15 years ago, it was nothing to pay $350 to get a deer head mounted.
That was about the going rate.
Then the local taxidermist won a bunch of competitions and started his own school and now his time and work is worth a lot more money.
5 years ago, my Brother Tom shot a nice 10 point buck. It was about the 10th rack that I had taken to this guy. At the same time, this guy also has done at least a dozen mounts for my brother in law - who would like to be a professional hunter if he could.
So - me saying that maybe I deserve a better price for my deer mounts would be a understatement. While my Brother shot a nice buck last year and I talked him into getting it mounted.
IN all actuality, he had hunted on this particular piece of ground since he was 12 years old and as far as I know, this was only about his 4th buck that he had shot in his entire life and was the first buck he had ever shot at camp. So this deer was pretty special to him. 185 lbs field dressed in Pennsylvania is a very large deer in the big woods.
The taxidermist wanted $575.00 and my brother paid him cash the same day he had the deer caped out. He just got it back about a month ago. So there was no preferential treatment here.
I would only imagine that with the economy being as bad as it has been that this year his prices will probably be in the range of $600.00 for a shoulder mount.
A Elk I would imagine is around $1000.00
He never seems to run out of work, as a matter of fact, there is always a waiting list of customers waiting to get their animals mounted by him and his staff. By the time he gets all his last years animals mounted, it will be Turkey Season and he will have to start all over again.