deer mounts
01-29-2006 | 07:16 AM
#51
Typical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 705
Likes: 0
From: Wall NJ
RE: deer mounts
Talk is cheap, I say if your happy with who your useing than stay with them, if not then look around. There are good and great taxidermist out there. The choice is the customers.I have shops in my area that charge $225.00 up to $725.00 for a deer shoulder mount,and there is a differance. But if you look around and ask people who know what the animal looks like you can find a price in the middle. If you want to!!!! I price my work so I can make a liveing and still enjoy what I do. Thanks
Rich
wwwrgswildlifetaxidermy.com
Rich
wwwrgswildlifetaxidermy.com
01-29-2006 | 10:09 AM
#52
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
RE: deer mounts
Windwalker7 1/28/2006 8:33:39 PMWhy wouldn't you touch it for $550? The same guy did a life size 200 lb. black bear for me 2 years ago and charged $600 for it. He does good work cheap. I know his work isn't competition quality but its good. I'm typical of most hunters.I want my animals back without waiting years for it and I don't want to pay twice as much, either.
It is true, there are guys out their that won't make you wait, are cheap and do good work. Look at those 2 moose. One cost twice as much as the other.
I know taxidermist need to make a living and all, but some of us hunters still like to price shop.
I've even been messing around a little with taxidermy myself. I want to save even more money. I mounted a doe for a 12 year old boy and have only around $75 dollars in it.
I used a pressure washer to flesh it and used JRTS to tan it. I think it turned out OK
It is true, there are guys out their that won't make you wait, are cheap and do good work. Look at those 2 moose. One cost twice as much as the other.
I know taxidermist need to make a living and all, but some of us hunters still like to price shop.
I've even been messing around a little with taxidermy myself. I want to save even more money. I mounted a doe for a 12 year old boy and have only around $75 dollars in it.
I used a pressure washer to flesh it and used JRTS to tan it. I think it turned out OK
First offI do taxidermy as a part time job in my garage. I have a full time job at a local Marine as as a Civilian Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic. I am probably the cheapest in my areaI am setting at $300 for a Whitetail shoulder mount.
Why wouldn't i touch aMoose for $550 dollars? BecauseI am not making any money, thats why.
Form (avg. size moose)............................$135
Tanning (sent off to tannery)....................$200
Eyes, Clay, ear liners, etc.........................$30
Shipping for the form and other supplies......$20
Shipping to and from the tannery...............$35
----------------------------------------------------
Total.......$420
Just for supplies it is costing me $420 dollars, and thats for a small to medium moose. It would probably take me 20 hours to mount that moose. I would be working for $5.05 an hour. Would you work for that? I might have a day job but I'm not going to work for free. I make $16.40 an hour at my day job. I figgureI should make that doing taxidermy. I put more hours in doing taxidermy thatI do my day job.
01-29-2006 | 03:19 PM
#53
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 613
Likes: 0
From: Brockport, NY
RE: deer mounts
Just some replies here...
Bionic, good examples, I understand your point about how guys will pony up for a great hunt, then go cheap on taxidermy. BUT...I think theres some differences to recognize. The guys who go cheap and then b*tch about the work, they are the ones we openly question. The part that lasts the longest, taxidermy, the memory, and they chinz. And after all that, they arent happy. But there are others. Some go less expensive because they simply cannot justify, (not afford), but justify the higher price for what theyre getting. I can respect that. Then theres guys like windwalker, for example. He is honest, he LIKES what hes getting, he has already repeatedly stated he sees NO difference in the high dollar work and what hes getting. Hes not going cheap, hes going with what pleases him. Like Ive said a bazillion times here lately, thats the system working like a charm! When I state this, some feel its my backhanded slight, but its not, I really mean it. One of my better friends in the biz in this area is also one of the worst taxidermists. Hes happy, he doesnt boast, and best yet, hes within miles of me and still just as busy! Again, the system working like a charm.
Michelle makes a good point too. $1200 is the going rate for an Alaskan moose, and we all know the overhead on the mount, plus the studio overhead. Personally, I think if a guy can find someone doing $500 moose, and they like the work, get it done there. I think the taxidermist could get a few hundred more dollars for the same mount, but its not my call.
Lastly, the guys who said earlier that us taxidermists who have such a backlog arent very good businessmen because we arent smart enough to see the obvious and hire help...maybe we ARE smart enough. The headaches related to having a 2 year return time are nothing compared to the headaches of having a 3 or 4 man studio, dealing with in-house egos, the scheduling, taxes, medical benefits, disability insurances, cash flow, etc. Thats where $1500 moose mounts come from! I knowtwo successful taxidermy studios in Jersey that would LOVE to expand, they both do great work. Bionic could probably back me up on this one...the real estate prices are astronomical in Jersey, like in the millions. Its simply not possible for these guys to go bigger. Bionic, was your deer done by Jim Kelly, by any chance?
