Bad decision on Taxidermist

[Dink1v2]

Ok...Here's the story...The ten pointer I harvested Oct. 22nd 2008 has been at the taxidermist since the beginning of Nov. 2008 until today...Unfortunately he never actually got started on the mounting part...I paid the man $200.00 just to begin and planned on paying the rest when the mount was done...Every time I would contact him to see how it was going he had an excuse as to why he hadn't started...Now we all know when you get a trophy to the taxidermist it takes some time but this man had told me it would be done by the end of Oct. 2008...I had my hopes up and I can't tell you how disappointed I have been not to have this buck in my home...So today I had enough and went and picked up my 10...This guy had already caped him out but that was all...It cost me $75.00 dollars just for that ...I then took my deer to another taxidermist who I have heard nothing but good things about and after seeing a lot of his work that was there I think I'm going to be very satisfied with the results...I am due to get him back in April and as soon as I do I will post pictures...I am attaching a picture of this high dollar 10...What should have cost me $400.00 or less is now going to cost over $600.00...Moral of the story? Be careful who you choose to mount your trophy, check for references and ask for pictures of their work if nothing else...Most importantly get receipts with the amount you put down and the date of completion on it...I recommend this even if you know them...Lets face it...It's not every year the average hunter takes an animal they are going to mount so when it happens it is special but speaking from experience it can be a nightmare!!! A very costly nightmare!!!

PS...Hopefully I will have a happy ending to this story come April?...

[4Pointer]

DANG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE EVERYTHING TURNS OUT FOR YA,,
LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT HAWG'S NECK,,,, I'D BE A LITTLE P~O TOO..
LIKE THEY SAY WE ALL LIVE AND LEARN,,, BUT NOT THAT WAY ..
I HAD SOMETHING DONE TO ME LIKE THAT ,,I PAID IN FULL AND NEVER PAID NO MIND ,,WENT BACK TO PICK UP MY 2~TANNED OUT COYOTES TO HANG .
HE TOLD ME THE PRICE AND IT WENT UP,,I MEANED DOUBLED,,,
I PULLED OUT THE PAPER AND READ IT,,HE SAID ONE THING AND WROTE DOWN ANOTHER,,,AS IT GOES I DON'T HAVE THEM AND WOULD NEVER PAY THAT FOE THEM,,,, " SORRY DINK TO RAVE ON YOUR POST ""
GREAT 10 YA GOT THERE,,CONGRATS..

[Wing~Bone]

Congrats on a great deer!! Sorry to hear that you had such bad luck with the taxidermist. Hopefully this next one will work out better for you!!

[Kt29]

Hope ya get it back and done up the way you like it. Seems like just about everything anymore is a crapshoot. In this part of the world, it takes nearly a year to get a mount back from the taxidermist. If you get yours back in 'April, I'd say thats pretty darn good service. It will be great to see a pic of it when you get it back.

[LongSpur39]

I know all about bad taxidermist's,all too well. Yep you really have to take your time when choosing one. Once you find a good one with decent prices,it'll become automatic. My future brother in law took a coyote to a particular taxidermist. I tried warning him,he didn't listen! He has no coyote and is out of his deposit. The guy mounted someone elses coyote,I found out from 2 yrs ago. He tried pawning it off on him. His hide is forever gone,apparently it was damaged when being stretched on the form. I made sure I spread the word,about this guy! i hope he's not calling taxidermy his career. He'll never retire! ;D

[moordeer]

Sorry to hear about your luck. The average wait for my taxidermist is around 10 months to a year,so you will be doing good to get it back in April. I have had the bad taxidermist experience also. The guys that charge more are doing so because they are talented, that is the rule of thumb around here. Dont get me wrong there are some decent guys doing it for half the price but thats what you get is just a decent mount.

[Dink1v2]

I think you are exactly right moordeer...I have a bear with the same guy I just got my Buck back from...He says the hide is still at the tanners...he asked me if I would still allow him to mount my bear and I have agreed...The fact is around here my odds for getting an even bigger bear are a lot greater than that of the 10 pointer like the one I havested...I'm willing to take a chance with the bear and since I haven't seen a lot of the mans work maybe he'll do a good job??? If not I learned a lesson...

[Abolt270]

Natures Art will do you a good job. I think you will be real happy with his work. He told me that I would have my sons head back before Christmas, We took it to him on Oct 29 and got it back the first of Dec. he did a great job