What's a reasonable price for getting a European mount?

[jpc01101]

$100 and get a “skull hooker” to display it, can buy to hang on wall or sit on a table/cabinet to display.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I think I’ve been paying $45-50 and ordering the plaques from taxidermists woodshop.

That doesn't even cover the cost of beer.

 

[2rocky]

I traded the cape for a beetled euro. some folks think i got robbed, others think I did ok...He caped it.

 

[Tikka06]

That doesn't even cover the cost of beer.

It’s a high school kid but he does a good job.

 

[The Hedgehog]

It’s a high school kid but he does a good job.

you're ripping that poor kid off. you should be ashamed.

 

[Corn king 60]

Yeah if someone is doing pressure washer euros for less than a hundo I would want to see their work first

I used to use Beatles for years but have gone to the power washer. I do 4-6 a year ( whitetail) for family and friends,never charged a cent.

 

[RobertD]

I traded the cape for a beetled euro. some folks think i got robbed, others think I did ok...He caped it.

How could you have got robbed when you traded something you had no use for (cape) for something you wanted (beetled euro)? Lol.

I used to use Beatles for years but have gone to the power washer. I do 4-6 a year ( whitetail) for family and friends,never charged a cent.

Looks good! Why did you switch? Tired of feeding beetles? I do a deer now and then but always w pressure washer

I would like to have some beetles. I would start euroing hogs if I had beetles. I use a pressure washer for deer

 

[Corn king 60]

How could you have got robbed when you traded something you had no use for (cape) for something you wanted (beetled euro)? Lol.

Looks good! Why did you switch? Tired of feeding beetles? I do a deer now and then but always w pressure washer

I would like to have some beetles. I would start euroing hogs if I had beetles. I use a pressure washer for deer

Yeah kinda a pain with Beatles unless you have heads to do most of the year. They did like hotdogs. Now I just throw them in a large old chest freezer until im ready to spend a weekend skinning, power washing, and bleaching. Only food is gas . Beatles were good though.

 

[Gellar]

you're ripping that poor kid off. you should be ashamed.

Thats like 8 cases of natty light. That kids the coolest kid in school right now.

 

[Hem]

you're ripping that poor kid off. you should be ashamed.

I had a local guy that did an antelope for $35 a few years back. Last year the upstart neighborhood twins charged me $75. The price wasn't conveyed beforehand. I was appalled despite the perfect job.
They are too young for beer.

 

[Valley1320]

$200 with price of propane and all now and if you want someone that does a good job that makes it look nice in our area

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I think my shop charges around $150 but after the first two they did years ago I decided to start doing my own. The cost in materials and equipment paid for themselves the first year

Time is money though and it takes me about a full day from start to finish on a uncaped head.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I am the recipient of a shiny new MT FWP taxidermy license so I’m in business. Not for $75 though. Unless there’s a giant stack of green cans involved with it.

 

[buckbull]

Im spoiled. These cost me $100 which includes a nice plaque. The plaques are made by the local high school shop class.

 

[Magnum Sherpa]

You got a dermestid beetle business around? Our local place (Big Sky Beetleworks) will turn around a museum quality bleached antelope skull for between $65-$105. Price scale is dependent on how much skinning/eye removal prep work you do. Those flesh eating beetles are extra thorough and clean things out well enough that the fragile nasal turbines stay intact. Not quick, but worth the wait to me.

My last experience with Big Sky Beetleworks in 2018 was not good, definitely not “museum quality” work. The elk skull stunk when I got it back and continued to stink for at least 6 months. Then it yellowed terribly. The turbinates were crumbled and deteriorating. I’m pretty sure it was boiled and not beetled, although I was promised and paid for beetle cleaning. I’m not saying all his work is bad or poor quality, but mine certainly was.

 

[glass eye]

So $175 is on the high end but not scamming then.

If someone charges more than that it's not a scam. Don't like the price take it somewhere else or diy.
Personally for the amount of time involved compared to what I could be doing working on something else, I feel like I'm cheating myself.
I do Euros as a service to my customers but I ain't getting rich off it.
With CWD impacting travel with skulls you either need to leave it in the state you killed it and pay the price or cap the skull.
I was charging $220 but I just went up to $280. Think it's a scam ? diy or take it somewhere else. Beetles do the cleanest work and usually cheap, but unless you have someone nearby that has beetles then you'll have to ship it and that gets expensive.

 

[Dawson]

Just depends on the quality, I usually charge $125 which is probably on the lower end, I don’t mind doing them and I usually try to get them done in bigger batches when I get them

 

[Beignet]

My last experience with Big Sky Beetleworks in 2018 was not good, definitely not “museum quality” work. The elk skull stunk when I got it back and continued to stink for at least 6 months. Then it yellowed terribly. The turbinates were crumbled and deteriorating. I’m pretty sure it was boiled and not beetled, although I was promised and paid for beetle cleaning. I’m not saying all his work is bad or poor quality, but mine certainly was.

That’s disappointing to hear. Between myself and a couple friends we’ve had a few heads in there over the last three or so years and have all been pretty happy. That’s not to say that I doubt nor am especially surprised about your experience. Would’ve been nice if he were more transparent if he was having some beetle issues and boiled the head you took to him. I will say that it took him about the same amount of time that it takes to gestate a human baby with last season’s skull, which I wasn’t particularly thrilled about. Maybe it’s hard to find and retain good beetle help I today’s economy? (Haha)

All that said, my neighbor shot a stud whitetail the same weekend I shot my mule deer last year and she had the thing boiled and soaking in peroxide before I even got in the car and drove down to him, let alone the nine months it took to get it back.

 

[Butcher]

Here in iowa I have a local guy that power washes heads and does a great job for $50. But the place I get my shoulder Mounts done charges $150.

 

[Bambistew]

I'm about to fire up the pressure washer on one. A local guy charges 130 for a moose. I almost took it to him... but I like doing it and so do my dogs.