And Rich, you hit it, thats the key. Make a living and still enjoy what we do!
Bionic, good examples, I understand your point about how guys will pony up for a great hunt, then go cheap on taxidermy. BUT...I think theres some differences to recognize. The guys who go cheap and then b*tch about the work, they are the ones we openly question. The part that lasts the longest, taxidermy, the memory, and they chinz. And after all that, they arent happy. But there are others. Some go less expensive because they simply cannot justify, (not afford), but justify the higher price for what theyre getting. I can respect that. Then theres guys like windwalker, for example. He is honest, he LIKES what hes getting, he has already repeatedly stated he sees NO difference in the high dollar work and what hes getting. Hes not going cheap, hes going with what pleases him. Like Ive said a bazillion times here lately, thats the system working like a charm! When I state this, some feel its my backhanded slight, but its not, I really mean it. One of my better friends in the biz in this area is also one of the worst taxidermists. Hes happy, he doesnt boast, and best yet, hes within miles of me and still just as busy! Again, the system working like a charm.
Michelle makes a good point too. $1200 is the going rate for an Alaskan moose, and we all know the overhead on the mount, plus the studio overhead. Personally, I think if a guy can find someone doing $500 moose, and they like the work, get it done there. I think the taxidermist could get a few hundred more dollars for the same mount, but its not my call.
Lastly, the guys who said earlier that us taxidermists who have such a backlog arent very good businessmen because we arent smart enough to see the obvious and hire help...maybe we ARE smart enough. The headaches related to having a 2 year return time are nothing compared to the headaches of having a 3 or 4 man studio, dealing with in-house egos, the scheduling, taxes, medical benefits, disability insurances, cash flow, etc. Thats where $1500 moose mounts come from! I knowtwo successful taxidermy studios in Jersey that would LOVE to expand, they both do great work. Bionic could probably back me up on this one...the real estate prices are astronomical in Jersey, like in the millions. Its simply not possible for these guys to go bigger. Bionic, was your deer done by Jim Kelly, by any chance?
And Rich, you hit it, thats the key. Make a living and still enjoy what we do!
01-29-2006 | 07:52 PM
#55
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,210
Likes: 0
RE: deer mounts
Bill - You really hit it on the head! I have a client thatwon a tripto Africa, shot a zebra, kudu, springbuck, impala and a wildebeast. Costs are outrageous! All he had to pay for was the shipping to him and for a taxidermist. It was, in his words, "a once in a lifetime trip". Now guess where he wants to skimp? The exact things that he wants on the walls for him to look at for the rest of his life. MyCOST on a zebra rug, tanning and rugging, is right around $1000, before markup. Thats sent to a tannery then to a ruggery. He says that he can't afford that. Maybe not but if it was me and I won a trip to Africa, I would get a loan if I had to. maybe it's just me. He wants euro mounts on the springbuck, wildebeast and kudu. The only thing he wants mounted is the impala, cause to his midset, "it's about the same size as a deer, so it should cost about thesame." I am at wits end and about to tell him to find another taxidermist. It all boils down to where you want to spend your money and what you can afford, I guess.
01-29-2006 | 10:10 PM
#56
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 613
Likes: 0
From: Brockport, NY
RE: deer mounts
NC, african safaris opens up a whole new can of worms. That impala might be the same size as a deer to the laymen, but wetaxidermists know all too well how much extra is required to mount that impala correctly. First off, little or no hair most of the time. The extra time and material we need to bug-proof horns and scalps from africa is pricey to say the least. Those jagged cuts all the way down the back of the neck are terrible, and need to be stitched and patched everytime. The natives dont take care of capes heading to North America, thats a fact. Tanning, forms and especially reference is much more expensive for all aspects of african game, so the price we charge must reflect that. Instead, we all hear how we as taxidermists just charge astonomical prices for african game because "the client can afford it if he goes to africa". That zebra you spoke of...the laymen has no idea how few tanneries will even accept zebras, and how they need to be cut on the round knife a different way, because, as horses, they have a tough hindquarter skin to protect themselves when the stallions fight by biting. Not many shavers know how to cut this properly, and we pay for that expertise. Sables need to be dyed, large horns often need to be chiseled out and repacked after cleaning, warthogs often have the mouth cut open, the list goes on and on.
All we can do is explain up front what some of these charges are for. The client will either understand and choose to have us do it, or shop for a price that might work, and might not. If he finds someone to do african work cheap, perhaps he feels he wins. That find MIGHT be a taxidermist new to african work, lowballs himself, and then fails miserably. That might reflect in the quality. Personally, Iassume the customer is knowledgable as a consumer, and will research his choice to some extent. We are all busy enough to not worry terribly about it, though. Thats why we also stay busy doing remounts, I suppose. I just like having the opportunity to explain to these guys why we do what we do, if theyll hear us out!
