Zim,
First off, Congratulations on a Great animal!
I hope you didn't have to pay much for the mount though. You can tell its not good, and its not. You need to take it back and demand he fix it or you will spend the rest of your life looking at it as it is. It was a dream to take him, now don't let the dream be ruined by a bad mount job! Its tough to stand up when talking to a taxidermist, but if he is worth his salt he will fix it, and by the way, offer to give him a(( LITTLE)) (no more than 150 to $200 extra to fix it if you can afford it. In the end everyone will be happy.

Mount
 

Here is mine

Here is mine.It shouldn't be a problem to open stitches on top of head and reposition the skull plate.If it won't clear wall ,maybe a pedistal mount?Just an idea.

CONGRTAS on a fine bull Zim, do you have a picture of your elk dead or alive before skinning?
here is my wife's 2012 P&Y DIY NM bull, just got shipped in last week. Haven't had it officially scored yet but it is a 320ish bull before deductions.

Awesome bull! Done free range and the RIGHT way!

Great animal and I'm sure as heck you smile knowing you actually worked for your prize!

Fixed NM Elk
 

Well, I hung my elk up on the wall but really got tired of looking at the bad rack angle, so I did end up taking it back to the taxidermist and he fixed it. He remounted the antlers and did a pedestal mount. He made the rough sawn barnwood pedestal himself. I'm picking it up Monday.

He does not want me to pay any more, but I am. Because I know it took a lot of time, and I did not pay for a pedestal mount. So I will pay some more maybe $250 or $300.

Pretty darn impressive animal Zim. Looking back at the first mounting job, I can see what you meant about the antler angle now. Much nicer this way.

What up, Jay! Ya I don't have room for a pedestal mount, but it's so good too see this bull mounted correctly. The taxidermist was apologetic, and it's all good now, I hope. We'll see up close when I pick him up, but the photos were big scale and it looked good. It's not my biggest bull, but he's my most special because it was my first solo backpack trip, and I was way back up in the wilderness 5 miles. Then last month I fell down at work and tore cartilage in my left knee. I don't know if I will be able to do this type hunt again. I'll never be able to workout as hard as I used to.

The guy has my NH moose form in and has the rack mounted. Just working on the cape now. Should be done next week. I am departing for Wyoming Sept. 7th.

Hey I drew what could be a very special deer tag last Friday. My county just started allowing hunting on county land last year. This year they opened up their best quality unit, and I drew the first season Oct. 1 - Nov. 16th! It's 280 acres prime habitat and there's only 2 of us with tags, each with our own zones. Slammers live in that area so I am hopeful it's good as advertised.

NM Elk
 

Here's some field photos so you can see the country I had to climb up into above timberline. Shot him at 11,800'.

You can see the correct angle of the rack. The taxi had me send him these field photos so he could try to match that angle.