completed animals that were killed during the fall of 2020. I understand maybe those people paid more to get their mounts done early, but getting my mount and money pushed to the back of the pile and now being almost 18 months out rubs me the wrong way. If he was having issues with supplies, materials, tanning, etc that was pushing work back to 18-24 months I would be understanding. But seeing social media posts of animals done in 4-6 months and still I am waiting at damn near 18 months is becoming an issue.
Don K
Active member
Pick up the phone, give him a shout and say hello and ask how things are going.
OntarioHunter
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Yep. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
OntarioHunter
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We had an interesting situation come up a few months back. Client brought in a moose head for euro mount. Right away he starts bellyaching about price. Moose euros are a pain in the ass because positioning of horns does not allow for total immersion of skull. Then when we peeled the skin back the nose bones are busted up because they wrapped a rope around it when dragging it out with a quad. So I call the guy up and tell him maybe we can do it but it's gonna cost a lot more to reshape and repair bones. No guarantees either. He accuses us of highballing him. I sent him a photo of damaged skull but he's still whining. Says it's our responsibility and even talking about small claims court. My daughter sent me a photo of the guy with moose in the truck. Noose is still around the nose. More importantly, I recognize this douche as a former client back in my days at the law office. The firm represented him in a domestic abuse matter but shortly afterwards he did time in prison for running a stolen car chop shop. I called the guy up and told him to come get the skull. Now he's crying "Can't you do something with it?" Sure, cap mount. Take it or leave it and full payment up front. And I want to see the tag before we touch it again (daughter's mistake for not collecting it in the first place). And no more whining about the price! Show up with the cash and tag by close of business or look for this skull in the dumpster. He complied and I did a good job for him. Then I had to hound him to come pick it up. Huge bull rack taking up too much space in our tiny showroom. I sent him a text: "If I move it to the garage I can't guarantee the mice won't chew it up." That got him moving. Hopefully we won't see him again.
RobertD
Well-known member
This is crazy to read because we're sitting on a moose skull with the exact same problem. Nose is broken on one side and bent towards the broken side.
This is a repair of someone else's work, mind you. So we didn't have to boil or clean the skull. He claims the moose broke it before he killed it, but I suspect he broke it himself after another taxidermist did the euro job for him. I wish he'd let us just cap the thing.
Sorry to hijack your thread OP, just was surprised to see another taxidermy shop has been fighting with a broken moose nose like we have.
OntarioHunter
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You need to point out to client that if your repair job winds up looking like crap and you have to redo it as a cap mount, he will be paying for two taxidermy jobs instead of one. That's what made our tightwad client do a reality check and go with cap mount. And of course always carry on these discussions via text or email for documenting later if necessary.
I know a very good and VERY reputable taxidermist in Montana who will flat tell you two years to get your stuff back.
I wouldn’t be worried about timelines so much as lack of transparency and honest communication.
Nick87
Well-known member
Yup, the good ones are usually busy.