All we can do is explain up front what some of these charges are for. The client will either understand and choose to have us do it, or shop for a price that might work, and might not. If he finds someone to do african work cheap, perhaps he feels he wins. That find MIGHT be a taxidermist new to african work, lowballs himself, and then fails miserably. That might reflect in the quality. Personally, Iassume the customer is knowledgable as a consumer, and will research his choice to some extent. We are all busy enough to not worry terribly about it, though. Thats why we also stay busy doing remounts, I suppose. I just like having the opportunity to explain to these guys why we do what we do, if theyll hear us out!
01-30-2006 | 05:32 AM
#57
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
From: Brenham TX USA
RE: deer mounts
6to 9 months here! And get a very professional mount!I know as a hunter no one likes waiting a year or longer for their mount. Therefore, I have gone up $50/ year until I cut my work back to where I can mount less heads, turn them around in NO Longer than 9 months, and make the same amount of money. Taxidermy is no different than any other service, you get what you pay for! I am now doing mounts for hunters in 7 different states. Visit my web-site and the pictures of my work will show you why.
Will
www.hornsandhides.com
Will
www.hornsandhides.com
01-30-2006 | 05:38 AM
#58
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,066
Likes: 0
From: Nekoosa Wi USA
RE: deer mounts
3WEEKS!!!!!! Are you insane!!! If you have a good taxidermist in your area expect it to take 3-12 months.If you get a mount back in 3 weeks expect problems down the road with it. I gotmy 2002 buck back in 4 months. Awsome job! No problems.
ORIGINAL: rgswildlife
Start to finish---three weeks---but that is only if there is nothing to do.I have most of my work come in within a four to five month period and nothing gets mounted, then I am only skinning, salting, tanning skins and doing paper work. Then I order forms and material then it's "first in - first out" but I have other items that come in all year and that slows down the process. My turn around time is now 3-4 months.
Rich
www.rgswildlifetaxidermy.com
Start to finish---three weeks---but that is only if there is nothing to do.I have most of my work come in within a four to five month period and nothing gets mounted, then I am only skinning, salting, tanning skins and doing paper work. Then I order forms and material then it's "first in - first out" but I have other items that come in all year and that slows down the process. My turn around time is now 3-4 months.
Rich
www.rgswildlifetaxidermy.com
01-30-2006 | 05:51 AM
#59
Typical Buck
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 705
Likes: 0
From: Wall NJ
RE: deer mounts
3WEEKS!!!!!! Are you insane!!! If you have a good taxidermist in your area expect it to take 3-12 months.If you get a mount back in 3 weeks expect problems down the road with it. I gotmy 2002 buck back in 4 months. Awsome job! No problems.
If you follow my post, thats only if I have nothing to do. Please read the post first.
Rich
www.rgswildlifetaxidermy.com
If you follow my post, thats only if I have nothing to do. Please read the post first.
Rich
www.rgswildlifetaxidermy.com
01-30-2006 | 05:52 AM
#60
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,486
Likes: 1
From: Huntsville Alabama
RE: deer mounts
ORIGINAL: nctaxi
Bill - You really hit it on the head! I have a client thatwon a tripto Africa, shot a zebra, kudu, springbuck, impala and a wildebeast. Costs are outrageous! All he had to pay for was the shipping to him and for a taxidermist. It was, in his words, "a once in a lifetime trip". Now guess where he wants to skimp? The exact things that he wants on the walls for him to look at for the rest of his life. MyCOST on a zebra rug, tanning and rugging, is right around $1000, before markup. Thats sent to a tannery then to a ruggery. He says that he can't afford that. Maybe not but if it was me and I won a trip to Africa, I would get a loan if I had to. maybe it's just me. He wants euro mounts on the springbuck, wildebeast and kudu. The only thing he wants mounted is the impala, cause to his midset, "it's about the same size as a deer, so it should cost about thesame." I am at wits end and about to tell him to find another taxidermist. It all boils down to where you want to spend your money and what you can afford, I guess.
Bill - You really hit it on the head! I have a client thatwon a tripto Africa, shot a zebra, kudu, springbuck, impala and a wildebeast. Costs are outrageous! All he had to pay for was the shipping to him and for a taxidermist. It was, in his words, "a once in a lifetime trip". Now guess where he wants to skimp? The exact things that he wants on the walls for him to look at for the rest of his life. MyCOST on a zebra rug, tanning and rugging, is right around $1000, before markup. Thats sent to a tannery then to a ruggery. He says that he can't afford that. Maybe not but if it was me and I won a trip to Africa, I would get a loan if I had to. maybe it's just me. He wants euro mounts on the springbuck, wildebeast and kudu. The only thing he wants mounted is the impala, cause to his midset, "it's about the same size as a deer, so it should cost about thesame." I am at wits end and about to tell him to find another taxidermist. It all boils down to where you want to spend your money and what you can afford, I guess.
dd